Flashcards on Fundamentals of English Pronunciation
Fundamentals of English Pronunciation: Your Comprehensive Guide
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Phonetics: Articulation and Production
45 cards
Card 1
Question: What is the role of the larynx (voice box) in sound production?
Answer: The larynx contains vocal cords that open for breathing and unvoiced sounds; when the cords come close together air passing between them makes them vi
Card 2
Question: Which speech organs are used to produce sounds?
Answer: Lips, tongue (tip, blade, front, centre, back), teeth (upper and lower), hard palate, soft palate, alveolar ridge, nasal cavity, uvula, pharynx, laryn
Card 3
Question: How does articulation produce different speech sounds?
Answer: Articulation shapes the airstream by interrupting, shaping, restricting, or diverting it using the speech organs, producing vowels and consonants.
Card 4
Question: Why do children acquire different sets of sounds in different languages?
Answer: Although everyone has the same speech organs, the specific phonemes and voice patterns learned depend on the language environment (e.g., English stres
Card 5
Question: How does ability to adopt unfamiliar speech sounds change with age?
Answer: After childhood the ability to adopt an unfamiliar set of sounds diminishes somewhat, making it harder to learn new sound systems later.
Card 6
Question: What determines the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds?
Answer: Voiced sounds occur when the vocal cords vibrate as air passes between them; unvoiced sounds occur when the cords are open and do not vibrate.
Card 7
Question: What aspects of the tongue’s position are used to describe vowel articulation?
Answer: Vowel description uses tongue height (close, mid, open) and tongue part (front, centre, back) to indicate where and how high the tongue is in the mout
Card 8
Question: What does 'close', 'mid' and 'open' refer to in vowel articulation?
Answer: They refer to the distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth: 'close' = tongue near the roof, 'open' = tongue low in the mouth, 'mid' = int
Card 9
Question: Give an example of a close front vowel and describe its tongue position.
Answer: /i:/ as in 'head' is a close front vowel produced with the front of the tongue highest and near the roof of the mouth.
Card 10
Question: Give an example of an open front vowel and describe its tongue position.
Answer: /æ/ as in 'hat' is an open front vowel produced with the front of the tongue highest but the tongue itself low in the mouth.