Faculty of Arts - English Department

Exam: Linguistics (phonology) (Date 14/1/2023)

1. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic
descriptions, then, give an English word that contains this sound:
Voiced alveolar stop [ ]........... Close front vowel [ ]...............
Voiced alveolar nasal [ ]........... Lateral liquid [ ]...............
Voiced dental fricative [ ]…......... Voiceless affricate [ ]..............
Close back long vowel [ ]............ Voiceless glottal fricative [ ]..............
Central tense vowel [ ]............ Voiceless bilabial aspirated stop [ ]...............

II. What phonetic feature distinguishes the sets of sounds in column A from those
in column B?
A B
[i:] [ɪ] [u:] [ʊ]
[p] [b] [m] [t] [d] [n] [ɪ]
[f] [v] [s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [ tʃ ] [ dʒ ]
[p] [t] [k] [s] [f] [b] [d] [g] [z] [v]
[ eə ] [ ɪə ] [ ʊə ] [ eɪ ] [ aɪ ] [ ɔɪ ] [ aʊ ] [ əʊ ]

III. Supply the missing words:

1. Voiceless plosives become ........... after /s/.
2. In English the sound/h/ can never occur in word ...........position
3. In the word "wanted" the final-ed is pronounced ..........
4. In the word "things" the final -s is pronounced ..........
5. The longest syllable in English is of the structure ...............
6. An affricate is a sound that ............
7. The words "onion" and "oven" begins with the same vowel sound ...........
8. ............ tends to be shorter, quieter and lower in pitch.
9. The first syllable of the words "father", "open" and "camera" is ...........
10. The words wonderful', 'comfortable, & refusal have their primary stress on ............

IV. A. Write the following broad transcriptions in regular English

spelling:
a. fənələdʒi ız ðə stʌdi əv saʊnd pætanz əv Læŋgwıdʒ.
b. ɔ:I spokən læŋgwıdʒəz ju:z saʊndz prədu:st baı ðə ʌpər respərətəri sıstəm.
c. wɔt ız ðə məʊst ɔbviəs kæriktaristik əv kla:sru:m tɔ:k.
d. ðæts ə naıs su:t. / aı hævnt si:n ıt bi:fɔ:, hæv aı.

B. Transcribe the following and determine the aspirated sounds:

1. He paid two pounds for five spoons.
2. I need a couple of ties.

V. A. Which of the following words is possible or not possible? State your reason":
[slig] [tsfmig] [maı] [ŋar]
B. Analyze the syllable structure of the following words:

a. twelfths. b. pretend.

C. The sentence "What's in the juice, honey" is ambiguous when written but the
ambiguity can be removed by using different intonation patterns: Explain.
VI. A. Indicate and explain the phonological rule involved in the following
examples:
1. Can you see that person over there?
2. You can park the car over there?
3. There are ten cups on the table.
4. This is his last chance to pass.
B. Number the words with the appropriate stress pattern (1-5).
["O" refers to a stressed syllable while "o" refers to unstressed one.]

1 2 3 4 5
Oo oO Ooo ooO oOo

Open........ volunteer ……... forget …........ popular …... example .......... contact (n.)
 GOOD LUCK
1. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions, then, give
an English word that contains this sound:

1. Voiced alveolar stop: [d] (e.g., "dog")

2. Close front vowel: [i] (e.g., "sit")
3. Voiced alveolar nasal: [m] (e.g., "man")
4. Lateral liquid: [l] (e.g., "light")
5. Voiced dental fricative: [ð] (e.g., "the")
6. Voiceless affricate: [tʃ] (e.g., "chip")
7. Close back long vowel: [u:] (e.g., "moon")
8. Voiceless glottal fricative: [h] (e.g., "house")
9. Central tense vowel: [ʌ] (e.g., "but")
10. Voiceless bilabial aspirated stop: [pʰ] (e.g., "pin")

II. What phonetic feature distinguishes the sets of sounds in column A from those in column B?

Column A Column B Distinguishing Feature

Tongue height: Sounds in A are produced with a higher tongue

[i:] [ɪ] [u:] [ʊ] position (close vowels), while sounds in B have a lower tongue
position (close-mid or open-mid vowels).

Place of articulation: Sounds in A are bilabial (lips), while sounds

[p] [b] [t] [d]
in B are alveolar (tongue against the alveolar ridge) or dental
[m] [n] [ɪ]
(tongue against the teeth).

[f] [v] Manner of articulation: Sounds in A are fricatives (continuous

[s] [z] [ʃ] [tʃ] [dʒ] airflow with friction), while sounds in B are affricates (stop
[ʒ] followed by a fricative).

[p] [t] [b] [d]

Voicing: Sounds in A are voiceless (no vocal cord vibration), while
[k] [s] [g] [z]
sounds in B are voiced (vocal cords vibrate).
[f] [v]

Diphthongization: Sounds in A are centring diphthongs (vowel

[eɪ] [aɪ]
[eə] [ɪə] quality changes towards a central vowel), while sounds in B are
[ɔɪ] [aʊ]
[ʊə] closing diphthongs (vowel quality changes towards a higher or
[əʊ]
lower vowel).

1. Voiceless plosives become **voiceless fricatives** after /s/.

2. In English, the sound /h/ can never occur in word **final** position.
3. In the word "wanted," the final -ed is pronounced **/ɪd/**.
4. In the word "things," the final -s is pronounced **/z/**.
5. The longest syllable in English is of the structure **CCCVCCCC**.
6. An affricate is a sound that **starts as a stop and releases as a fricative**.
7. The words "onion" and "oven" begin with the same vowel sound **/ɒ/**.
8. **Intervocalic consonants** tend to be shorter, quieter, and lower in pitch.
9. The first syllable of the words "father," "open," and "camera" is **stressed**.
10. The words "wonderful," "comfortable," & "refusal" have their primary stress on **the first
syllable**.

V. A. Regular English Spellings:

a. phonology is the study of sound patterns of language. b. All spoken languages use sounds produced
by the upper respiratory system. c. What is the most obvious characteristic of classroom talk? d. That's
a nice suit. / I haven't seen it before, have I?

IV. B. Transcriptions and Aspirates:

1. hi: peɪd tu: paʊndz fɔ: faɪv spu:nz (Aspirated: p in "paid")

2. aɪ ni:d ə kʌpl̩ ə taɪz (Aspirated: t in "ties")

V. A. Word Possibility:

• Possible: [maɪ] (my) - This is a common English word.

• Not possible: [slig], [tsfmig], and [ŋar] - These sound sequences violate English phonotactic
rules or lack clear meaning.

V. B. Syllable Structure:

a. twelfths: twelve-ths (CVC-CVC) b. pretend: pre-tend (CVC-CVC)

C. Ambiguity in Sentence and Intonation:

The sentence "What's in the juice, honey" is ambiguous when written because the comma placement
can lead to two different interpretations:

1. Neutral Intonation:

• "What's in the juice, honey?"

• Ambiguous – It could be asking about the contents of the juice, with "honey" as an
endearment.

2. Question Intonation:

• "What's in the juice, honey?"

• Indicates that "honey" is being asked about, clarifying the intended meaning.

3. Statement Intonation:

• "What's in the juice, honey."

 • Implies that the speaker is simply informing someone about what's in the juice, again
clarifying the meaning.

Different intonation patterns resolve the ambiguity and convey the intended meaning in spoken
language.

VI. A. Phonological Rules:

1. Can you see that person over there?

• Phonological Rule: Intervocalic /t/ is pronounced as a flap [ɾ] when it occurs between
vowels and the second vowel is unstressed.

• Explanation: The /t/ in "that" is pronounced as a flap [ɾ] due to being between two
vowels, "can you."

2. You can park the car over there?

• Phonological Rule: Intervocalic /t/ is pronounced as a flap [ɾ] in casual speech.

• Explanation: The /t/ in "that" is pronounced as a flap [ɾ] due to being between two
vowels, "you can."

3. There are ten cups on the table.

• Phonological Rule: The /r/ at the end of "are" is often not pronounced in casual
speech, a phenomenon known as "r-dropping."

• Explanation: The /r/ in "are" is dropped, and it is pronounced as "the" instead of

"there."

4. This is his last chance to pass.

• Phonological Rule: Linking /z/ is added when a word ending in a voiced sound is
followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound.

• Explanation: The /z/ sound is added between "his" and "last" due to the linking
phenomenon, making it sound like "hislas."

1. Open: 2 (oO)
2. Volunteer: 3 (Ooo)
3. Forget: 1 (Oo)
4. Popular: 4 (ooO)
5. Example: 5 (oOo)
6. Contact (n.): 2 (oO)