Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Glossary
Address:
Glossary
CertTESOL
Here is a checklist of some key phonology terms. Prepare your own glossary by
writing a definition for each a few have been done for you. First use the
exercise as a memory check then, where you have gaps or are uncertain whether
what you have written is correct, check back through the study guide or the
text. Give examples wherever possible. This glossary is for your own reference, not for
marking by your tutor.
A
accent
A set of habits that make up someone’s pronunciation of a language.
affricate
Affricates are consonants that are formed by stopping the flow of air somewhere in the vocal
apparatus, and then releasing the air relatively slowly so that a frictionsound is produced.
allophone
different ways of pronouncing the same constant. I.e., tar, star, kitten, winter.
A ridge of flesh just before the teeth, when touched by the tip of the tongue while talking a
particular sound is produced.
articulation
The formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech.
aspiration
The strong burst of breath that is used to pronounce certain elements of languages such as the
letter h.
assimilation
assimilation: a phoneme changes to become more like a neighbouring sound
back vowel
Vowel sounds made that are articulated near the back of the vocal cavity. I.E: /u/, /U/, /o/, /ô/
centre vowel
Vowel sounds made that are articulated near the centre of the vocal cavity.
close vowel
vowels pronounced with the tongue as close to the roof of the mouth as possible without
casing obstruction.
'comfortable' intelligibility
the language is pronounced in a way that can be understood but not as good as native speaker
level.
connected speech
consonant
D
digraph
a combination of two letters producing a sound, i.e: ph th, ect.
diphthong
vowel sounds - in diphthongs there is a change in lip and tongue ( they change from one
position to another) position during the making of the sound. It is still heard as a single sound
elision
elision: a sound which would be present in a word spoken in isolation is omitted in
connected speech
F
fortis
latin for strong or tense.
Lenis is its opposite which means weak or lax.
continents made by putting the top teeth to the bottom lip. Examples include: S, Sh and Z.
front vowel
A vowel pronounced by the tongue being at the front of the mouth.
G
glottal stop
occurs when the vocal folds are pressed together so as to stop the flow of air altogether. There is a
brief interval of silence, with an abrupt ending of the preceding speech sound and a similarly abrupt
onset of whatever sound follows. For instance, in It was getting dark the /t/ of getting is likely to
be replaced with a glottal stop. (Ashby 1995:17)
H
hard palate
The hard part of the mouths roof closest to the teeth.
high vowel
Vowels pronounced with the jaw closed.
homonym
Words with the same spelling or pronunciation but with different meanings like close (close
the door) and close (that was close)
homophone
IPA
intonation
Intonation refers to the patterns of pitch change in speech. It is the melody of speech. There are
two basic melodies rising and falling, although pitch can also be level, without significant
change. (For details of variables of pitch, see Underhill page 77)
intrusion
when two vowels are next to each other but we add another sound to make them different to
pronounce. Example: The Media are here. (r)
juncture: two words are fully linked but the boundary between them is nevertheless
clear.
L
labial
Latin for lip.
labiodental
A lip sound in phonology such as fool. (f) or very (v)
Larynx
'the voice box'
A consonant pronounced by raising the tip tongue to the roof of the mouth. (L)
liaison
liaison: words are linked in connected speech.
linking
joining the pronunciation of two words so that it flows together. Together is an example word.
low vowel
A vowel pronounced with the tongue at the lowest point of the oral cavity.
midvowel
A vowel pronounced with the tongue at the middle of the mouth, example: i:
minimal pairs
words that differ by only one phonological element. Example: pot, lot, cot.
monophthong
vowel sounds - the tongue and lips hold or remain in a particular position and hold it. known as
pure vowels or simple vowels
the manner of articulation how each sound is produced within the vocal tract (referred to as)
nasal consonant
A consonant pronounced with the aid of the nasal cavity, examples: n, m.
neutral vowel
A central, usually unstressed, vowel sound produced with the tongue slack and the lips relaxed and
having indefinite quality, especially schwa (ə).
O
open vowel
An open vowel is a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the
roof of the mouth. It can also be known as a low vowel.
P
penultimate syllable
The second to last syllable in a word.
phoneme
Any of the sounds in a language that distinguish one word from another. IE, bat and cat.
phonemic script
A script showing how things are pronounced in different languages.
pitch
Cert TESOL phonology 8
The level (high or lowness) of tone in pronunciation.
plosive consonant
Sounds formed by completely stopping the airflow such as K p and t.
primary stress
the place of articulation where in the vocal tract each sound is produced (referred to as
R
Received Pronunciation
The standard form of British pronunciation.
retroflex /r/
pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled up towards the hard palate.
rhotic /r/
liquid consonances that are based of the Greek letter rho.
rhythm
How sentences flow. Rhythm is used to work out where words start and stop and other such
things.
schwa
the special name given to unstressed vowels
scripting activities
Not sure about this one
secondary stress
Other points of a word outside the primary stress where some stress is placed. Example:
‘Levitate.’
segmentals
Individual sounds in words.
suprasegmentals
larger chunks of speech such as words.
semivowel
In some places, the second part of a diphthong is treated as a nonsyllabic semi-vowel. In the
USA, for instance, high and how are widely transcribed as /haj/ and /haw/. It is also possible to
analyse long vowels as vowel plus semi-vowel.
Where in a sentence stress is placed in such a way that emphasis is placed on a particular word.
Example: ‘The last book.’
sense group
Specific parts of an utterance that have meaning on their own and come together to form an
entire sentence. The sentence has been divided into sense groups so that it becomes easy to
understand. Example: /Yesterday,/ while I was walking/ through the park/ I saw a circus tent./
simplification
Not fully pronouncing a word. Such as Fish and Chips becoming Fish n Chips.
soft palate
The soft part of the roof of the mouth furthest from the teeth.
sound deletions
Also known as elision. The omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a
whole syllable) in a word or phrase.
sound insertions
When an extra sound is inserted between two others.
sound substitutions
When a sound is switch for another, example: Jelly Fish or Jelly Fush.
stress
Cert TESOL phonology 11
When a word has more than one syllable (a polysyllabic word) this one syllable is made to stand
out. O
strong form
strong and weak forms: a word has a strong form when stressed or spoken
in isolation but has a weak form when reduced in its more usual unstressed form
suffix
a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative
tone unit
Connected speech can be divided into tone units or tone groups, enabling us to isolate pitch
patterns by defining where one pattern ends and the next begins. The tone unit contains a single
complete pitch pattern.
U
unstress
reducing the sound of a vowel. For example, little’s e.
unvoiced
Part of a word that is not said. Like the K in Know.
V
velum
vocal cords
Two membranes within the voice box that vibrate to produce sound.
vocal tract
The Larynx.
voiced
Particular elements of pronunciation that label a group phones and phonemes.
voiceless
Particular elements of pronunciation that label a group phones and phonemes.
vowel letter
a, e, I, o, u and sometimes y.
vowel length
How drawn out the pronunciation of a vowel is.
vowel sound
In all vowel sounds the air is not obstructed in any way and they are all voiced
vowel reduction or centralisation: unaccented vowels in the stream of speech
are reduced in length.
weak form
strong and weak forms: a word has a strong form when stressed or spoken
in isolation but has a weak form when reduced in its more usual unstressed form
word boundary
The beginning and end of a word.
word stress
Saying a word in a different tone in order to indicate the meaning of the word.