LING 3P51 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Vocal Tract, Diphthong, White Noise
Document Summary
Only one vowel per nucleus + only one vowel per syllable. A vowel is a speech sounds that is formed without a significant constriction of the oral and pharyngeal cavities and that serves as a syllabus nucleus. Concept of nucleus (ex. the vowel element of the syllable) is helpful: Vowel sounds can be sustained as long as you have breath. They"re described by: tongue height, tongue advancement and tense/lax (long/short) Other dimensions can be defined as mid, mid-high, and mid-low. How front or back the tongue is to articulate a given vowel. Gradient placement (but not exact front vs. central vs. back) Monophthong: doesn"t change throughout its production; a pure vowel. Diphthong: changes throughout its production; the onglide sound is different from the offglide sound. Tense and lax are undefined and lack clear articulatory correlates (aren"t as easy to define) Can include protruded vs retracted vs rounded vs narrowing. Text is wrong about it being a length distinction.
