2

nd Homework
Defne the following terms and then give two examples for each:
1.
Phonemes
2.
Consonant sounds
.
!owel sounds
".
!oiced sounds
#.
$nvoiced sounds
%.
&ingle vowel sounds
'.
&hort vowel sounds
(.
)ong vowel sounds
*.
Diphthongs
1+.
,riphthongs
1
1. Phonemes are the di-erent speech
sounds within a language.
o
,he set of .nglish phonemes consists of
two categories: the consonant sounds and
the vowels sounds. However/ the0 do not
necessaril0 correspond to the vowels and
consonants we are familiar with in the
alpha1et.
o
2n .nglish language/ there are ""
phonemes/ 2" consonants and 2+ vowels.
2
2. Consonant sounds are speech
sounds 3or phonemes4 that normall0 cause
an o1struction to the 5ow of air in the
vocal tract. 6 few examples of consonant
sounds are 7f7/ 7v7/ 787/ 797 and 7d:7.
3. Vowel sounds are speech sounds 3or
phonemes4 in which there is little or no
o1struction to the 5ow of air through the
vocal tract. &ome examples of vowel
sounds are 7;7/ 7<7/ 7i:7/ 7=:7 and 7>:7.

4. Voiced sounds are those speech sounds in

which the vocal folds77cords are vi1rating. ?hen
the vocal folds7cords come close together/ the
air that passes 1etween them makes them
vi1rate/ resulting in voicing. 6ll the 2+ vowel
sounds in .nglish are voiced@ most consonant
sounds are voiced 3e.g. 7v7/ 7l7/ 7m7/ 7A74.
5. Unvoiced sounds 3or voiceless sounds/ 6.4
are those speech sounds in which the vocal
folds7cords are open and therefore are not
vi1rating. 2n speech sounds like 7p7/ 7t7/ and 7k7/
the vocal folds7cords are moved apart or open/
so there is no vi1ration.
"

6. Single vowel sounds are the
BpureC vowel sounds or monoDphthongs.
,he0 are contrasted to the diphthongs
3a com1ination of two vowel sounds4.
,here are 12 monoDphthongs in the
.nglish language. ,he0 include 7i:7/ 7e7/
7u:7/ and 7;7/ among others.
#
7. Short vowel sounds are speech
sounds that are produced BshorterC than
the others. ,here are ' short vowel
sounds in .nglish. ,he0 include 7 /,
//, /E/, /e/, / /, //, and / F/.
. !ong vowel sounds are speech
sounds that are produced BlongerC. ,he
s0m1ol 7:7 indicates a long sound. ,here
are # long vowel sounds in .nglish.
,hese are 7i:7/ 7u:7/ 7>:7/ 7 :/, and / G:7
%
". #i$hthongs are com1inations of
vowel sounds. 2n diphthongs like 7EH7/
7eH7/ 7aE7/ 7e / / or 7HE7/ there is a glide 3or
movement of the tongue/ lips/ and Iaw4
from one pure 3or BsingleC4 vowel sound
to another. ,here are ( diphthongs in the
.nglish language.
1%. &ri$hthongs are the com1ination of
three vowel sounds like 7aEH7 in our or
power, 7a 7 in higher/ or 7HEH7 in lower.
'
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