LING 200 Assignment 1

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University of British Columbia *

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200

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Linguistics

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Jan 9, 2024

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Uploaded by ProfessorMoonSeaLion20

Assignment #1: Vocal Tract and Articulation 1. What structures of the vocal tract can be easily seen using the following tools? List two limitations of each. a. X-ray: - Bony parts of the vocal tract such as cartilages (thyroid, cricoid, arytenoids), teeth, and the hyoid bone can be easily seen through the X-ray - The tongue and lips are hard to see through the X-ray - Unable to see the real-time movement of the articulators - X-ray radiations are harmful for the human body b. MRI: - Fleshy parts of the vocal tract such as the tongue, the lips, the velum, and the larynx can be easily seen through the MRI - The teeth are hard to see through the MRI - MRI imaging is very expensive to access - Not comfortable for people with claustrophobia 2. Draw your own mid-sagittal diagram of the upper vocal tract; make it face to the right, and label all the active and passive articulators.

3. Rewrite the following table so that each anatomical structure is placed under the column heading it belongs to. Sub-laryngeal Laryngeal Supra-laryngeal Diaphragm Crico-thyroid muscles Alveolar Ridge Lungs Arytenoid Cartilages Uvula Trachea Thyroid Cartilage Upper Teeth Vocalis Muscle Velum Nasal Cavity Tongue Root Pharynx Epiglottis 4. What muscles in the larynx are active when we produce a sound like [ssssss]. A sound like [ssssss] is voiceless, in which the vocal folds are not vibrating so the abductor muscles (posterior crico-arytrenoid muscles) that pull vocal folds apart are active when producing voiceless sound. 5. Consider the following four persons. Who would you predict to have the highest pitched voice? Why? Abi (6-year-old, female) has the highest pitched voice because she is a female and she is the youngest. Children who have yet to go through puberty have smaller vocal folds compared to adults. Females tend to have thinner vocal folds compared to males. This means that small/thin vocal folds vibrate at a higher frequency, which causes higher pitch. 6. Within each pair, which sound is considered more marked than the other and why? a. Voiceless Stop vs. Voiced Stop Voiced stops are more marked because it is not as common as voiceless stops. Many languages do not have voiced stops. Languages that do have voiced stops also have voiceless stops. b. Voiceless Fricative vs. Voiced Fricative Voiced fricatives are more marked because it is uncommon and difficult to pronounce. Only a few languages have voiced fricatives.

c. Voiced Nasal vs. Voiceless Nasal Voiceless nasals are more marked because they are only used in a few languages. Most languages, such as English, have voiced nasals. 7. Circle the words in each list that fit the description. a. Has a nasal consonant - Mine - Sing - Blink b. Begins with an approximant - Rhino - Lucid - Wing c. Has a voiceless consonant in the middle - Upper - Define - Assess d. Contain an affricate - Bridge - Match e. Ends with a voiced consonant - Find - Voiced - Matched f. Contains a high vowel - Froze - Soon - Mean - Sit g. Contains a rounded vowel - Look - Soon h. Contains a diphthong - Boat - House - Price 8. Transcribe the following English words in broad transcription. a. Brood = [brud] b. Ghoul = [gul]

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