EDUCATORS’ SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
ON PHONEMIC AWARENESS TERMS AND BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Match term in left hand column with definition in column on right. (Answers at end of
this section.)
1. Fricative
2. Consonant
3. Diphthongs
4. R-Controlled vowel
5. Stop consonant
6. Assonance
7. Rhyme
8. Breve
9. Co-articulation
10. Syllable
11. Allophones
12. Schwa
13. Alliteration
14. Minimal pair
15. Phonological awareness
16. Vowel
17. Rime
18. Inflection
19. Macron
20. Consonant cluster
A. A pair of words that contrast only in one phoneme.
B. When sounds involve overlapping or simultaneous articulations
C. An open phoneme that is the nucleus of every syllable and is classified
by tongue position and height, English has 15 vowel phonemes.
D. Consonant speech sounds that are articulated with a stop of the air
stream.
E. A class of speech sounds articulated with a hiss or friction.
F. A bound morpheme that combines with base words to indicate tense,
number, mood, person, or gender (i.e. peaches, walked)
G. An awareness of the constituent sounds of words. The constituents of
words can be distinguished in three ways a) by syllable, b) by onsets and
rimes c) by phonemes
H. Variations in the spoken phoneme that do not indicate a difference in
meaning. Example: in some parts of the US grease is pronounced so that it
rhymes with peace, while in other areas pronunciation rhymes with sneeze.
I. Identical or very similar recurring final sounds in words
J. A vowel and any following consonants in a syllable. [‘at’ in cat, or
‘ook’ in brook]
K. Adjacent consonants within a syllable, before or after a vowel sound:
oral language equivalent of consonant blend
L. Vowels that have a glide and may feel as though they have two parts,
especially the vowel pairs ou,ow and oi, oy.
M. A phoneme that is not a vowel and is formed with obstruction of the
flow of air with the teeth, lips, or tongue. English has 40 or more
consonants
N. A non-distinct vowel found in unstressed syllables in English. A pair
of words that contrast only in one phoneme.
O. An orthographic symbol placed above a vowel to indicate a long vowel
sound
P. An orthographic symbol sometimes placed directly above a vowel to
indicate that it has short duration or lax pronunciation.
Q. The repetition of the initial sounds in neighboring words
R. Pertaining to a vowel immediately followed by the consonant /r/, such
that it pronunciation is affected or even dominated by the /r/.
S. The repetition in words of identical or similar vowel sounds followed
by different consonant sounds, as /a/ in the mad hatter.
T. Always contains a vowel or vowel-like speech sound
Challenge: Once you have determined the correct matches between the right and left
columns – give examples for each of the terms.
Super challenge: Locate where in your adopted series is this concept taught and/or
practiced?
Answer key below:
1.
2.
Fricative
Consonant
3.
Diphthongs
4.
R-Controlled vowel
5.
Stop consonant
6.
Assonance
7.
8.
Rhyme
Breve
9. Co-articulation
10. Syllable
11. Allophones
12.
13.
14.
15.
Schwa
Alliteration
Minimal pair
Phonological
awareness
16. Vowel
17. Rime
18. Inflection
19. Macron
20. Consonant cluster
A. A class of speech sounds articulated with a hiss or friction.
B. A phoneme that is not a vowel and is formed with obstruction of
the flow of air with the teeth, lips, or tongue. English has 40 or
more of these phonemes.
C. Vowels that have a glide and may feel as though they have two
parts, especially the vowel pairs ou,ow and oi, oy.
D. Pertaining to a vowel immediately followed by the consonant /r/,
such that it pronunciation is affected or even dominated by the /r/.
E. Consonant speech sounds that are articulated with a stop of the
air stream.
F. The repetition in words of identical or similar vowel sounds
followed by different consonant sounds, as /a/ in the mad hatter.
G. Identical or very similar recurring final sounds in words
H. An orthographic symbol sometimes placed directly above a
vowel to indicate that it has short duration or lax pronunciation.
I. When sounds involve overlapping or simultaneous articulations
J. Always contains a vowel or vowel-like speech sound
K. Variations in the spoken phoneme that do not indicate a
difference in meaning. Example: in some parts of the US grease
is pronounced so that it rhymes with peace, while in other areas
pronunciation rhymes with sneeze.
L. A non-distinct vowel found in unstressed syllables in English
M. The repetition of the initial sounds in neighboring words
N. A pair of words that contrast only in one phoneme.
O. An awareness of the constituent sounds of words. The
constituents of words can be distinguished in three ways a) by
syllable, b) by onsets and rimes c) by phonemes
P. An open phoneme that is the nucleus of every syllable and is
classified by tongue position and height, English has 15 of these
phonemes.
Q. A vowel and any following consonants in a syllable. [‘at’ in cat,
or ‘ook’ in brook]
R. A found morpheme that combines with base words to indicate
tense, number, mood, person, or gender (i.e. peaches, walked)
S. An orthographic symbol placed above a vowel to indicate a long
vowel sound
T. Adjacent consonants within a syllable, before or after a vowel
sound: oral language equivalent of consonant blend