Exercises: segmental features

1. What’s the difference between homophones and homographs?

2. What’s the difference between consonants and vowels in terms of articulation?

3. Describe how these sounds are articulated:

a. Bilabial:
b. Labiodental:
c. Dental:
d. Alveolar:
e. Palatal:
f. Velar:
g. Glottal:

4. Why is it important to know how we articulate each sound?

5. Why do Brazilian students have difficulties in pronouncing the following sounds? Can we
explain each difficulty?
a. th:
b. final l:
c. m:
d. stops (principally at the end of the words):

6. Explain the difference between the sentences below in relation to the use of the phoneme /h/
and the use of the indefinite articles: a or an:
a. An honest man waited for an hour.
b. A ham and cheese sandwich is very good.

7. What’s the difference between pronouncing PAI in Portuguese and PIE in English?

8. What do those words below have in common when we pronounce them?

love – arrive – move – wife – cave

9. Why can the phoneme /s/ at the end of words in English be a problem for Brazilians? Can the
phoneme /s/ in inicial position at a word be a problem too? Explain.
10. Explain the use of the article in the sequences below:
a. a uncle – a union
b. an egg – a eucalyptus

11. Do we pronounce the -ed endings at the same way? Explain:

12. What does that chart mean?

13. What are the characteristics of the schwa sound?

14. What are the principal difficulties that Brazilians have to articulate the vowel sounds?

15. Explain the meaningof minimal pairs and give examples.