General Linguistics 178
Phonetics & Phonology
Quick Notes: Terminology
Affricate A stop (sounds in which the airstream is briefly but completely
stopped in the oral cavity) followed by a slow release of air
E.g. chair
Alveolar Tongue is placed on the alveolar ridge (ridge between your teeth and
your hard palate)
Produced using the tip of the tongue
E.g. takeaway
Anterior Produced in the front of the mouth
Includes:
o Labials: sounds produced through either rounding the lips
(e.g. roof) or closing them partly (e.g. party)
o Interdentals: sounds produced with the tongue between the
teeth (e.g. thank you)
o Alveolar: sounds produced with the tip of the tongue against
the alveolar ridge (e.g. tail)
Bilabial Sounds that are articulated with both lips (p)
Consonantal Consonants
Consonants + vowels = syllables
Breath is somewhat obstructed
These exclude glides (e.g. year)
Consonants Classified according to place and manner of articulation
Also categorised according to constriction in the vocal tract during
production
Continuant Non-stop (i.e. there’s no obstruction in air flow) sounds with a
continuous airflow through the mouth.
Includes all speech sounds except for stops (including nasal stops and
affricates)
Coronal Produced by raising the tip/blade of the tongue (interdentals,
alveolars and palatals)
Diphthongs Sounds made by combining two vowels
Feature bundle Set of features that uniquely describe one sound
Speech sounds are not the smallest units, they can be further
Phonetics & Phonology
Quick Notes: Terminology
Affricate A stop (sounds in which the airstream is briefly but completely
stopped in the oral cavity) followed by a slow release of air
E.g. chair
Alveolar Tongue is placed on the alveolar ridge (ridge between your teeth and
your hard palate)
Produced using the tip of the tongue
E.g. takeaway
Anterior Produced in the front of the mouth
Includes:
o Labials: sounds produced through either rounding the lips
(e.g. roof) or closing them partly (e.g. party)
o Interdentals: sounds produced with the tongue between the
teeth (e.g. thank you)
o Alveolar: sounds produced with the tip of the tongue against
the alveolar ridge (e.g. tail)
Bilabial Sounds that are articulated with both lips (p)
Consonantal Consonants
Consonants + vowels = syllables
Breath is somewhat obstructed
These exclude glides (e.g. year)
Consonants Classified according to place and manner of articulation
Also categorised according to constriction in the vocal tract during
production
Continuant Non-stop (i.e. there’s no obstruction in air flow) sounds with a
continuous airflow through the mouth.
Includes all speech sounds except for stops (including nasal stops and
affricates)
Coronal Produced by raising the tip/blade of the tongue (interdentals,
alveolars and palatals)
Diphthongs Sounds made by combining two vowels
Feature bundle Set of features that uniquely describe one sound
Speech sounds are not the smallest units, they can be further
