What are allophones and which two groups of allophones are there?
allophones = variants of a phoneme
two groups
in complementary distribution -> depending on the phonetic environment of a sound
in free variation -> depending on speaker preferences (or dialect)
What is the manner of articulation?
= how organs operate to produce sounds
e.g. plosive, fricative, affricate, nasal, approximant
What does plosive mean?
airstream is blocked: complete closure
then: air suddenly released
-> explosion
example: p
What does fricative mean?
continuous airstream
narrow opening
-> friction
example: f, z
What does affricate mean?
= plosive + fricative
example: “chair”, “gin”
What does nasal mean?
velum lowered: air passes through nose
example: m
What does approximant mean?
partial closure in the mouth, resulting in a vowel-like consonant
examples: l, r, w
What is a phoneme?
= smallest unit of sound capable of changing the meaning of a word
-> smallest meaning distinguishing unit
What sub-categories of phonetics are there?
articulatory phonetics -> acoustic phonetics -> perceptual phonetics
What are diphthongs?
= combination of two monophthongs in one syllable
How can vowels (monophthongs) be described / classified?
Last changeda year ago
