Acoustics of Vowels
These are the sounds of speech produced with an open vocal tract, which are often distinguished by their pitch and formant patterns.
Vowels
What is one main difference between vowels and consonants during production?
Consonants can be produced with or without voicing, whereas vowels are always voiced. ; There is significant constriction in the oral and/or pharyngeal cavity, and vowels do not have significant constriction.
What is a silent interval and when does it occur?
A temporary pause in speech activity ; Typically occurs right before a stop consonant.
What term describes the way sounds influence each other in connected speech, so that the production of one sound is affect by the sounds that are around it?
Fo represents what?
Changes in vocal fold vibrations
One formant is related to tongue height and another is related to the position of the tongue within the mouth. Which ones?
F1 = Height ; F2 = Tongue Position
What is an example of a voiceless velar plosive?
/k/
What are the three main acoustic characteristics of stop sounds?
Silent Interval, Release Burst, Frication/Aspiration
What term refers to the rise and fall of pitch across a phrase or a sentence that is used to convey meaning, emotion, or sentence type?
Intonation
What part of the vocal tract does F1 represent and what part of the vocal tract does F2 represent?
Pharyngeal Cavity ; Oral Cavity
On a spectrogram, this vowel as an F1 and an F2 that are relatively close together, producing a centralized tongue position that is commonly referred to as a schwa. What vowel is this?
/ə / as in 'about'
List all of the places/organs of articulation.
Bilabial, Labiodental, Interdental, Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal
What is an affricate and list one example of one?
Affricates are a stop consonant that is then followed by a fricative. Example: /tʃ / ('ch')
What, in English, is a feature that is marked by louder, longer, and higher-pitched syllables within words or sentences to indicate importance or emphasis?
Stress
Which consonant-vowel pair would have the longest VOT? A: Ball ; B: Call ; C: Mall ; D: Wall
On a spectrogram, this vowel is typically identified by a low F1 and a high F2, indicating a high front tongue position. What vowel is this?
/i/ as in the word 'see'
List all of the manners of articulation.
Stops (Plosives), Fricatives, Nasals, Affricates, Glides, Laterals, Rhotics
/w/
In English, a falling pitch at the end of a sentence typically signals what type of sentence?
Statement
When considering the Source-Filter Theory, what is considered to be the filter of a speech sound?
Vocal Tract
On a spectrogram, this vowel shows a high F1 and a low F2, indicating a low back tongue position in the mouth. What vowel is this?
/a/ as in 'father'
For the following sound, list the place/manner of articulation, muscles involved, and the organs involved: /t/
Alveolar Stop ; Superior Longitudinal ; Tongue and Alveolar Ridge
What is a diphthong and give one example of one in use?
Diphthongs are sounds that are formed by the combination of two sounds ;
Example: /aɪ / in "guys"
Prosody
Explain why a child with a resonance disorder may show more nasal emission when producing the word "peat" when compared to "pack."
In the word "peat," the tongue tip is being raised by the superior longitudinal muscle to connect with the alveolar ridge and the vowel is also in a high, front placement. Due to this, the velum is left more open and has more freedom to move. In the word "pack," the tongue is being pulled up and back by the styloglossus muscle to form the /k/ sound, further closing off the nasal cavity. The vowel sound is also further back, also contributing. For a child with a resonance disorder, without the additional help from the tongue to keep the velum closed, the velum may drop, allowing for an opening in the nasal cavity and a nasalized sound.