Chapter 02

Student resources for Chapter 02: Phonetics

• Vocabulary test 01: Terms
• Vocabulary test 02: Definitions
• Review quiz
• Articulators quiz
• IPA flashcards: features
• IPA flashcards: symbols
• Phonetic transcription exercise

Accompanying audio files for Chapter 02: Phonetics

These files correspond directly to the following sections within the book, click on each link to download and listen to the audio excerpt.

Textbox 2.2:

• Low vowels in American English “cot/caught”

Textbox 2.3, Ejective stops in Navajo:

• unaspirated k              akaan ‘arm’

  aspirated kʰ                 pikʰágí ‘his/her/its hide, pelt’

  ejective k’                     pik’ah ‘his/her/its fat’

• unaspirated t               tí̃í̃’ ‘four’

  aspirated tʰ                  atʰiin ‘trail’

  ejective t’                      t’iis ‘cottonwood tree’

• unaspirated tʃ              tʃiɬ ‘medicine bag’

  aspirated tʃʰ                 tʃʰidí ‘car’

  ejective tʃ’                     tʃ’il ‘plant’

Sidebar 2.9, Tone in Dida:

• 1.  sū                    ‘tree’

• 2.  sù                    ‘hot’

Sidebar 2.10:

• "so you don’t think that’ll work"

Textbox 2.6, Intonation in Chickasaw:

• 1.  malili              ‘S/he runs’

• 2.  mallita            ‘Is s/he running?

Exercise 2, Transcription:

• A - E

• F - J

• K - O

• P - T

Exercise 3, Primary Stress:

• A - E

• F - J

Exercise 4, Transcription and Primary Stress:

• A - F

• G - M

• N - S

• T - Z

Study guide for Chapter 02: Phonetics

Anatomy
Be sure you can accurately label the following on a diagram of the vocal tract:

Places of Articulation
Be sure you know the two articulators involved in the production of consonants at each of the following places of articulation:

Manners of Articulation
Be sure you can describe how the following manners of articulation are produced:

Vowels
Be sure you can say what is meant by the following terms:

Other important and useful terminology
You should understand the following terms:

• voicing: voiced/voiceless

• sonorant

• obstruent

• liquid

• monophthong, diphthong

• syllable, syllabic

• stress

• tone

• intonation

• transcription (including broad and narrow)

Other key concepts

• positioning of vocal cords to produce voiced and voiceless sounds

• positioning of velum to produce nasal and oral sounds

• positioning of tongue for lateral sounds

Skills

• You should be able to match articulatory descriptions and IPA symbols for each consonant and vowel in English (e.g. [ð]: voiced interdental fricative)

• You should be able to provide IPA transcriptions for English words, including the marking of primary and secondary stress< 

• You should begin to develop your “ear” for phonetics, e.g. to hear fine-level phonetic differences in the pronunciation of words. For example, the length in the vowel of mat is a bit shorter than that of mad.