Phonetics & Phonology

Question 1

What is a phoneme?

Answer 1

The smallest unit in a language that distinguishes meaning.

Question 2

What is a minimal pair?

Answer 2

Words that differ in just ONE SOUND in SAME POSITION

Question 3

Are the following words minimal pairs?
A) «sale» and «sail»
B) «dough» and «do»

Answer 3

A) no (it’s a homophone)
B) yes

Question 4

What is the place of articulation for /d/

Answer 4

Alveolar

Question 5

What is the manner of articulation for /v/?

Answer 5

Fricative

Question 6

What are the distinctive features for consonants?

Answer 6

Place of Articulation
Manner of Articulation
Voice (Voiced/Voiceless)

Question 7

Name all voiceless consonants:

Answer 7

/p/. /t/. /k/. /f/. /θ/. /s/. /ʃ/. /ʧ/. /h/

Question 8

Name all labiodental consonants and an example word for each consonant

Answer 8

/f/ (e.g. fun, face, firmament)
/v/ (e.g. vase, vain, vogue)

Question 9

Name all dental consonants and an example word for each consonant

Answer 9

/θ/ (e.g. thin, think, thick → sharp th)
/ð/ (e.g. then, there, this → soft th)

Question 10

Name all glottal consonants and an example word for each consonant

Answer 10

/h/ (e.g. height, hello, help)

Question 11

What is the place and manner of articulation for the phonem /h/? Is it voiced or voiceless?

Answer 11

Glottal, fricative, voiceless

Question 12

What is the place and manner of articulation for the phonem /dʒ/? Is it voiced or voiceless?

Answer 12

Postalveolar, affricate and voiced

Question 13

Name the consonants fitting these descriptions:
Plosive, velar, voiceless
Lateral, alveolar, voiced

Answer 13

/k/
/l/

Question 14

Name all affricate consonants and an example word for each consonant

Answer 14

/tʃ/ (e.g. child, chair, cheese → sharp ch sound)
/dʒ/ (e.g. bridge, judge, touch → softer ch sound)

Question 15

Name all lateral consonants plus example word

Answer 15

/l/ (e.g. light, lie, long)

Question 16

Name all palatal consonants plus example word

Answer 16

/j/ (e.g. yes, yellow, yard, young)

Question 17

What is the difference between manner of articulation and place of articulation?

Answer 17

Manner describes where the airstream is obstructed and place how the airstream is modified by three vocal tract

Question 18

Which three distinctive features are necessary to describe and classify English monophthongs?

Answer 18

Openness of mouth, Position of the tongue, Length/Duration/Quantity

Question 19

Which of the following words contains an open front vowel?
A) bet
B) bat
C) but
D) bot

Answer 19

B)

Question 20

What are the two rules for the occurrence of the allophone: clear l

Answer 20

Before vowel, before /j/

Question 21

What are the two rules for the occurrence of the allophone: dark l

Answer 21

Before consonant, at the end of a word

Question 22

What are allophones?

Answer 22

Different realisations of one phonem.

Question 23

Which allophone of the phoneme /l/ can you find in the following words and why:
A) sell
B) look
C) build
D) million

Answer 23

A) dark l (end of word)
B) clear l (before vowel)
C) dark l (before consonant)
D) clear l (before /j/)

Question 24

What is meant by phonological conditioning in the context of allophones?

Answer 24

Predictability of allophones → rules

Question 25

What is meant by complementary distribution in the context of allophones?

Answer 25

Where one is, the other can’t be.

Question 26

Which distinctive feature do the consonants /k/ and /ŋ/ have in common?

Answer 26

Both are velar.

Question 27

Name the 5 long monophthongs and an example word

Answer 27

/iː/ seed /ɜː/ bird /uː/ food /ɔː/ law /ɒː/ father

Question 28

Name the 7 short monophthongs and an example word

Answer 28

/ɪ/ sit /e/ pet /æ/ sat /ʌ/ some /ə/ brother /ʊ/ foot /ɒ/ dog

Question 29

Name all approximant consonants together with their place of articulation

Answer 29

/w/ bilabial /r/ postalveolar /j/ palatal (All of them are voiced)

Question 30

Are the following words minimal pairs? A) «sing» and «think» B) «set» and «pet»

Answer 30

A) no B) yes

Question 31

(Definition) Phonetics/Phonology

Answer 31

The central branch of linguistics that focuses on pronunciation/ speech sounds & sound system

Question 32

Please identify the distinctive features of the consonant /r/

Answer 32

Voiced, postalveolar, approximant

Question 33

Are those minimal pairs? A) base and phase B) spin and spoon

Answer 33

A) no (because the in phase is voiced, in base it is voiceless B) yes

Question 34

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. car

Answer 34

/ɑː/

Question 35

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. boy

Answer 35

/ɔɪ/

Question 36

Which consonant is described by the following distinctive features: voiceless, labiodental, fricative

Answer 36

/f/

Question 37

Which consonant is described by the following distinctive features: voiceless, bilabial, plosive

Answer 37

/p/

Question 38

What is the correct allophone of [l] and rule for distribution: villian

Answer 38

Clear l, before vowel

Question 39

Which of the following words contain(s) an open back vowel? A) fat B) dog C) food D) cheese

Answer 39

B

Question 40

Are those minimal pairs? A) choose - shoes B) board - bored

Answer 40

A) yes, they differ in the sound /tʃ/ and /ʃ/. B) no, these are homophones

Question 41

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. back

Answer 41

/æ/

Question 42

Please identify the distinctive features of the following consonant: /θ/

Answer 42

Voiceless, dental, fricative

Question 43

Please identify the distinctive features of the following consonant: /dʒ/

Answer 43

Voiced, postalveolar, affricate

Question 44

Please identify the distinctive features of the following consonant: /f/

Answer 44

Voiceless, fricative, labiodental

Question 45

In connected speech, sounds adapt to neighboring sounds in terms of their articulatory features. This happens for example in the word handbag. In this case, we refer to it as…

Answer 45

Assimilation

Question 46

Is "wise - rice" a minimal pair?

Answer 46

These words differ in two sounds, /w/ and /r/, /z/ and /s/. Therefore they do not qualify as a minimal pair. The in wise is voiced and thus pronounced as /z/.

Question 47

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. time

Answer 47

The correct answer is: /aɪ/

Question 48

Name all characteristics for vowels

Answer 48

they are articulated without any obstruction of the airstream in the vocal tract, they are harmonic vibrations; they do not contain a noise component, they can be the centre of a syllable

Question 49

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. run

Answer 49

The correct answer is: /ʌ/

Question 50

Which consonants are described by the following distinctive features: voiced velar nasal

Answer 50

/ŋ/ (like in king)

Question 51

Which consonants are described by the following distinctive features: voiceless alveolar fricative

Answer 51

/s/

Question 52

Which consonants are described by the following distinctive features: voiced alveolar lateral

Answer 52

/l/

Question 53

Which consonants are described by the following distinctive features: voiceless postalveolar fricative

Answer 53

/ʃ/

Question 54

Give the phonemic transcription of the vowel in the example word below. foot

Answer 54

/ʊ/

Question 55

Is "hum - thumb" a minimal pair?

Answer 55

Yes, The words differ in one phoneme: /h/ and /θ/. The letter at the end of thumb is silent.

Question 56

Please identify the distinctive features of the following consonant: /tʃ/

Answer 56

Voicing: voiceless Place of articulation: postalveolar Manner of articulation: affricate

Question 57

Which of the following are closing diphthongs A) /aɪ/ B) /əʊ/ C) /aʊ/ D) /eɪ/ E) /ʊə/ F) /ɔɪ/ G) /eə/ I) /ɪə/

Answer 57

A, B, C, D, F

Question 58

Please identify the distinctive features of the following consonant: /k/

Answer 58

Voicing: voiceless Place of articulation: velar Manner of articulation: plosive