International Phonetic Alphabet

Sonority: is the loudness of a particular speech sound relative to others of equal length, stress, and pitch

• vowels are the strongest

• /r/ is the strongest consonant

• Sonorants: vowels and diphthongs due to their greater sonority

• Sonorant consonants: consonants which have a relatively open expiratory passageway

  • nasals, liquids, and glides

• Obstruent consonants: consonants which are characterized by a complete or narrow constriction between the articulators

  • stops, fricatives, and affricates

Syllabics: consonants which can function as the nucleus of the syllable

• [l], [m], [n]

Monophthongs: aka pure vowels. vowels with a relatively constant quality throughout their production

Diphthongs: vowels in which the quality changes during their production

• ​Onglide: initial portion of a diphthong 

• ​Offglide: second or end portion of the diphthong

• Rising diphthongs: tongue moves from a lower positioned onglide portion to a higher position

• ​Centering diphthongs: the offglide or less prominent element of the diphthong is a central vowel 

  • may be a schwa vowel or a central vowel with r-coloring

  •  ​Rhotic diphthongs: centering diphthongs with [ɚ] as their offglide (p. 31).

    •  ​​​Rhotics: the r-coloring noted in specific vowels or consonants: [ɹ, ɝ, ɚ]

• Nonphonemic diphthongs: do not demonstrate phonemic value

•  ​Phonemic diphthongs: demonstrate phonemic value

Plosives: aka stops. complete occlusion between the articulators

• [p, b, t, d, k, g]

 Fricatives: very close approximation between the articulators, can hear the friction

• [f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, θ, ð] 

• Sibilants: subcategory of fricatives, high frequency

  • [s, z, ʃ, ʒ]

Nasals: velum lowered so that the air passes freely through the nasal cavity

• [m, n, ŋ] 

Affricates: consonants that contain two phases: a stop portion followed by a friction portion

• [ʧ, ʤ]

Approximants: articulators come close to each other but the constriction is less than fricatives

• Glides: constriction that is wider than that necessary for fricative consonants, glides to a more open position

  • [w, j]

• Liquids: the lateral [l] and the rhotic [ɹ] 

  • Laterals: midline closure with simultaneous lateral airflow

    • [l]

• Rhotic: articulators approximating one another and creating an r-quality sound

Coarticulation: the overlapping of adjacent articulations

• production of a sound is influenced by other sounds around it

Assimilation: adaptive articulatory changes where one sound becomes similar or identical another

• Assimilation processes: aka harmony processes

  • Contact assimilation: aka contiguous. changes impacting directly adjacent sounds

  • Remote assimilation: aka noncontiguous. changes affect sounds separated by at least one other sound

  • ​​Progressive assimilations: aka perseverative. a sound impacting a following sound

  • Regressive assimilations: aka anticipatory. change of a sound influencing a preceding sound

  • Total assimilation: aka complete. occurs when two segments become identical

  • Partial assimilation: changes in one or more phonetic features of a sound

Peak: aka syllable nucleus. the most prominent/ most acoustically intense part of the syllable

Onset: aka syllable releasing sounds. all segments prior to the peak

Coda: aka syllable arresting sounds. segments following the peak

Rime: the peak and coda of a syllable

Open syllables: aka unchecked. do not contain codas

Closed syllables: aka checked. do contain codas

Syllable production is affected by:

• 1. number of syllables an utterance contains

• 2. type of syllable: open versus closed

• 3. degree of syllable stress

• 4. number of consonants grouped together