LIN100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Vocal Folds, Fundamental Frequency, Language Change
Document Summary
Vocal folds may vibrate at different frequencies. Fundamental frequencies (f0) are the frequency at which the vocal folds vibrate. A single segment may differ in terms of f0. Frequency is determined by tension of vocal folds. The more tense the vocal folds, the higher the frequency. Air flow increase can also increase frequency. Languages make use of tone to contrast words, phrases or sentences. About 70% of the world"s languages use pitch to contrast words. Instead of changing sentences, they actually change the meaning of words. Simple tone system where there isn"t as much variety in the meanings of words dependent on tone. Not all minute phonetic details are linguistic relevant. Pitch contrast that changes within the segment. Contrast refers to a pair of words that are not identical. Some vowels behave differently from other vowels. Pitch contrast at the level of the sentence. Pitch contrast at the level of a word. Stressed vowels have higher pitch and greater intensity.
