Pronunciation Terms
A glossary of terms and expressions used when talking about pronunciation, with definitions and explanations
| term | definition |
|---|---|
| accent | the unique speech patterns of a person or group |
| affricate | a speech sound (consonant) that contains a stop followed by an immediate fricative, as in the ch /ʧ/ in "chair" |
| air flow/airstream | the flow or passage of air out of the mouth |
| alveolar | sound formed by touching the tip of the tongue to the upper alveolar ridge, as in /t/ or /d/ |
| alveolar ridge | the bony region at the roof and bottom of the mouth behind the front teeth; contains the tooth sockets |
| approximants | consonants with a partial obstruction of airflow, as in /w/ and /r/ |
| articulation | the act of making speech sounds |
| aspiration | a small "explosion" of air when you make a sound |
| auditory | hearing (not seeing) |
| bilabial | consonant sounds formed using both lips, as in /p/ or /b/ |
| close vowel (sometimes called "high" vowel) | a vowel sound that is pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth (but not close enough to constrict the air and make a consonant), as in /i:/ in the word "free" |
| consonant | a speech sound made when there is complete or partial obstruction of air in the mouth, as in /v/, /h/, /d/ (compare vowel) |
| clusters | blended sounds put together to make a single sound |
| curl | a position of the tongue where the tongue is shaped in a curve, not flat |
| dental | a consonant sound made when the tongue touches the upper teeth, as in /t/ and /n/ |
| dialect | unique vocabulary, pronunciation and usage that is typical of a certain group of people |
| diphthong | a sound made by the combination of two vowel sounds in a single syllable, as in "boy", "loud" or "wide", where the sound starts as one vowel and moves towards another vowel |
| flatten | a positioning of the tongue where the tongue is flat not round |
| fricative | a speech sound (consonant) in which air is forced to pass through a small opening and creates friction, as in /f/ and /v/ |
| glide/slide | moving the tongue while saying a word |
| glottal stop | the sound that is made when the vocal folds are closed very briefly; as in the middle of the word "uh-oh" (common in American English) |
| gum | the tissue around the base of the teeth |
| hard palate | hard part of the roof of the mouth |
| intonation | change in pitch of a sentence, up and down; the music or rhythm of speech |
| labiodental | sounds that are made with the lower lip and upper teeth, as in /f/ and /v/ |
| larynx | the hollow, muscular organ in the throat that holds the vocal chords; the voice box |
| lateral | a speech sound that is made by touching the tongue to the middle of the alveolar ridge, allowing air to pass on both sides |
| lengthen sound | make the duration of the sound longer |
| linking | the joining of words when speaking, as in "Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?" (Can I have a bit of egg?) |
| lips spread | lips are open slightly and pulled back |
| lower | bottom of mouth |
| minimal pairs | two words that differ only in terms of one sound, as in "cat and bat" OR "fine and vine" |
| monophthong | a single vowel sound that does not change in auditory quality; also called a "pure vowel" |
| nasal consonants | consonant sounds made by pushing air through the nose, as in /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ |
| non-pulmonic | when the air comes from a source other than the lungs |
| obstruction | a blockage of air flow |
| open vowel (also called "low" vowel) | a vowel that is produced with the tongue far down from the roof of the mouth, as in the /a:/ sound in "far" |
| palatal | a sound that is made when the tongue is near or touching the roof of the mouth |
| palate | the roof of the mouth |
| phoneme | an individual speech sound of a particular language |
| phonemic alphabet | a set of symbols that represent the speech sounds of a particular language (for example the English phonemic alphabet) |
| phonemic chart | a table that shows all the symbols representing sounds of a particular language (for example the English phonemic chart) |
| phonetic alphabet | a set of symbols that represent the speech sounds of all languages (for example the International Phonetic Alphabet) |
| phonetic chart | a table that shows all the symbols representing speech sounds of all languages (for example the International Phonetic Chart). |
| phonetic transcription | a form of notation that uses symbols to identify the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word |
| plosive | a consonant sound produced when there is a complete obstruction of air followed by its sudden release, as in the /p/ of "pot" |
| pitch | amount of highness or lowness of a sound or speech |
| postalveolar | a consonant sound made with the tip of the tongue slightly back from the alveolar ridge, as in /ʃ/ in "shut" |
| pressed lips | top and bottom lips touching |
| protruded lips | rounded lips, pushed out |
| pulmonic | a sound that is made using the airstream directly from the lungs |
| raised | higher than the neutral position |
| reduction | the natural shortening of sounds when speaking (e.g. "going to" reduced to "gonna") |
| rhotic | a variety or dialect of English in which "r" is pronounced before a consonant (as in "hard") and at the end of words (as in "car"); Midwestern American English, for example, is "rhotic" |
| roof | the inside top part of the mouth |
| rounded lips | lips formed into the shape of a circle |
| rounded vowel | a vowel made with rounded lips |
| sentence stress | the placement of emphasis on specific words within a sentence or phrase |
| shorten sound | make the duration of a sound shorter |
| soft palate | soft part of the roof of the mouth |
| sonorant | sounds that are made when air is impeded only slightly, as in /m/, /n/ |
| stop (stop consonant) | a consonant sound that is produced when the airflow is (temporarily) stopped entirely by the lips or tongue, as in /p/ |
| syllable | a single unit of sound that creates one beat in a word; the word "coffee" has two syllables (cof-fee) |
| syllable nucleus | the central part of a syllable, usually a vowel |
| tap | touch quickly |
| tone | the emotion that is conveyed through the sound of speech (e.g. anger or sadness) |
| tongue | muscular tissue in the mouth used for tasting and articulating |
| tooth ridge | the hard area directly behind the top front teeth |
| trill | a vibrating sound made with a flapping tongue, as in the rolled "r" sound made when people roll their r's |
| upper | top of mouth |
| velar | of a sound that is made with the back of the tongue near the soft palate, as in the /ŋ/ in "sing" |
| velum | a soft membrane on the roof of the mouth (also called "soft palate") |
| vocal chords (AmE cords) | two muscles inside the larynx that vibrate and create the voice |
| vocal tract | the entire apparatus that produces voice, starting in the lungs and ending at the lips and nostrils (openings of the mouth and nose) |
| voiced | of a sound made with the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating |
| voiceless/unvoiced | of a sound made without the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating |
| vowel | a speech sound made when air is free to pass through the mouth with little or no obstruction, as in sounds made with the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y (compare consonant) |
| vowel backness | position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth when making a vowel sound (positions include front, near-front, centre, near-back, back) |
| vowel height | distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth when pronouncing a vowel sound (IPA has 7 heights: close (highest), near-close, mid-close, mid, open-mid, near-open, open (lowest) |
| word stress | the placement of emphasis within a word that has more than one syllable |