VO 2: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

WS 2020/21
2. Prüfungstermin: 24. 2. 2021

Name: Petru Vraciu Matrikelnummer: 11945010

Indicate the correct answer: X

When four possible answers are given, only one is correct.

1. The world’s oldest written language is:

Arabic X Sumerian
Sanskrit unknown

2. When is spoken language thought to have developed?

millions of years ago 2,000 – 4,000 years ago
X 20,000 – 40,000 years ago 500,000 years ago

3. The relationship between strings of sounds and the meanings they represent is:
onomatopoeic the same in all languages
determined by nature X arbitrary

4. The most widely accepted theory about the origin of language is the:
natural-sound theory Tower of Babel theory
X gestural communication theory divine theory

5. Supply the missing word(s):

The two main biological functions of the vocal organs are:
To protect the airway from choking on material in the throat. To regulate the flow of air into our
lungs
6. The human larynx is essential for speech production because it contains the:
X vocal cords alveolar ridge
velum pharynx

7. Supply the missing word(s):

Another term for “windpipe” is: trachea

8. For speech production, human beings generally use:

expressive pulmonic air ingressive pulmonic air
X egressive pulmonic air aggressive pulmonic air

9. Supply the missing word(s):

When the velum is raised, we produce: stop
10. Which of the following is a passive articulator?
lower lip tongue
X alveolar ridge velum

11. Supply the missing word(s):

The frequency of speech sounds correlates with our sensation of: hearing things in higher pitches

12. Which branch of phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds?
acoustic phonetics auditory phonetics
X articulatory phonetics distinctive phonetics

13. Consonants are described according to:

how difficult it is to articulate them
which part of the tongue is raised or lowered
X how and where they are articulated
where in a syllable they occur

14. How many distinctive sounds are there in RP?

22 33
X 44 an infinite number

15. Briefly define the following terms:

- syllable: unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds

- morpheme: smallest meaningful unit in a language

16. What are minimal pairs?

two words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently
X two words that are identical except for one sound which occurs in the same place
two words that are identical in meaning but come from different languages
two words that are identical except for one letter which occurs in the same place

17. Which of the following pairs of words are homophones?

wine – vine head – had

X guest – guessed wheel – veal

18. Supply the missing word(s):

In 1917, the first edition of the English Pronouncing Dictionary was published by: Daniel Jones

19. Indicate the minimal pairs: X

X sherry - cherry heard – herd tail - tale

scent – cent fare – fair X rice – rise
hire – higher X said – sad warm – worm
pear – peer knows – nose night – knight
our – hour X warn – worn X age – ache
X bee – tea X mess – mass sale – sail
bare – bear X sing – thing wring – ring
X bay – pay X pig – pick lone – loan
some – sum X heat – hit peas – peace
roll – role X bed – bad X gin – chin

20. RP is an accent of English which is:

geographically determined X socially determined
ethnically determined phonetically determined

21. Supply the missing word(s):

For Standard British English, some dictionaries avoid the term “RP” – the term they use instead is:
BBC Pronunciation

22. Glottal stops:

are a form of assimilation do not occur in RP
X are typical of General American often replace vowel sounds

23. Allophones are:

combinations of phonemes X different variants of the same phoneme
often elided in connected speech vowels that influence other sounds

24. Supply the missing word(s):

The main phonetic difference between vowels and consonants lies in:
Air is blocked blocked when pronouncing consonants.
25. Supply the missing word(s):
The most widely used method of describing the articulation of vowel sounds is by using: Daniel
Jones’ Cardinal vowel diagram
26. What are the two phonetic features all English vowels have in common?
-they are voiced

-they are pronounced with by expelling air without any obstruction

27. Describe the following English vowels using the appropriate terms in each case:
long/short; front/central/back; low/mid/high

uː long, back, high

e short, front, mid

ɔː long, back, mid

28. Closing diphthongs:

occur at the end of words glide toward the schwa vowel
X end with a high short vowel sound are a result of assimilation

29. A triphthong is:

X a closing diphthong followed by schwa a cluster of three consonants
a word consisting of three syllables a syllable consisting of three phonemes

30. Describe the following English consonants according to these criteria:

manner/place of articulation; voiced/voiceless; oral/nasal

d alveolar stop, voiced, oral

tʃ palatal fricative, voiceless, oral

θ dental fricative, voiceless, oral

31. Which consonant never occurs at the beginning of English words?

Answer this question by writing down a word in which this sound appears in final position.
Nasal consonants, submission

32. The shortest stretch of speech that can be pronounced in a natural way is:
X a phoneme a morpheme
a syllable a diphthong

33. Supply the missing word(s):

A rhotic accent of English is an accent in which speakers: do pronounce r at the end of words.

34. A syllabic consonant functions as:

syllable coda syllable boundary
syllable onset X syllable nucleus

35. The introduction of printing in Britain in 1476 led to:

X the Great Vowel Shift standardized spelling
standardized pronunciation letters becoming silent

36. Which syllable is stressed in each of the following words, and why?

- divine
-vine, longer vowel

- enter
En-, shorter vowel in the second syllable

- cartoon, -toon long vowel

37. The rhyming property of syllables is made up by:

onset + nucleus X nucleus + coda
onset + coda nucleus + nucleus

38. A closed syllable:

has no nucleus X has a coda
is always stressed can be elided

39. Supply the missing word(s):

Features of pronunciation that extend over more than one sound are called:

40. From the point of view of perception, stressed syllables are:

secondary X prominent
audible variable
41. The guide is Portuguese vs. the Portuguese guide – this difference in stress is due to:
secondary stress X shift stress
primary stress arbitrary stress

42. Sentence stress is often used to establish:

liaison contrast
contraction X cohesion

43. When a speech sound influences the pronunciation of a sound that follows, this is called:
liaison X regressive assimilation
progressive assimilation coalescence

44. Phenomena like assimilation and elision are:

X typical of RP to be avoided
perfectly normal typical of slang

45. So-called strong and weak forms occur in connection with:

two-syllable words content words
X function words three-syllable words

46. The omission of sounds or syllables in speech is called:

liaison X elision
contraction assimilation

47. Sounds mutually influencing each other is known as:

X liaison coalescence
contraction elision

48. Contractions are represented in writing by means of:

silent letters quotation marks
X apostrophes double letters

49. Give two examples each of:

- linking “r”: tuner amp, Chinar and Japan

- intrusive “r”: I saw-r-a film today, oh boy, Mediar attention

50. Gove two examples each of English verbs where the past tense ending –ed is pronounced:

-t kissed, danced
- d Climbed, called

- ɪd Headed, landed

Indicate the correct transcriptions: X

bath baɪð beɪθ beɪð X bɑːθ

breathe breθ briːθ X briːð brɪθ

sieve ʃiːv X sɪv siːv siːf

brother ˈbrʌθə ˈbrɒθə ˈbrɒðə X ˈbrʌðə

choose X tʃuːz dʒuːz tʃuːs dʒuːs

holidays ˈhɒlɪdaɪs X ˈhɒlɪdeɪz ˈhəʊlɪdeɪz ˈhɔːlɪdeɪz

sleigh X sleɪ sleɪf slaɪ sliː

cupboard ˈkʌbɔːd ˈkʌpbəd X ˈkʌbəd ˈkʌpəd

column ˈkʌləm X ˈkɒləm ˈkɒləmn ˈkɒlən
bamboo X bæmˈbuː bʌmˈbuː bæmˈbəʊ ˈbæmbʌ
pizza ˈpɪtsʌ ˈpiːzə X ˈpiːtsə ˈpɪzʌ
Michigan X ˈmɪtʃɪɡən ˈmɪʃɪɡən ˈmɪʃɪɡæn ˈmɪtʃɪɡæn
Scotland ˈskɒtlʌnd ˈskɒtlænd X ˈskɒtlənd skʌtˈlænd
Washington X ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ˈwɒʃɪŋgtən ˈwɒʒɪŋtən wɒʃɪŋ
ˈtɒn
Phoenix ˈfenɪks X ˈfiːnɪks ˈfiːnɪz ˈfiːnɪgs
Pittsburgh X ˈpɪtsbərə ˈpɪtsbɜːg ˈpiːtsbɜːg ˈpɪtsbəg
Portsmouth ˈpɔːtsməð X ˈpɔːtsməθ ˈpɔːtsmaʊθ
ˈpɜːtsməθ
Oxford ˈɒksfɔːd X ˈɒksfəd ˈɒgsfəd ˈɒgsfɔːd
Texas X ˈteksəs ˈtæksəs ˈtækzəs ˈtekzʌs
Colorado ˌkɒləˈreɪːdəʊ X ˌkʌləˈrɑːdəʊ ˌkɒləˈrɑːdəʊ ˌkɒləˈrædəʊ
Carol ˈkærɒl ˈkærl ˈkʌrəl X ˈkærəl
Adam əˈdæm X ˈædəm ˈædæm ˈædʌm
Matthew ˈmæθjuː ˈmæðjuː ˈmæðuː X ˈmæθuː
Charlotte ˈtʃɑːlət ʃɑːˈlɒt X ˈdʒɑːlət ˈʃɑːlət
Daniel ˈdænjəl ˈdeɪnjəl X ˈdænɪəl ˈdenjəl