Lab 3: Chapter 2

1. What is a decibel? What does it correspond with?

(Be sure to include the logarithmic scale in your explanation.)
Measures the relative intensity between two sounds
Is a logarithmic scale based on exponents of 10
Condenses the large range of human aural sensitivity into a
manageable scale:
10,000,000,000,000 versus 1013 (130 dB)
Corresponds to how intensity differences are perceived
2. What does 0 dB corresponds with? Is it complete silence?
Threshold of hearing
3. Explain why women typically have higher voices than men.
Womens vocal cords tend to be shorter and therefore vibrate at a
greater frequency
Lab 4: Chapter 5
1. Explain how the vocal tract can be modeled as a tube.
A node at the boundary [larynx] (if y-axis is displacement) and an
antinode at the opening [lips] (if y-axis is displacement)
2. Explain the physics of resonance. Where is air pressure and particle
velocity at a min/max?
3. Explain the source filter theory of speech.
Speechproduction=2stageprocessinvolvinggenerationofasoundsourcew/itsown
spectralshape&finestructure,whichisthenshaped&filteredbytheresonantpropsoftheVT
source:glottalsoundattheleveloftheVF
filter:theVT&articulators

Lab 6: Chapter 5
1. What are the major landmarks of the vocal tract, and what is their
primary function?
-Pharynx
connects nasal cavity and mouth; and the larynx and the esophagus
separates airway from GI tract

Deglutition (swallowing)

-oral cavity
prehension
mechanical breakdown (chewing)
space from lips to the pharynx
-velum
1. to open (drop) when you need to breath through nose
2. to close (raise) when you need to breath through your mouth
-tongue
taste, mastication, swallowing, secretion of lingual lipase to break down lipids for trygliceride
digestion
-lips
Keep food in oral cavity during chewing

2.

Explain the purpose of the vowel quadrilateral. Why is it set up this

way? What does it tell us? What is the significance to how it is
arranged?
(This is an essay question, be sure to answer as thoroughly as
possible.)
HINTS:
/i/ = large pharynx, small oral cavity; low F1, high F2
/a/ = small pharynx, large oral cavity; high F1, relatively low F2
/u/ = large pharynx, large oral cavity, vocal tract lengthened by lip
protrusion;
F1 is low; F2 is low
F1 varies with pharyngeal cavity size and mouth opening
F2 varies with oral cavity length
Pg. 105-106 in textbook
Lab 7: Chapter 6
1. What is the importance of the velopharyngeal port? What are the
results of dysfunction?
2. Explain the difference between assimilation and coarticulation. Give
three examples of each that are different from your notes.
3. What is voice onset time (VOT)? Explain the three categories of VOT.
4. Explain how an affricate shows features of both a stop and a fricative.
5. Spectrogram group activity