Muneerah Almuhanna

English Transcription Exercises:

1. Circle all the symbols below which represent voiced sounds:

[s] [d] [g] [ð] [tʃ] [b] [t] [ʔ] [r] [θ] [p]

[o] [f] [ʃ] [z] [k] [i] [m] [v] [h] [w] [l]

2. Write the phonetic symbol representing each of the following sounds (don’t forget to
use square brackets). The first one is given as an example.

E.g. Voiced palatal glide: [j]

a) Voiceless palatal affricate [tʃ]

b) Voiced velar nasal [ŋ]

c) Voiceless glottal fricative [h]

d) Voiced labiodental fricative [v]

e) Voiced interdental fricative [ð]

f) Voiced palatal fricative [ʒ]

g) Voiced alveolar lateral liquid [l]

h) High front tense unrounded vowel [i]

i) Mid back lax rounded vowel [ɔ]

j) Mid front lax unrounded vowel [ɛ]

k) Low back lax unrounded vowel [ɑ]

3. Write the three-part articulatory descriptions for the consonant sounds represented by
the following symbols. The first one is given as an example.

E.g. [j]: voiced palatal glide

a) [f] voiceless libiodental fricative f) [r] voiced alveolar retroflex-liquid

b) [z] voiced alveolar fricative g) [ʒ] voiced palatal fricative

c) [n] voiced alveolar nasal h) [tʃ] voiceless palatal affricate

d) [ŋ] voiced velar nasal i) [g] voiced velar stop

e) [ ʃ ] voiceless palatal fricative j) [ʔ] voiceless glottal stop

 Muneerah Almuhanna

4- Write the four-part articulatory descriptions for the vowel sounds represented by the
following symbols:
E.g.: [ə] mid, central, unrounded, and lax.

a. [ɪ] lax mid front unrounded vowel d.[u] tense high back rounded vowel

b. [ʌ] mid central unrounded vowel e.[ æ] low front unrounded vowel

c. [ɛ] lax mid front unrounded vowel f. [ʊ] lax high back rounded vowel

5. Give the conventional spelling for the following phonetically transcribed words.
(Note that some may have more than one possible spelling.) The first one is given
as an example.

a. [sloʊp] slope
b. [bjuri] beauty k. [peɪn] pain u. [pitsə] pizza ee. [frm] firm I
c. [seɪl] seal I l. [wɛnzdeɪ] Wednesday v. [ækʃṇ] action I ff. [prɑɪd] pride I
d. [wɔrm] worm m. [kanʃəs] conscious w. [sʌni] sunny gg. [ðoʊ] though I
e. [rut] root I n. [θaʊzṇd] Thousand I x. [ʃuleɪs] shoelace hh. [greɪs] grace I
f. [liʒḷ] leisure I o. [fʌdʒ] Fudge y. [krɔld] crawled I ii. [srveɪ] survey I
g. [srtʃt] search I p. [kɑɪt] Kite z. [pɔɪnt] point jj. [lʊk] look
h. [krud] crude q. [krɑʊd] crowd aa. [kloʊð] cloud I kk. [neɪʃṇ] nation
r. [rɑt] rot I bb. [roʊt] wrote ll. [bæŋ] bang I
i. [rdʒ] ridge I
j. [ritʃ] reach
s. [kɔḷl] curl cc. [θæŋk] thank mm. [eɪʒə] age I
t. [rɪtʃ] rich dd. [ʃɑk] shock nn. [baks] box

a. 6- Transcribe the following words. a. Touch [tʌtʃ]

b. Woman I [ˈwʊmən] p. Punched [pʌnʧt] ee. leather [ˈlɛðər] tt. cringe [krɪnʤ] I
c. Women [ˈwɪmən ] q. Lather [ˈlæðər] I ff. Godzilla [ˌgɑdˈzɪlə] uu. pushed [pʊʃt] I
d. Flood I [flʌd ] r. Cairo [ˈkaɪroʊ ] gg. raspberry [ˈræzˌbɛri] vv. isn’t [ˈɪzənt] I
e. Wrapped [ræpt] I s. Vision [ˈvɪʒən ] I hh. slyly [ˈslaɪli] ww. rhythm [ˈrɪðəm]
f. Prays I [preɪz] I t. Price [praɪs ] jj. wove [woʊv] xx. January [ˈʤænjuˌɛri]
g. Brood [brud ] I u. Monkey [ˈmʌŋki] kk . mustache [ˈmʌˌstæʃ] yy. mother [ˈmʌðər]
h. Ghoul [gul ] I v. Huge [hjuʤ] I I ll. carrot [ˈkærət] zz. pure [pjʊr]
i. Torch I [tɔrʧ ] I w. Cough [kɑf ] I mm. child [ʧaɪld] aaa. February [ˈfɛbjəˌwɛri]
j. Stood [stʊd] x. Batch [bæʧ ] I nn. sugar [ˈʃʊgər] bbb. Bathtub [ˈbæθtəb] I
k. Move [muv] y. Whale [weɪl ] I oo. cane [keɪn] ccc. union [ˈjunjən]
l. Breathe [brið ] z. Easy [ˈizi ] pp. said [sɛd] ddd. Hoodlum [ˈhʊdləm]
m. Breath [brɛθ] aa. Hour [ˈaʊər ] I qq. larynx [ˈlɛrɪŋks] eee. Icy [ˈaɪsi] I
n. Lose I [luz ] bb. Carton [ˈkɑrtən] rr. love [lʌv] fff. July [ˌʤuˈlaɪ]
o. Loose [lus] cc. Though [ðoʊ ] I ss. sewn [soʊn] ggg. Cookies [ˈkʊkiz] I
dd.Circus [ˈsɜrkəs] hhh. August [ˈɑgəst]
 Muneerah Almuhanna

7. correct the mistakes in the following phonetic transcriptions of English words, if

there is a mistake.

[shut] shut [ʃʌt] [falʊ] follow [faloʊ] [lɛft] left  [ðim] theme [θim] [ræn] rang [ræŋ]

[swit] swift [swɪft] [trad] trod  [tʃild] child [tʃaɪld] [vois] voice [vɔɪs] [hɛlθ] health 