‭Comprehension Checks in Unit 2: Vowels and Syllable‬

‭Structure‬

2‭ .4.4‬‭In the word “screams” there is/are ____ phonemes‬‭in the onset, ____ in the‬
‭nucleus, and _____ in the coda‬

‭ . 3, 1, 2‬
a
‭b. 3, 2, 2‬
‭c. 1, 1, 1‬
‭d. none of the above‬

‭Draw a tree diagram of onset and rhyme (nucleus and coda) to illustrate your answer:‬

‭Onset: 3 phonemes: /skr/ Nucleus: 1 phoneme: /i/ Coda: 2 phonemes: /mz/‬

‭2.4.5‬‭Which of the following one-syllable words does/do‬‭not have coda/s:‬

a‭ . bough‬
‭b. spray‬
‭c. rough‬
‭d. crab‬
‭e. a and b‬

‭Draw a tree diagram of onset and rhyme (nucleus and coda) to illustrate your answer:‬

e‭ . “bough” /bo/ is CV, so no coda or final consonant/s.‬

‭“spray” /spre/ is CCCV, so no coda or final consonant/s.‬

‭2.4.6‬‭Which of the one-syllable words does/do not‬‭have an onset:‬

‭ . oats‬
a
‭b. your‬
‭c. rage‬
‭d. lane‬
‭e. a and b‬

‭Draw a tree diagram of onset and rhyme (nucleus and coda) to illustrate your answer:‬

‭a. “oats” /ots/. No initial consonants in that syllable.‬

2‭ .4.7‬‭Explain Maximum Onset Principle by identifying‬‭its 2‬

‭components and giving examples.‬
‭Maximum Onset Principle is the idea that syllable‬
‭division in English words favors putting consonants in‬
‭the onset position of the syllable (#1), unless that creates‬
 ‭ honeme configurations or combinations, such as‬
p
‭consonant clusters, that are largely irregular or “illegal”‬
‭within English phonological rules (#2). For example, the‬
‭word “proper” can be divided as /pɹɑ.pɚ/ because this‬
‭puts as many consonants as possible in the onset‬
‭position. However, “pencil” can only be divided as‬
‭/pɛn.səl/ because if it were divided as /pɛ.nsəl/ instead,‬
‭the second syllable would begin with the cluster /ns/,‬
‭which is not allowed in English.‬

2‭ .4.8‬‭Looking at the IPA transcriptions of the following‬‭words,‬

‭divide the syllables in the way that best adheres to Maximum‬
‭Onset Principle without creating any ‘illegal consonant clusters.‬
‭You can use a [ . ] to indicate syllable boundaries.‬
‭ .‬
1 ‭ nset /ɑn.sɛt/‬
O
‭2.‬ ‭Mental /mɛn.təl/‬
‭3.‬ ‭Safety /seɪf.ti/‬
‭4.‬ ‭Replace /ɹə.pleɪs/‬

2‭ .5.6‬‭Relying on Standard American Pronunciation of‬‭the following words, (a) write‬

‭the phonetic symbol for each vowel sound, and (b) classify the vowel in each word‬
‭with the appropriate articulatory descriptors: high, high-mid, low-mid, low; front,‬
‭back, central, rounded, unrounded, tense, lax‬

(‭ a) troop /u/; high, back, rounded, tense‬

‭(b) caught /ɔ/; low-mid, back, rounded, tense or /ɑ/; low, back,‬
‭unrounded, tense‬
‭(c) beg /ɛ/; low-mid, front, lax‬
‭(d) look /ʊ/; high, back, rounded, lax‬
‭(e) steel /i/; high, front, tense‬
‭(f) wand /ɔ/; low-mid, back, rounded, tense or /ɑ/; low, back,‬
‭unrounded, tense‬

2‭ .5.7‬‭Fill in the blank with the vowel IPA symbol‬‭that fits the given description.‬
‭The write the word in English orthography Source: Vowels—all features—Small‬
‭p. 97, Review exercises B‬
‭Example: /mit/ high, front, tense meet or meat‬

‭ . /b___d/ low, front /æ/; bad‬

1
‭2. /s___n/ low-mid, back-central /ʌ/; sun‬
‭3. /sl___pt/ low-mid, front /ɛ/; slept‬
‭4. /s___p/ high, back, tense /u/; soup‬
‭5. /k____rd/ low-mid, back /ɔ/; cord‬
‭6. /f____t/ high, back, lax /ʊ/; foot‬
 ‭ . /f____z/ high, front, lax /ɪ/; fizz‬
7
‭8. /p____rk/ low, back /ɑ/; park‬
‭9. /w____d/ mid-central, tense /ɝ/; word‬
‭10. /kr____z/ high-mid, back /o/; crows‬

2‭ .5.8‬‭Write T or L to indicate whether the following‬‭one-syllable words have a tense or‬

‭lax vowel (vowel graphemes are in bold letters); Use your pronunciation as the‬
‭standard (Source: Small p. 56)‬

‭ . ______ s‬‭ee‬‭k /i/ Tense‬

1
‭2. ______ p‬‭u‬‭sh /ʊ/ Lax‬
‭3. ______ s‬‭i‬‭nge /ɪ/ Lax‬
‭4. ______ h‬‭ea‬‭d /ɛ/ Lax‬
‭5. ______ h‬‭o‬‭t /ɔ/ Tense or /ɑ/‬
‭Tense‬
‭6. ______ h‬‭oo‬‭t /u/ Tense‬
‭7. ______ m‬‭a‭p‬ /æ/ Lax‬
‭8. ______ cl‬‭er‬‭k /ɝ/ Tense‬

2‭ .5.9‬‭Write R or U to indicate whether the following‬‭one-syllable words have a rounded‬

‭or unrounded vowel (vowel graphemes are in bold letters); Use your pronunciation as‬
‭the standard: (Source: Small p. 55)‬

‭ . ______ l‬‭ea‬‭n. /i/ U‬

1
‭2. ______ h‬‭oo‬‭k. /ʊ/ R‬
‭3. ______ r‬‭oa‬‭d. /o/ R‬
‭4. ______ m‬‭i‬‭nd. /ɑɪ/ U‬
‭5. ______ ch‬‭ew.‬‭/u/ R‬
‭6. ______ thr‬‭ow.‬‭/o/ R‬
‭7. ______ b‬‭a‬‭ck. /æ/ U‬
‭8. ______ th‬‭e‬‭n. /ɛ/ U‬
‭9. ______ w‬‭ai‬‭t. /e/ U‬
‭10. ______sh‬‭ou‬‭ld. /ʊ/ R‬

2‭ .6.2‬‭Listen to the following words with front vowels‬‭(/i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/ and /æ/) and write‬
‭the correct IPA symbol for each vowel.‬

‭ .‬
1 ‭ ain‬
P /‭e/‬
‭2.‬ ‭Fees‬ ‭/i/‬
‭3.‬ ‭Head‬ ‭/ɛ/‬
‭4.‬ ‭Man‬ ‭/æ/‬
‭5.‬ ‭Billed‬ ‭/ɪ/‬
‭6.‬ ‭Please‬ ‭/i/‬
‭7.‬ ‭Traps‬ ‭/æ/‬
‭8.‬ ‭Rang‬ ‭/æ/‬
 ‭ .‬ ‭Frayed‬
9 /‭e/‬
‭10.‬‭Lean‬ ‭/i/‬
‭11.‬‭Rabbit‬ ‭/æ/ /ɪ/‬
‭12.‬‭Babies‬ ‭/e/ /i/‬
‭13.‬‭Inlaid‬ ‭/ɪ/ /e/‬
‭14.‬‭Canteen‬ ‭/æ/ /i/‬
‭15.‬‭Placate‬‭/e/ /e/‬
‭16.‬‭Teasing‬ /‭i/ /ɪ/‬
‭17.‬‭Selfish‬ ‭/ɛ/ /ɪ/‬
‭18.‬‭Mail man‬ ‭/e/ /æ/‬
‭19.‬‭Intent‬ ‭/ɪ/ /ɛ/‬
‭20.‬‭Hashtag‬ ‭/æ/ /æ/‬

2‭ .7.2‬‭Listen to the following words with back vowels‬‭(/u/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ/ and /ɑ/), and write the‬
‭correct IPA symbol for each vowel.‬

‭ .‬ ‭Vote‬
1 /‭o/‬
‭2.‬ ‭Pull‬ ‭/ʊ/‬
‭3.‬ ‭Taut‬ ‭/ɔ/‬
‭4.‬ ‭Rocks‬ ‭/ɑ/‬
‭5.‬ ‭Mood‬ ‭/u/‬
‭6.‬ ‭Those‬ ‭/o/‬
‭7.‬ ‭Saw‬ ‭/ɔ/‬
‭8.‬ ‭Glue‬ ‭/u/‬
‭9.‬ ‭Load‬ ‭/o/‬
‭10.‬‭Bond‬ ‭/ɑ/‬
‭11.‬‭Lawful‬ ‭/ɔ/ /ʊ/‬
‭12.‬‭Botox‬ ‭/o/ /ɑ/‬
‭13.‬‭Cookbook‬ ‭/ʊ/ /ʊ/‬
‭14.‬‭Rowboat‬ ‭/o/ /o/‬
‭15.‬‭Mono‬ ‭/ɑ/ /o/‬
‭16.‬‭Lawbooks‬ ‭/ɔ/ /ʊ/‬
‭17.‬‭Hollow‬ ‭/ɑ/ /o/‬
‭18.‬‭Spoonful‬ /‭u/ /ʊ/‬
‭19.‬‭Pontoon‬ ‭/ɑ/ /u/‬
‭20.‬‭Coupon‬ ‭/u/ /ɑ/‬

2‭ .9.4‬‭Listen to the following words with both rhotic‬‭and non-rhotic central vowels (/ɝ/,‬
‭/ɚ/, /ʌ/ and /ə/) and write the correct IPA symbol for each vowel.‬

1‭ .‬ ‭ erson‬
P /‭ɝ/ /ə/‬
‭2.‬ ‭Busted‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ə/‬
‭3.‬ ‭Confirm‬ ‭/ə/ /ɝ/‬
‭4.‬ ‭Alert‬ ‭/ə/ /ɝ/‬
‭5.‬ ‭Shutter‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ɚ/‬
 6‭ .‬ ‭Curlers‬ /‭ɝ/ /ɚ/‬
‭7.‬ ‭Mutter‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ɚ/‬
‭8.‬ ‭Turtle‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ə/‬
‭9.‬ ‭Converse‬ ‭/ə/ /ɝ/‬
‭10.‬‭Alum‬ ‭/ə/ /ʌ/‬
‭11.‬‭Furnace‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ə/‬
‭12.‬‭Strutted‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ə/‬
‭13.‬‭Muster‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ɚ/‬
‭14.‬‭Burner‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ɚ/‬
‭15.‬‭Turnip‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ə/‬
‭16.‬‭Brother‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ɚ/‬
‭17.‬‭Emerge‬ ‭/ə/ /ɝ/‬
‭18.‬‭Gerber‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ɚ/‬
‭19.‬‭Herded‬ ‭/ɝ/ /ə/‬
‭20.‬‭Custard‬ ‭/ʌ/ /ɚ/‬

2‭ .10.6.‬‭Say each word aloud and transcribe it. List‬‭the words where the r-sound is a‬
‭consonant and where it is a vowel. You may find it useful to have ipa.typeit.org/full‬
‭open in another window to copy/paste the symbols here:‬

‭ . hurricane‬
1 ‭/hɝɪkeɪn/ vowel or /hʌɹɪkeɪn/ consonant, depending on your‬
‭dialect‬
‭2. folder‬ /‭foʊldɚ/ vowel‬
‭3. curtain‬ ‭/kɝʔn̩ / vowel‬
‭4. rainbow‬ ‭/reɪnboʊ/ consonant‬
‭5. inroad‬ ‭/ɪnɹoʊd/ consonant‬
‭6. artful‬ ‭/ɑɚtfəl/‬

‭2.11.1‬ ‭Refer to the transcription discussion in the‬‭video.‬

‭ ote that while /d͡ ʒʌŋl̩ / is used as the transcription for “jungle” in the video,‬
N
‭/d͡ ʒʌŋgl̩ / is also appropriate.‬