Name: Cao Nhật Khánh Linh
Class: 23CNA06
PART 1
Write the answer below each question.
1.What is a phoneme? What is an allophone?
- A phoneme is the smallest contrastive of distinctive unit that distinguishes meaning between
sounds in the sound system of a language.
- Allophone is any form of the variants of s phoneme in pronunciation.
2. What is a minimal pair? What is a minimal pair test used for?
- Minimal pair is a pair of two forms/words that are identical in everywhere except for one
segment that occurs in the same place in the string/phonemic environment/context.
- The minimal pair test used for discover which sounds are phonemes
3.What is a complementary distribution?
- A complementary distribution is two or more sounds or segments never occurs in the same
phonetic environment.
4. Give some examples of minimal pairs
Cap – Gap
Wine – Vine
Row – Low
There – Dare
5. Give the definition and examples for the following phenomenon:
a/dissimilation
A sound segment becomes less alike its neighboring sound.
E.g.
Word
Original Pronunciation
Dissimilation
Purple
[ˈpɝː.pəl]
[ˈpɝ.bəl]
b/metathesis
The order of the sounds is rearranged to ease the articulation.
E.g.
Word
Original Pronunciation
Best
[bɛst]
Desk
[dɛsk]
Metathesis
[bɛts]
[dɛks]
c/epenthesis
A sound segment is inserted within an existing string of sounds when there is a transition from a
sonorant to a non-sonorant.
d/aspiration
The pronunciation of the voiceless [p, t, k] with an extra puff of air strongly expelled.
6/What is the difference between a lateral sound and a central sound?
7/What is the difference between a nasal sound and an oral sound?
8/Give an example of stress shift.
9/What is the stress pattern of the following compound words:
a/greenhouse
b/the White House
10/Give one example for each of the following types of assimilation:
a/assimilation of voicing
b/ assimilation of place of articulation
c/assimilation of manner of articulation
PART 2
Please read the questions provided with four choices, marked A, B, C, and D in this reading
paper. Then, on your answer sheet, tick the correct box for the letter that corresponds to the
answer you have chosen.
1. Which of the following phonetic transcriptions corresponds to the following
phonetic description: voiceless palato-alveolar affricate?
A . [ t]
B. [ d]
C. [dʒ]
D. [tʃ]
2. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic description: voiceless alveolar
stop?
A. [  ]
B. [ m ]
C. [ t ]
D. [ d ]
3. Which of the following segments corresponds to the following phonetic description? long low back
vowel
A. [ i: ]
B. [ɔ: ]
C. [ u: ]
D. [ a: ]
4. How many segments are there in the sound sequence [ˈti:tʃɪŋ] teaching?
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
5. Which of the following phonetic variations may happen to the lateral [ l ] in this
context: [ ' pi:pl] people?
A. [ l ] becomes devoiced after voiceless stop [ p ]
B. [ l ] becomes syllabic after voiceless stop [ p ]
C. [ l ] becomes unaspirated after voiced stop [ p ]
D. [ l] becomes aspirated after voiced stop [ p ]
6. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
Nasal sounds are produced with
A. the airstream released through the nasal cavity
B. the continuous air flow through the mouth
C. with the velum being lowered
D. the airstream is blocked completely at the initial stage
7. Which of the following assimilatory processes may happen to the voiced alveolar stop [g] in this context:
My grandfather has a dog
A. [ g ] may be devoiced after the vowel [ɒ ]
B. [ g ] may be devoiced at the end of the word [ dɒg ]
C. [ g ] may be labialised after the vowel [ɒ ]
D. [ g ] may be voiced at the end of the word [ dɒg ]
8. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: long mid back vowel
A. [ɔ: ]
B. [ a: ]
C. [ i: ]
D. [ u: ]
9. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: tense high front vowel?
A. [ i: ]
B. [ e ]
C. [ɪ ]
D. [æ ]
10. Which of the following statements is correct?
Palatal is made
A. at the hard palate
B. at the soft area toward the rear of the roof of the mouth
C. at the teeth ridge
D. with the tongue placed against the teeth
11. Which of the following assimilatory processes that may happen to the alveolar [ t ] in
context: [' kredit ka:d ] credit card?
this
A. [ t ] may be deleted before the velar [ k ]
B. [ t ] may be aspirated before the velar [ k ]
C. [ t ] may be velarized before the velar [ k ]
D. [ t ] may become syllabic before the velar [ k ]
12. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
Progressive assimilation is a process by which
A. the change of a segment is brought about by the preceding segment
B. a sound copies one or more phonetic features from the following sound
C. the sound becomes more like the preceding sound
D. a sound spreads one or more phonetic features to the following sound
13. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic description: voiced
velar nasal?
A. [ g ]
B. [ k ]
C. [ n ]
D. [ŋ ]
14. Which of the following phonetic variations may happen to the first alveolar [ t ] in this context: Let me
do it [let mi: du: ɪt ]?
A. [ t ] is aspirated at the end of the word let [let ]
B. [ t ] is devoiced word finally
C. [ t ] is labialized before the bilabial [ m ]
D. [ t ] is voiced in the final position of a stressed syllable
15. Which of the following phonetic transcriptions corresponds to the following
phonetic description: high back rounded tense vowel ?
A. [ e ]
B. [ i: ]
C. [ u: ]
D. [ʊ ]
16. Which of the following is the phonetic transcription of this form “handkerchief”?
A. [ˈhændkətʃɪf ]
B. [ˈhæŋkətʃɪf ]
C. [ˈhæŋdkətʃɪf ]
D. [ˈhænkətʃɪf ]
17. Which of the following statements is correct?
Sonorants include
A. vowels, nasals, liquids and glides
B. vowels, nasals, fricatives and liquids
C. vowels, nasals, and voiced affricates
D. vowels, nasals, and voiceless stops
18. Which of the following is incorrect?
When a feature is predictable by the phonological rules, it is
A. a redundant feature
B. a phonetic feature
C. a phonemic feature
D. both A and B
19. Which of the following is not considered (an) articulator(s)?
A. the tongue
B. the lips
C. the velum
D. the ears
20. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
A. Phonetics provides the means for describing speech sounds.
B. Phonology studies the ways phonemes function in language
C. Phonetics aims to provide the set of features, or properties that can describe all
sounds in human language.
D. Phonology deals with the articulatory and acoustic aspects of speech sounds.
21. Which of the following groups contains a segment that differs in place of articulation from the other
segments?
A. [ k, w, n, g ]
B. [ t, d, n, s ]
C. [ p, m, w, b ]
D. [ t, d, z, n ]
22. Which of the following statements is correct?
When a feature value is unpredictable by a general principle or rule, it is
A. a distinctive feature for that class of segments
B. a non-distinctive or non-phonemic feature for that class of segments
C. a phonetic feature for sounds that contrast
D. a redundant feature for that class of segment
23. Which of the following phonetic transcriptions corresponds to the following
phonetic description: voiced bilabial nasal ?
A. [ m ]
B. [ n ]
C. [ŋ ]
D. [ w ]
24. Which of the following assimilatory processes occurs to the voiceless alveolar [ t ] in this
context [dɪdnt ju: ] didn’t you?
A. [ t ] is aspirated before palatal [ j ]
B. [ t ] is palatalized before palatal [ j ]
C. [ t ] is deleted before palatal [ j ]
D. [ t ] is velarized before palatal [ j ]
25. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
A. An allophone is a predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme
B. An allophone is an abstract unit
C. An allophone is a phonetic realisation or variant of a phoneme
D. An allophone is uttered in speech
26. Which of the following statements is correct?
When two or more sounds never occur in the same phonemic context or environment they are
said to be
A. allophones of a phoneme
B. different phonemes
C. identical segments
D. in free variation
27. Which of the following phonetic variations the voiceless alveolar [ t ] may have in this context (in
terms of American pronunciation)
[ ˈlɪtl] litle?
A. [ t ] may be deleted
B. [ t ] may become glottal stop
C. [ t ] may become voiced flap
D. [ t ] becomes aspirated
28 Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: long high front vowel?
A. [ i: ]
B. [e]
C. [æ]
D. [ I ]
29. Which of the following statements is correct?
All the consonants are produced with
A. an extra puff of the air strongly expelled
B. an obstruction of the airstream (complete or partial)
C. no vibration of the vocal cords
D. vibration of the vocal cords
30. Which of the following is a minimal pair?
A. /kæt//hɪt/ cat – hit
B. /fæt //væt/ fat - vat
C. /pæt //tæp/ pat – tap
D. /fæt//bɪt/
fat – bit
31. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: voiced palato-alveolar fricative?
A. [ʃ ]
B. [s ]
C. [z ]
D. [ʒ ]
32. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
A. The phonetic representation of utterances shows what the speakers know about the
pronunciation of utterances.
B. The phonemic representation of utterances shows what speakers know about the
abstract underlying phonology.
C. The phonemic representation of utterances shows the finer points of the sounds or
segments in pronunciation
D. The phonetic representation of utterances shows the non-distinctive features of the
sounds.
33. Which of the following groups contains a segment that differs in manner of articulation
from the other segments?
A. [ , ð, s, z ]
B. [ w, r, j, l ]
C. [ p, b, z, d ]
D. [ t, d, g, p ]
34. Which of the following assimilatory processes may occur to the sound sequence
[hɒt
pəˈteɪtəʊ ] hot potato?
A. regressive assimilation
B. progressive assimilation
C. mutual assimilation
D. None of the above
35. Which of the following is the correct stress pattern of this word “grasshopper”?
A. [ˈɡrɑːshɒpə(r)]
B. [ɡrɑːsˈhɒpə(r)]
C. [ˈɡrɑːsˈhɒpə(r)]
D. [ˌɡrɑːsˈhɒpə(r)]
36. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. A minimal pair consists of two forms with distinct meanings that differ only by one
segment in the same position of each form.
B. Minimal pairs help us establish which sounds are redundant in a language
C. Minimal pair test is a basic test for deciding which sounds are the allophones of the
phoneme
D A minimal pair consists of two forms with distinct meanings that differ by two segments in the
same position of each form
37. Which of the following statements is correct?
The affricates [tʃ ] and [dʒ] are
A. consonants produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth
B. consonants produced with the complete stoppage of the air in the mouth which
causes explosion
C. consonants produced with the lowering of the soft palate
D. produced with an initial stop then with a slow separation of the tongue to make friction
38 Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: voiceless alveolar fricative?
A. [t ]
B. [ d ]
C. [ s ]
D. [z ]
39. Which of the following symbols corresponds to the following phonetic
description: voiceless labiodental fricative
A. [ f ]
B. [ w ]
C. [z ]
D. [ v ]
40. Which of the following statements is correct?
Palato- alveolar is the sound made
A. as a very rapidly articulated non-syllabic segment
B. just behind the alveolar ridge
C. with the identical articulation to that of the long vowel [ i: ]
D. with the tongue at the alveolar ridge
A
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B
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B
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