Practice Test (phonology)

I. Mark (√) each of the following sentences true or false.

TRUE FALSE

1 The term backness refers to the movement of the blade of

the tongue.

2 The nucleus/peak is the obligatory constituent of a

syllable.

3 We velarise an /l/ (dark l) when it occurs before a vowel.

4 The term labio-dental refers to an obstruction caused by

movement of the lower lip towards the upper teeth.

5 Alveolar consonants are articulated by raising the back of

the tongue to the soft palate.

6 All words, when spoken aloud, are made up of sequences

of vowel sounds.

7 A triphthongs consists of a glide from one vowel to

another and then to a third vowel.

8 Vowel sounds are produced by obstructing the air flow as

it comes up from the lungs.

9 English allows a wide variety of syllable types. These

include both open syllables and closed syllables.

10 In terms of tongue position, English vowels are divided

into 3 groups: Front, Central and Back.

II. Choose the correct answer to complete each statement below.

1…………… are sounds which consist of a glide from one vowel to another.
A. monophthongs B. diphthongs C. triphthongs
2. All vowels are voiced whereas many ………………… come in voiced-
voiceless pairs.
A. diphthongs B. semi-vowels C. consonants
3. English vowels can be classified according to the ………….
A. openness of the mouth B. manner of articulation C. place of
articulation
4. All vowels are voiced and ……………….
A. syllabic B. devoiced C. nasal
5. All vowels are…………….
A. oral B. voiceless C. dentalized
6. The ………….. is called ‘the roof of the mouth’. You can feel its smooth
curved surface with your tongue.
A. hard palate B. soft palate C. larynx
7. If the glottis is almost closed and the vocal folds vibrate, we produce
a…………...sound.
A. voiceless B. voiced C. devoiced
8. The most important part in the mouth is the ….……because of its mobility.
A. tongue B. teeth C. soft palate
9. The……........... is an obligatory constituent of a syllable. It consists of an
obligatory nucleus, and an optional coda.
A. onset B. rhyme C. coda
10. In English the voiceless stops/plosives are ..................... at the beginning of a
stressed syllable.
A. unaspirated B. aspirated C. nasalized
11. Nasal sounds are produced by letting the air escape through the.............
A. tongue B. nose C. teeth
12. English is often considered to have 44 phonemes: 24……… and 20 vowels.
A. consonants B. diphthongs C. triphthongs
13. Velar consonants are articulated by raising the ………… of the tongue to the
soft palate.
A. blade B. tip C. back
14. A phonetic transcription that gives a lot of detail is called a ......................
transcription.
A. broad B. narrow C. phonemic
15. ……………… which consist of an onset and a nucleus are traditionally
termed 'open'.
A. rhyme B. syllables C. coda
16. Raising the …………. enables the air to flow through the oral tract.
A. soft palate B. hard palate C. tongue
17. In production of the ……………. consonant, the air escapes along the sides of
the tongue.
A. nasal B. velar C. lateral
18. Alveolar stops become dentalized when they are followed by a ……….
consonant.
A. velar B. dental C. nasal

19. Most speech sounds are made by allowing air to flow through the………….
A. nose B. mouth C. mouth and the nose

20. A phoneme is one of the basic distinctive units in the phonetics of a language.
 The actual speech sounds which represent it are its ……………...
A. allomorphs B. allophones C. alloforms

21. A Cantonese speaker pronounces ‘thought’ as ‘fought’. The Cantonese

speaker has substituted a voiceless labiodental fricative for a voiceless dental
fricative. This is an error in…………….
A. manner of articulation B. place of articulation C. voicing

22. If the first syllable of the word in question begins with a vowel we say that
this initial syllable has a…………..
A. zero coda B. zero onset C. schwa

23. For open vowels, the tongue is ……...in the mouth.

A. low B. high C. rather high

24. When both lips are used in the production of a sound, it is called a
……………….
A. labiodental B. dental C. bilabial

25. When a speech sound changes, and becomes more like another sound which
follows it or precedes it, this is called ………………….
A. dissimilation B. assimilation C. dentalization

26. When two words such as back and bag are identical in form except for a
contrast in one phoneme, occurring in the same position, the two words are
described as a .…………..….
A. word-class pair B. maximal pair C. minimal pair

27. The rhyme is made up of the nucleus and the ………...

A. onset B. coda C. centre
28. In English the velum is usually lowered for only the three …………
consonants.
A. plosive B. nasal C. fricative

29. The sounds of spoken language are divided into two basic types, vowels and
………...
A. semi-vowels B. consonants C. voiced sounds

30. The difference between saying ‘yes’ on a rising pitch movement and on a
falling pitch movement is a difference of …………...
A. stress B. syllable C. intonation

31. Sounds in whose articulation the airstream is stopped by a brief closure of two
speech organs and then released in a quick burst are …………...
A. fricatives B. nasals C. plosives
 32. English is said to have …………. rhythm.
A. syllable-timed B. stress-timed C. mora-timed

33. The plosives/stops /p, t, k / are always……….

A. nasal B. voiceless C. voiced

34. Phonemic transcription uses only phonemic symbols. The phonemic symbols
are put between ………….…
A. slant lines B. square brackets C. round brackets

35. In the study of suprasegmental phonology, the difference between Ꞌimport and
imꞋport is a difference in …………....
A. intonation B. stress C. meaning

III. Answer the following questions.

1. Which word contains a diphthong?

A. fell B. fill C. fail
2. Which word begins with a voiceless fricative?
A. sell B. tip C. cut
3. Which word ends with an alveolar sound?
A. mad B. lamp C. bag
4. Which word contains a rounded vowel?
A. too B. seek C. hold
5. Which word has a high back vowel?
A. luck B. put C. heat
6. Which word contains a central vowel?
A. hit B. purse C. put
7. Which word has a front vowel?
A. through B. tap C. suit
8. Which word contains a centering diphthong?
A. fear B. how C. may
9. Which word has a voiceless plosive?
A. pen B. five C. church
10. Which word begins with a plosive and ends with a fricative?
A. top B. beef C. tell
11. Which word has 4 phonemes?
A. through B. tomb C. beds
12. Which word has a neutral vowel?
A. put B. cut C. cat
13. Which word is stressed on the third syllable?
A. advantage B. proverbial C. engineer
14. Which word is stressed on the second syllable?
A. eatable B. interest C. dramatic
15. Which word is stressed on the prefix?
A. unfair B. irregular C. semi-circle
16. Which set of words is a minimal pair?
A. ten-net B. hit-bit C. go-guard
17. Which word has an open syllable?
A. tea B. tell C. ten
18. Which word has three syllables?
A. summer B. bookish C. anyone
19. How many phonemes are there in the word ‘meet’?
A. 4 B. 3 C. 2
20. What do the final consonants of these words have in common?
hop hot pass wish lock rough

A. voiced B. voiceless C. devoiced

THE END