UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE MAR DEL PLATA – FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES

DEPARTAMENTO LENGUAS MODERNAS – PROFESORADO DE INGLES

FONETICA Y FONOLOGÍA INGLESA 2

REVISION MID TERM TEST 1 – THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH PLOSIVES

A) LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING DIAGRAM AND NAME EACH OF THE PHASES IN

THE PRODUCTION OF AN ENGLISH PLOSIVE. THEN WRITE A VERY BRIEF
DESCRIPTION OF EACH ONE.

PA

AA

1- …………..……….stage 2- …………………stage 3- …………….……stage

1: ……………………………………………………………..………………………………………

2: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

B) COMPLETE THE DEFINITION WITH ONE OF THE WORDS FROM THE BOX.
THERE IS ONE EXTRA WORD THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE.

LABIODENTAL –DENTAL - LATERAL RELEASE – GLOTTAL REPLACEMENT -

DEVOICING – ASPIRATION – LENIS – HOMORGANIC – PRE-FORTIS CLIPPING –
OBSTRUENT - FORTIS

1- ………………….is to pronounce (a normally voiced sound) without vibration of the vocal

cords so as to make it wholly or partly voiceless.

2- …………………is a period of voicelessness between the release phase and the onset of
voicing in the following sound.
3- …………………… is a type of plosive release where the compressed air is released by
lowering the side(s) of the tongue rather than removing the closure on the mid-line of the
vocal tract.

4- …………………….: An adjective applied to two or more sounds which are made at the
same place of articulation

5- ……………………..: An adjective applied to obstruent sounds supposedly produced with

low muscle tension and which are normally voiced.

6- ………………………: A consonant articulation where there is a constriction close

enough to cause an increase in air pressure in the vocal tract with respect to ambient air
pressure.

7- ……………………….The name of a place of articulation. The active articulator is the

lower lip and the passive articulator is the upper front teeth. Examples: /f//v/.

8- ……………........is an adjective which describes obstruents which are produced with

high muscle tension and which are normally voiceless.

9- ………………….: The replacement of a consonant with a glottal stop. The sound

affected in English is usually /t/, as in the pronunciation /nɒʔ naʊ/ for not now.

10- …………………..: The articulation of an alveolar plosive before /θ/ or /ð/

C) COMPARE/ CONTRAST THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH PLOSIVES IN TERMS OF

THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA. THE FIRST ONE HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU.

ENGLISH PLOSIVES SPANISH PLOSIVES

VOICING Set of voiceless plosives: /p, t, k/.

Set of voiced plosives: /b, d, g/.

PLACE OF
ARTICULATION

ASPIRATION

PARTIAL DEVOICING

GLOTTAL
REPLACEMENT

PHONOLOGICAL
DISTRIBUTION
 LATERAL RELEASE

NON-AUDIBLE RELEASE

PARTIAL DEVOICING

DEVOICING

AFFRICATION

QUANTITY OF
ALLOPHONES
(MORE/LESS)

USEFUL PHRASES TO COMPARE

1. Both English and Spanish…

2. English xx. Similarly, Spanish xx.
3. English xx. In the same way, Spanish xx.

USEFUL PHRASES TO CONTRAST

1. While English xx, Spanish xx.

2. Although / Even though English and Spanish plosives share xx, they differ in xx, xx
and xx.
3. Spanish plosives xx. Contrastingly, English plosives xx.
4. Whereas Spanish plosives xx, English plosives xx.
5. Unlike English plosives, Spanish plosives xx.