Basic concept of speech

Syllables, phonemes

Syllable is the basic unit of speech structure, which is the smallest piece of speech that is naturally emitted when speaking and naturally felt when obedient. Syllables are composed of phonemes. Generally speaking, one Chinese character represents one syllable in Chinese, but only a few syllables have two Chinese characters and only one syllable.

Phoneme is the smallest phonetic unit divided according to the different sound quality, which is divided from the perspective of timbre, and has no relationship with pitch, duration and intensity. Any language has two types of phonemes: vowels and consonants. In Chinese, most syllables are composed of 2 ~ 4 phonemes, and a few syllables are composed of 1 or 5 phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest unit that makes up a syllable.

Vowels, consonants

Vowels, also called vowels, refers to the airflow vibration of the vocal cords, in the oral pharyngeal cavity without hindrance and the formation of sound. The different vowels are determined by the different shape of the mouth at the time of articulation. Vowels are the backbone of syllables. Every syllable in Chinese has a vowel, and it is a vowel-dominant language.

A consonant, also called a consonant, is a sound formed when the airflow is obstructed during articulation. The difference of consonants is caused by different places of articulation and different methods of articulation. Consonants can be described in terms of place of articulation and method of articulation. Consonants occur only at the front and back ends of the syllable, and are small in duration and energy.

There are four main differences between vowels and consonants:

• The obstruction situation is different. When vowels are pronounced, the air flow is not blocked, while when consonants are pronounced, the air flow through the oral cavity and nasal cavity are blocked. This is the main difference between the original sound and the consonant.
• The tension state of vocal organs is different. During vowel pronunciation, all organ parts maintain a balanced tension state, while during consonant pronunciation, only the parts that constitute obstacles are more tense and other parts are more relaxed.
• The strength of air flow is different. The air flow is weak when the vowel is pronounced, and the air flow is strong when the consonant is pronounced.
• The vocal fold vibration is not the same, the vocal fold vibration when the vowel is pronounced, the voice is loud, the vocal fold vibration when the consonant occurs, there is also no vibration.

Initials, finals, tones

In traditional Chinese phonetics, the syllable of a Chinese character is divided into three parts, namely initial, final and tone. An initial refers to a consonant at the beginning of a syllable, and if there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable, it is called a zero initial. Consonants and initials are analyzed from different angles and are two different concepts. Finals refer to the phoneme following the initial in a syllable, and the main component is the vowel. Vowels and finals are also two different concepts analyzed from different angles. In Mandarin, vowels are used as finals, but finals are not equal to vowels. Tone refers to the rise and fall of a syllable. The tone change is attached to the whole syllable.

Your task

What do you think is the difference between vowels and consonants when they are voiced?

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