Phonetics and Phonology Exam (The Answers) The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H.

Fahmi

Morning

A
Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another. F
2. In the word "potato", the second syllable is weaker than the third. F
3. The word "coddling" is pronounced with non-syllabic /l/. F
4. The peak is very important in deciding whether a syllable is strong or weak. T
5. Syllabic /n/ is more common after /v/ and /f/. T
Q2-Write THREE spelling rules for the vowel /ǝ/ with examples. (3 Marks)
1- Spelt with letter ‘a’: attend /ətend/, character /kærəktə/.
2- Spelt with the two letters ‘ar’ as in: particular /pətikjələ/, monarchy /monəki/.
3- Spelt with ‘o’ e.g. tomorrow /təmorəʊ/, potato /pəteitəʊ/.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (2 Marks)
"There is no alternative to the government's proposal".

Morning B
Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. The affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are regarded as independent phonemes. T
2. The diphthong /ǝʊ/ is always associated with strong syllables. F
3. Most American accents are called Rhotic accent. T
4. The strong pronunciation of the letters "or" is /æ/. F
5. The word "carrot" may be pronounced as /kærǝt/. T
Q2- Write THREE spelling rules for the vowel /i/ with examples. (3 Marks)
1- Spelt with letter ‘y’ in final position or ‘ey’ e.g. happy /hæpi/, valley /væli/.
2- In a prefix: such as (re, pre, de) e.g. react /riækt/, preoccupied /priokjʊpaid/,
deactivate /diæktɪvɪət/.
3- With pronouns (he, she, we, me, be) and (the) when it precedes a vowel. These
words can be pronounced as /hi/, /ʃi/, /wi/, /mi/, /bi/ and /ði/.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (2 Marks)
"We ought to make a collection to cover the expenses".
Phonetics and Phonology Exam (The Answers) The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H. Fahmi

Evening

Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. Any consonant may be a final consonant except /h/, /w/ and /j/. T
2. In the word "open", the first syllable is weaker than the second. F
3. The word "finger" is pronounced as /fingǝ/ or /fiŋgǝ/. T
4. The consonant /n/ is realised as /ŋ/ before /k/ or /g/. T
5. Centering diphthongs end with /ʊ/. F
Q2- What is aspirated /p/? Give an example. (2 Marks)
The pronunciation of stop consonants /p/ with an audible breath when it occurs in
initial position. It is written using the symbols for voiceless consonants followed
by the aspiration modifier /-ʰ/, the voiceless glottal fricative /h/. For instance, /p/
represents the voiceless bilabial stop, and /pʰ/ represents the aspirated bilabial stop
as in “pin” /pʰin/ and the unaspirated \p\ of “spin” /spin/. They are allophones of
the phoneme \p\ i.e. two different realisations of the same phoneme.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)
"I forget my book."
/ ai fəget mai bʊk /

Evening
Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. The syllable may have more than one peak. F
2. Affricates begin as plosive and end as fricatives. T
3. The word "banks" is pronounced as /bæŋks/. T
4. The vowel /i/ is always associated with strong syllables. F
5. The strong pronunciation of the letters "or" is /a:/. F
Q2- Define the onset in the syllable, give an example. (2 Marks)
The onset is the consonant sound at the beginning of a syllable, occurring
before the peak (nucleus). Most syllables have an onset. Syllables without an
onset is called a zero onset. The onset syllable consists of a sound + center
(peak) + silence, e.g. car /ka:/, see /si:/.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)
"He is a good player."
/ hi ɪz ǝ gʊd pleɪǝ /
Phonetics and Phonology Exam (The Answers) The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H. Fahmi

Evening

Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. Peak is very important in deciding whether a syllable is strong or weak. T
2. In the word "data", the second syllable is stronger than the first. F
3. The word "sharpen" is pronounced as /ʃa:pǝn/. T
4. Rhyme is the onset and the peak in the syllable. F
5. Closing diphthongs end with /ǝ/. F
Q2- What are neutralised vowels? Give an example. (2 Marks)
Vowels that are neither long nor short. Neutralisation of the long vowel /i:/ and
short vowel /ɪ/ is /i/ as in the word "easy", it can be uttered as /i:zi:/ or neutralized
as /i:zi/. Neutralisation of the long vowel /u:/ and short vowel /ʊ/ is /u/ as in the
word "you" the strong form is /ju:/ while the weak form is /ju/.

Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)

" I will wear a raincoat tomorrow."
/ ai wɪl weə ǝ reɪnkəʊt təmɒrəʊ/

Phonetics and Phonology Exam The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H. Fahmi

Evening

Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. The syllable may have no peak. F
2. The peak that consists of triphthong is strong. T
3. The word "better" is pronounced as /bǝte/. F
4. The vowel "schwa" is always associated with weak syllables. T
5. The strong pronunciation of the letter "u" is /a:/. F
Q2- Define the consonant cluster, give an example. (2 Marks)
Consonant cluster is a combination of two consonants or more. The group of
consonants are pronounced in immediate succession, as /str/ in the words "strong"
/strɒŋ/ and "street" /stri:t/.

Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)

"He bought nineteen banners."
/ hi bɔːt naɪntiːn bænəz /
Phonetics and Phonology Exam (The Answers) The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H. Fahmi

Evening

Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. Syllabic consonant may constitute the peak of the syllable. T
2. Zero onset syllable is the syllable which has onset and peak. F
3. In the word "happen", the last syllable is weaker than the first. T
4. The affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are regarded as independent phonemes. T
5. The consonant /n/ is realised as /ŋ/ before /t/ or /d/. F
Q2- What is "glottalisation"? Give an example. (2 Marks)
Many RP speakers introduce a glottal stop /ʔ/ in front of fortis stops in medial or
final positions, particularly, when these stops begin a group (or 'cluster') of
consonants. This also occurs before the fortis affricate. Examples: "text" / teʔkst/,
"nature" /neɪʔtʃǝ/, "riches" /rɪʔtʃɪz/.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)
"They arrived at a harbour."
/ ðeɪ əraɪvd ət ə hɑːbə /

Phonetics and Phonology Exam The Examiner: Dr. Nidaa H. Fahmi

Evening

Q1- Decide whether the following statements are True or False: (5 Marks)
1. The vowel /u/ is always associated with strong syllables. F
2. Affricates begin as plosive and end as fricatives. T
3. The strong pronunciation of the letters "or" is /æ/. F
4. The word "measure" is pronounced as /meʤǝ/. F
5. The word "codling" is pronounced with syllabic /l/. F
Q2- Write THREE spelling rules for the syllabic/ṇ/ with examples. (3 Marks)

1- /ṇ/ is not found after /l/, /tʃ/ or /dӡ/ within the medial or final position,
e.g. “Christian” /kristʃən/, “sullen” /sʌlən/ and “pigeon” /pidӡən/.
2- Velar + an or on, /ṇ/ is rare (it is rarely found). It is heard as /ən/, e.g.
“toboggan” /təbogən/, “wagon” /wægən/.
3- /ṇ/might be found after velar /k/, it is possible to be /ən/, /ṇ/ or /ŋ/ as in:
“thicken” /θikən/, /θikṇ/ or /θikŋ/.
Q3- Transcribe the following sentence phonemically: (3 Marks)
"Opening the bottle presented no difficulty".
/ əʊpn̩ɪŋ ðə bɒtl̩ prɪzentɪd nəʊ dɪfɪkəlti /