PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY EXERCISES

COURSE BOOK EXERCISES:

4/p15; 2,3/p21; 2/p30; p38; 1/p45; 1,2/p54; 1,2/p81; p88

MORE EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1: Read the course book and write the definitions for the following terms.
Definitions:

1. Soft palate (p9): is also called velum which can be raised or lowered to allow the air to escape
through the mouth or the nose.
2. Velar consonants (p9): sounds made with the tongue in contact with the lower side of the
soft palate.
3. Hard palate (p9): is often called the roof of the mouth and its curved surface can be felt with
one’s tongue.
4. Patatal (p9): is a consonant made with the tongue close to the hard palate.
5. Alveolar ridge (p9): is between the top front teeth and the hard palate and is covered with
little ridges.
6. Alveolar (p9): are sounds made with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge.
7. Dental (p9): are sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth/ (p40) sounds made
with the tongue placed between the front teeth.
8. Bilabial (p10): are sounds in which the lips are in contact with each other.
9. Labiodental (p10): are sounds with lip-to-teeth contact/ sounds made with the lower lip in
contact with the upper teeth.
10. A pure vowel (p17): remains constant and does not glide.
11. Diphthongs (p17): sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another.
12. Triphthongs (p17): a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third one, all produced
rapidly and without interruption.
13. Vocal folds (p22): 2 thick flaps of muscle, called vocal cords previously.
14. Glottis (p23): the opening between the vocal folds.
15. Phonemic transcription (p33): where every speech sound must be identified as one of the
phonemes and written with the appropriate symbol.
16. Phonetic transcription (p34): more accurate phonetic detailed transcription with
diacritical marks.
17. Suprasegmental (p36): sound contrasts that extend over several segments (phonemes).
18. Diacritics (p37): extra marks that add details to sound symbols.
19. Fricative (p39): are consonants with the characteristic that air escapes through a narrow
passage and makes a hissing sound.
20. Homorganic (p39): made with the same articulators.
21. Affricates (p39): sounds that begin as plosives and end as fricatives.
22. Glottal (p42): is the sound /h/, which is produced with the narrowing between the vocal
folds makes the friction noise.
23. Nasals (p46): are the sounds that are produced when the air escapes through the nose.
24. An approximant (p49): sounds that are produced with articulators getting insufficiently
close to each other.
25. Retroflex (p49): consonants with tongue slightly curled backwards and tongue tip raised.
26. Rhotic accents (p50): accents with have “r” in final position (before a pause) and before a
consonant.
27. Non-rhotic accents (p50): accents in which “r” only occurs before vowels (such as BBC).
28. Consonant cluster (p57): 2 or more consonants together.
29. Onset (p56): consonants preceding the centre of a syllable.
30. Coda (p56): consonants at the end of a syllable.
31. Rhyme (p60): is divided into the peak and the coda which is optional.
32. Ambisyllabic (p62): a consonant which stands between vowels is considered to belong to
both syllables.
33. Syllabic consonant (p68): a consonant that stands as the peak of a syllable instead of the
vowel.
34. Rhythm (p107): some noticeable event happening at regular intervals of time.
35. Stress-timed rhythm (p107): stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular
intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not.
36. Syllable-timed rhythm (p107): all syllables, whether stressed or unstressed, tend to occur
at regular time intervals and the time between stressed syllables will be shorter or longer in
proportion to the number of unstressed syllables.
37. Foot (p108): a unit of rhythm, begins with a stressed syllable and includes all the
unstressed syllables up to the following stressed syllable.
38. Regressive assimilation (p111): the phoneme that comes first is affected by the one that
comes after it.
39. Progressive assimilation (p111): the phoneme that comes later, is affected by the one that
comes before it.
40. Elision (p113): sounds disappear under certain circumstances.
EXERCISE 2: Transcribe the following words phonemically and identify the features of the initial
consonant sounds and the underlined vowel sounds.

Phonemic
Words Feature of initial consonants Features of vowels
transcriptions

Ex: kiss /kɪs/ Alveolar, voiceless, plosive close, front, unrounded, short

/tʃ/: Voiceless, post-alveolar, /iː/: Close, front, unrounded

1. Cheese /tʃiːz/
affricate. (spread), long.

/ɪ/: Close, front, unrounded

2. Cottage /ˈkɒt.ɪdʒ/ /k/: Voiceless, velar, plosive.
(spread), short.

/e/: Mid, front, unrounded

3. Theft /θeft/ /θ/: Voiceless, dental, fricative.
(spread), short.

/æ/: Open, front, unrounded

4. Than /ðæn/ /ð/: Voiced, dental, fricative.
(spread), short.

/ə/: Mid, central, unrounded

5. Provide /prəˈvaɪd/ /p/: Voiceless, bilabial, plosive.
(neutral), short.

/ɜː/: Mid, central, unrounded

6. Girlfriend /ˈɡɜːl.frend/ /ɡ/: Voiced, velar, plosive.
(neutral), long.

/ʌ/: Open, central, unrounded

7. Shut /ʃʌt/ /ʃ/: Voiceless, post-alveolar, fricative.
(neutral), short.

/ɑ:/: Open, back, unrounded

8. Staff /stɑːf/ /s/: Voiceless, alveolar, fricative.
(neutral), long.

9. Truth /truːθ/ /t/: Voiceless, alveolar, plosive. /uː/: Close, back, rounded, long.

10. Hook /hʊk/ /h/: Voiceless, glottal, fricative. /ʊ/: Close, back, rounded, short.

11. More /mɔːr/ /m/: Voiced, bilabial, nasal. /ɔː/: Mid, back, rounded, long.

/l/: Voiced, alveolar, lateral

12. Lost /lɒst/ /ɒ/: Mid, back, rounded, short.
approximant.
EXERCISE 3: Write the phonemic transcriptions and then phonetic transcriptions of the given words
with diacritics, if necessary, as indicated in the rules below.

Words Phonemic transcriptions Phonetic transcriptions

1. Late /leɪt/ [lěɪt]

2. Payment /ˈpeɪ.mənt/ [ˈpheɪ.mənt]

3. Daytime /ˈdeɪ.taɪm/ [ˈd̥eɪ.thaɪm]

4. Watch /wɒtʃ/ - /wɑːtʃ/ [wɒꞌtʃ]

5. Backpack /ˈbæk.pæk/ [ˈb̥æ̌ k.phæ̌ k]

6. Couple /ˈkʌp.əl/ [ˈkhʌ̌p.əl]

7. Space /speɪs/ [spěɪs]

8. Behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/ [b̥ɪˈhaɪnd]

9. Charge /tʃɑːdʒ/ [tʃɑːdʒ]

10. Chart /tʃɑːt/ [tʃɑꞌt]

11. Bank /bæŋk/ 0325 [b̥æŋk]

12. Decide /dɪˈsaɪd/ [d̥ɪˈsaɪd̥]

13. Golden /ˈɡəʊl.dən/ [ˈɡ̥əʊl.d̥ən]

14. Coinage /ˈkɔɪ.nɪdʒ/ [ˈkhɔɪ.nɪdʒ]

15. School /skuːl/ [skuːl]

16. During /ˈdʒʊə.rɪŋ/ - /ˈdʊr.ɪŋ/ [ˈdʒʊə.rɪŋ] - [ˈd̥ʊr.ɪŋ]

17.Toothpaste /ˈtuːθ.peɪst/ 030c [ˈthuꞌθ.phěɪst]

EXERCISE 4: Write the words that have the following sound transcriptions. Use the symbol . to divide the
syllables of the words. Underline the syllabic consonant if any.

Sound transcriptions Words Syllable divisions

Ex: /entəˈteɪn/ entertain /en.tə.ˈteɪn/

/ˈkændl/ candle /ˈkæn.dl/

1. /ˌedʒʊˈkeɪʃn/ education /ˌedʒ.ʊ.ˈkeɪ.ʃn/

2. /ˈtaɪmteɪbl/ timetable /ˈtaɪm.teɪ.bl/
3. /ˈɔːɡənaɪz/ organize /ˈɔː.ɡən.aɪz/
4. /ˈslɑːndrəsli/ slanderously /ˈslɑːn.dr.əs.li/
5. /ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl/ international /ˌɪn.tə.ˈnæʃ.ən.əl/
6. /pɑːˈtɪsɪpeɪt/ participate /pɑː.ˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/
7. /ˌpriːˈrekwɪzɪt/ prerequisite /ˌpriː.ˈrek.wɪ.zɪt/
8. /prɪˈzɜːvətɪv/ preservative /prɪ.ˈzɜː.və.tɪv/
9. /ˌkɒmpəˈtɪʃən/ competition /ˌkɒm.pə.ˈtɪʃ.ən/
10. /ɪɡˈzæktnəs/ exactness /ɪɡ.ˈzækt.nəs/
11. /ˈwaɪldlaɪf/ wildlife /ˈwaɪld.laɪf/
12. /dɪˈveləpmənt/ development /dɪ.ˈvel.əp.mənt/
13. /ˌræʃənəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ rationalization /ˌræʃ.ən.əl.aɪ.ˈzeɪ.ʃən/
14. /dɪˈvɪzəbəl/ divisible /dɪ.ˈvɪz.ə.bəl/
15. /ˈwɔːtəfɔːl/ waterfall /ˈwɔː.tə.fɔːl/
16. /’kәustlaɪn/ coastline /ˈkəʊst.laɪn/
17. /træn’splænt/ transplant /træn.ˈsplɑːnt/
18. /’feri/ ferry /ˈfer.i/
19. /ˌrezɪˈdenʃəl/ residential /ˌrez.ɪ.ˈden.ʃəl/
20. /ˌkwɒlɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/ qualification /ˌkwɒl.ɪ.fɪ.ˈkeɪ.ʃən/
EXERCISE 5: Put primary stress marks on the following words and state the rules they follow.
Ex: encounter /ɪn.kaʊn.tər/ => /ɪnˈkaʊn.tər/
Rule: 3-syllable verb: weak final syllable => stress on 2nd strong syllable

Words Rules
1. arrival /ə.ˈraɪ.vəl/
/ə.raɪ.vəl/ Complex word: the suffix -al does not change the stress in the stem
2. even /ˈiː.vən/
/iː.vən/ 2-syllable adj: stress on 1st strong syllable because 2nd syllable is weak.
3. warm-hearted /ˌwɔːm.ˈhɑː.tɪd/
/wɔːm.hɑː.tɪd/ Compound (adj + …ed): stress on 2nd element.
4. emperor /ˈem.pər.ər/
/em.pər.ər/ 3-syllable noun: stress on 1st syllable.
5. trainee /treɪ.ˈniː/
/treɪ.niː/ Complex noun: the suffix -ee receives the primary stress.
6. communicative /kə.ˈmjuː.nɪ.kə.tɪv/
/kə.mjuː.nɪ.kə.tɪv/ Complex word: adding -ive does not change the stress in the stem.
7. dangerous /ˈdeɪn.dʒər.əs/
/deɪn.dʒər.əs/ Complex word: adding -ous does not change the stress in the stem.
8. product /ˈprɒd.ʌkt/
/prɒd.ʌkt/ 2-syllable noun: 1st strong syllable is stressed.
9. inspiration /ɪn.spɪ.ˈreɪ.ʃən/
/ɪn.spɪ.reɪ.ʃən/ -‘ation’: stress on “a”.
10. teacup /ˈtiː.kʌp/
/tiː.kʌp/ Compound N+N: stress on 1st element.
11. complete /kəm.ˈpliːt/
/kəm.pliːt/ 2-syllable verb: stress on 2nd strong syllable.
/ˈpɜː.fekt/
12. perfect
=> N: stress on 1st strong syllable
/pɜː.fekt/
=> Adj (this is exception, p77) /pə.ˈfekt/
13. technique /tek.ˈniːk/
/tek.niːk/ Borrowing from French (café /ˈkæf.eɪ/)
14. engineer /,en.dʒɪ.ˈnɪər/
/en.dʒɪ.nɪər/ Suffix -eer has stress; secondary stress on 1st syllable.
15. loveliness /ˈlʌv.li.nəs/
/lʌv.li.nəs/ Suffix -ness does not affect stress placement in the stem.
16. entertainment /en.tə.ˈteɪn.mənt/
/en.tə.teɪn.mənt/ Suffix -ment does not affect stress placement in the stem.
17. musician /mjuː.ˈzɪʃ.ən/
/mjuː.zɪʃ.ən/ Suffix -ian: stress before -ian (stress on the last syllable of the stem).
18. informative /ɪn.ˈfɔr.mə.t̬ɪv/
/ɪn.fɔr.mə.t̬ɪv/ Suffix -(at)ive does not affect stress placement in the stem.
19. sunrise /ˈsʌn.raɪz/
/sʌn.raɪz/ Compound N+N: stress on 1st element.
/,ʃɔːt.ˈsliːvd/
20. short-sleeved
Compound adj+...-ed: secondary stress on 1st and primary stress on
/ʃɔːt.sliːvd/
2nd element.
Noun: /ˈprɒdʒ.uːs/: stress on 1st syllable.
21. produce
Verb: /prəˈdʒuːs/: stress on 2nd syllable.

Hihi chusc casc you thi toost. Bluebook kis teen khusc nafy.