A1. What is phonetics?

Phonetics is ​the study and classification of speech sounds

A2. Define a consonant sound.

A3. Define a vowel sound.

They are produced after free flow of air

A4. How many consonant sounds are there in English language?

21

A5. How many vowel sounds are there in English language?

A6. Enlist all six questions used in general to describe and classify the Consonants.
1. Is the air stream provided by lungs or by some other organs?
2. Is the air forced out or drawn inwards?
3. Do the vocal cords vibrate or not?
4. Is the soft palate raised or lowered?
5. At what point does the articulation take place?
6. What is the manner of articulation?
A7. How can you explain a “voiceless sound”?
When there is no vibrations or humm due to free passage of air

A8. How can you explain a “voiced sound”?

A9. Define the term ‘Active Articulators’. Elaborate with an example.

Organs of speech which move from their position of rest to articulate against other
organs of speech that do not move are called Active Articulators Eg. In the production of
t, d, n, s, sounds the Tip and Blade of tongue move from their place of rest to articulate
against Teeth Ridge. The Tip and Blade are thus active articulators, and the Teeth
Ridge the passive articulator.

A10. Define the term ‘Passive Articulators’. Elaborate with an example.

A11. Fill up the blank spaces with appropriate words in context of the positions of soft
palate.

If the soft palate is raised, there is a ​velic closure​, during which only ​oral sounds ​can be
produced. However, if it is ​Lowered​, there is no such closure, and therefore ​nasal ​or
nasalized ​sounds can be produced.

A13. Name the organ of speech that acts both as an active and passive articulator.

Lower jaw,Soft palate,Teeth Ridge, Tip and Blade of tongue,Lower Lip

A14. Enlist all 8 chief places of articulation w.r.t. production of consonant sounds.

Alveolar, Dental, Bilabial, Labiodental, Post-Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal.

A16. Define the term “Manner of Articulation”.

The manner of articulation specifies the kind of closure or narrowing involved in the
production of sound

A17. Enlist all groups of the consonant sounds classified on the basis of their manner of
articulation.

Plosive,Nasal,trill,Tap and Flap,Fricative, Lateral Fricative, Approximant, Lateral

A18. Enlist, along with examples, the two types of differentiations w.r.t. vowel sounds.

Difference in Quality: beat and boot (Complex)

Difference of Quantity: bit and beat (Length)

A19. What are the three parameters of description used to describe the vowel sounds?

1. Position of soft palate (Raised or Lowered)

2. Shape assumed by lips (Spread, Neutral, or Rounded); and

3. Shape assumed by tongue (which part of it is raised and how high)

1. Open – bard
2. Open rounded – hot
3. Close rounded – hoot

A21. Write two possible position names under the rounded lip condition, along with
examples.

1. Spread – bead
2. Neutral – bird

A22. Fill up the blank spaces with suitable words to make it a phonetic statement

Tongue is very ​flexible ​ thus can assume large no. of ​Shapes ​that results in changes in
Quality ​of sound.

A23. What are “close vowels”? Give a couple of examples.

When tongue is raised to the highest point Eg. seat, suit

A24. What are “open vowels”? Give a couple of examples.

When the tongue is lowered to the lowest point Eg. cart

A25. Though the tongue is lowered or raised to a large number of imaginary levels,
even then three standard levels have been set to ease out the description of vowel
sounds. What are those three levels?

1. High
2. Intermediate
3. Low

A26. Fill up the blank spaces with appropriate level of height to which the tongue is
raised while producing the following vowel sounds?

"/i:/, /u:/ in /bi:t/, /bu:t/ (beat, boot)" is a display of vowel sounds, in which the tongue is
raised to ​____HIGH ​_ level.

"/ə/, /ɔː/ in /bət/, /bɔːt/ (bet, bought)" is a display of vowel sounds, in which the tongue is
raised to ​___Intermediate____ ​level.
"/æ/, /ɑː/ in /bæt/, /bɑːt/ (bat, Bart)" is a display of vowel sounds, in which the tongue is
raised to ​___Low_____ ​level.

A27. Name other two imaginary positions used to describe vowel sounds between the
close vowels and the open vowels. Support your answer with an example for each.

half-close; Seat and half-open; sat.

A28. How will you differentiate a “Monophthong” from a “Diphthong”?

Vowels sounds that do not involve any glide in their production are called
monophthongs or pure vowels Eg. bee, two, ten, can, feel

Vowels sounds that involves a glide in their production are called diphthongs Eg. Soil