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EXAM QUESTIONS I - Pronunciation

This document contains 46 questions about various linguistic concepts relating to the pronunciation of English. The questions cover topics such as: - The domains of phonetics (articulatory, acoustic, auditory) - The role of vocal cords and other speech organs like the uvula - Differences between vowel and consonant sounds in words like 'seat' and 'seed' - The schwa vowel and its importance in English pronunciation - Phonological processes like vowel reduction, devoicing, flapping, and linking/intrusive R - Regional differences between British and American pronunciation of vowels and R-sounds - Phonetic transcription and pronunciation of consonant clusters and suffixes

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Isabel Ledesma Moreno
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65 views2 pages

EXAM QUESTIONS I - Pronunciation

This document contains 46 questions about various linguistic concepts relating to the pronunciation of English. The questions cover topics such as: - The domains of phonetics (articulatory, acoustic, auditory) - The role of vocal cords and other speech organs like the uvula - Differences between vowel and consonant sounds in words like 'seat' and 'seed' - The schwa vowel and its importance in English pronunciation - Phonological processes like vowel reduction, devoicing, flapping, and linking/intrusive R - Regional differences between British and American pronunciation of vowels and R-sounds - Phonetic transcription and pronunciation of consonant clusters and suffixes

Uploaded by

Isabel Ledesma Moreno
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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QUESTIONS PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH I

1. Describe briefly the domains of Phonetics.


2. Describe the domains of Articulatory/Acoustic/Auditory Phonetics.
3. Comment upon the role of the vocal cords (vocal folds) in speech production.
4. Permissiveness in the affrication of the sequences / t+j / and /d+j /.
5. The role of the organ of Corti.
6. Are taxis and taxes pronounced differently? Explain.
7. What is the role of the uvula in speech production?
8. Pedagogical tips for the description of / /.
9. Describe the phonetic contexts resulting in devoicing processes.
10. What is the difference between a lenis-voiced and a lenis-devoiced consonant? Give
examples.
11. Is there any difference between the vowel sounds of these two words: seat and
seed? Explain.
12. The relation between quality and quantity for the English vowels.
13. What does pre-fortis clipping mean?
14. What happens to English vowels if occurring before voiceless consonants? Give
examples.
15. Why the schwa is so important for the pronunciation of English?
16. Underline the syllables that have or may have a schwa: terrible, Oxford, history,
immaculate, prestige, united, happiness, toilet, torment, Ireland.
17. “Shire” and “Shower” can become homophones. Explain why.
18. In which way does smoothing (or levelling) affect three vowel sequences?
19. Explain the difference between flapped and rolled / r /
20. Does the r stand out for different sounds in these words: car (British
Pronunciation), father (American pronunciation), far away (Brit. And Am.
Pronunciation)? Explain.
21. Pronunciation of vowel+r endings in British and American English.
22. Comparison between British and American / r /.
23. Define the term Approximant.
24. What does happY tensing mean?
25. Define the term Aspiration.
26. What is a glottal stop? Give a brief commentary of its occurrence.
27. Pronunciation of taken and bacon when syllabic.
28. Enumerate the spellings of the labio-velar approximant.
29. Some of these words contain a voiced or a voiceless dental fricative. Divide them
into two groups according to this opposition: Martha, worthy, rather, further,
rethoric, cloth, months, mouths, bathe, catholic, thumb, loathe, thus, author, anthem.
30. Which of the pronunciations of the definite article would you use before the word
“universal”? Explain why.
31. Describe the voiceless glottal fricative.
32. Articulatory differences and use of dark and clear ‘l’.
33. Is the ending –sion pronounced differently in pension and illusion. Why?
34. What does h-dropping mean?
35. Some of the /b/ sounds in these examples are fully voiced and some are devoiced,
which ones? Basin, lab, able, dustbin, about, my boots.
36. What is a glottal stop? Give a brief commentary of its occurrence.
37. Explain the different sound varieties that can be represented with the letter ‘r’ in
the English language.
38. Describe linking and intrusive /r/.
39. Is there any difference in the quality of the / z / phoneme in these three words: zoo,
dizzy and was? Explain.
40. Add two more words to each item of the following list. The additional words must
contain the same vowel sound but different spelling: now, bike, good, beer, see, go,
safe, fall, fire, what, bandage, Derby, butcher, worry, poke
41. use (n) vs. use (v)?
42. The sound / j / is commonly found in the spellings u, ue, ui, ew, eu, but not always.
Why not?
43. Describe the process involved in the sequence of consonants: plosive + plosive.
44. Explain the pronunciation of plosives in the word “apt”.
45. Explain the three possible pronunciations of the unstressed syllable in cotton.
46. Rules for the pronunciation of final ‘s’/ed. In isolation and in connected speech.

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