1.         What is phonetics? What are main areas of phonetics?

Phonetics is study of speech sounds which are utilized by all human languages to represent meaning.

Phonetics is concerned with describing speech sound that occurs in the language of the world. So, the 1st job of phoneticians is try to find out what pp are doing while talking as well as listening to the speech.

Phonetics consists of 3 main of aspects (areas):

-   Articulatory phonetics

-   Acoustic phonetics

-   Auditory phonetics

2.         State the difference between articulatory phonetics and auditory phonetics?

-   Articulatory phonetics deals with the way in which speech sounds are produced. Sounds are usually classified according to the position of the lips and the tongue, how far open the mouth is, whether or not the vocal cords are vibrating.

-   Auditory phonetics deals with how speech sounds are perceived by listeners.

Eg: A listener may perceive difference in aspiration, for example, the difference between aspirated /p/ in ‘pit” and unaspirated /p/ in ‘speed”

3.         What is phonology?

Phonology is the description of systems & patterns of sounds in a language. It involves the study of language to determine its distingtive sounds & to establish the set of rule that describes the set of changes when the occur in # relationship with other sounds

Phonology is also concerned with:

-   The study of word-to-word in sentences that is how sound patterns are affected by the combination of words.

Ex: give/gɪv/ and him /hɪm/may combine to become /gɪvɪm/

-   The investigation of intonation patterns.

4.         What is phonetic transcription/ allophonic transcription?

Phonetic transcription is the use of symbols to record, describe or to show sounds or sound sequences in written form. In phonetic, (narrow transcription) - written in square brackets [ ] - phonetic symbols are used to show in detail how of particular sound is pronounced.

Ex: month [mʌnθ]

5.         What is phonemic transcription?

Phonemic transcription transcribes a word in a way that shows none of the details of the pronunciation that are predictable by phonological rules, for example, aspiration or nasalization. In other word, phonemic transcription shows only distinctive sound of language (phonemes) it doesn’t show the final point of pronunciation. Phonemic transcription is written in slanting brackets / /.

Ex: cat / kæt/, car /kɑ/, dog /dɒg/

Phonemic transcription may be used:

-   For language which have no writing system of their own.

-   For language teaching purpose. This kind of transcription is especially important for learners of E which have 44 phonetic sounds but only 26 letters.

6.         What is transcription?

Transcription is the use of a system of symbols and diacritic to show or to record, describe the # in sounds or sound sequences.

7.         What is the difference between phonetic transcription and description?

-   Phonetic transcription is the use of phonetic symbols to represent various sounds including symbols to show in detail how a particular sound is pronounced.

-   Phonetic description is the description of the way that sounds are made. Here, the attention is paid to how organs of speech work to produce the sounds.

Eg: /k/ in “cat” /kæt/. It’s transcribed phonetically as [k] but it is described as a velar, aspirated plosive, voiceless, oral consonant.

8.         What is the difference between phonetic and phonemic transcription?

-   Phonetic transcription shows no detail of pronunciation. Neither does it show the final point of pronunciation & it is written in slanting bracket / /. Eg: car /kɑ/.

-   Phonemic transcription shows details of pronunciation including the final point of pronunciation and it is written in square bracket [ ]. Eg: car [kɑ].

9.         What is a phoneme? How many phonemes are there in the English language? How many types are they often divided into?

Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words by its contrast within words.

Ex: “Ban” /bæn/ and “bin” /bɪn/ differ only in their vowel. /æ/ and /ɪ/.

Therefore, there are 44 phonemes divided into 2 types: 24 consonants and 20 vowels.

10.     Give the classification of English phonemes. List all the consonantal phonemes, providing example in each case by giving a broad transcription of the word containing the consonant

Phoneme is the smallest sound unit segment that can be distinguished by their contrast within word. The contrast is identified by the fact that the word changes the own form & meaning.

Phoneme can be classified into:

-   Segmental phonemes: vowels and consonants

-   Super segmental phonemes: stressed and intonation

In E, there are 44 consonantal phonemes divided into 2 types:

-   Voiceless: p t k f θ s ʃ h tʃ

pen /pɛn/, sound /saʊnd/, teacher /titʃə/, car /kɑ/, thin /θɪn/, change /tʃeɪndʒ/, horror /hɒrə/, five /faɪv/, show /ʃəʊ/

-   Voiced: b d g v ð z ʒ dʒ m n ŋ l w r j

book /bʊk/, very /vɛrɪ/, zoo /zu/, they /ðeɪ/, measure /mɛʒʊə/, John /dʒəʊn/, month /mʌnθ/, nose /nəʊz/, sing /sɪŋ/, life /laɪf/, rhythm /rɪðəm/, year /jɪə/, world /wɜld/

11.     What is allophone?

An allophone is any of different form of the phoneme. It derives from the same phoneme in different distribution or different relationship.

Eg: In E, when the phoneme /p/ occurs at the beginning of words like “put”/pʊt/ and “pair” /pɛə/, it’s said with a little puff of air (that is it’s aspirated). But when /p/ occurs in words like “speak” /spik/ and “spare” /spɛə/, it’s said without a puff of air (it’s unaspirated). Both the unaspirated [p] in “span” and [p] in “put” have the same phonemic function, that is, they are both heard and identified as /p/ and not as /b/. They are both allophone of the phoneme /p/.

12.     What is the difference between a phoneme and an allophone?

The difference between them is the phoneme is a basic sound unit which not used to denote a particular pronunciation whereas the allophone gives an actual detail pronunciation of the same phoneme. We can identify the number of phonemes of a particular language that we can’t do that with allophone.

Eg: 2 words “head” and “dead” are distinguished by a change in the 1st consonantal element /h/ and /d/ (phoneme).

But allophone of /k/: [k] in cat, car and [k] in “sky, skin, skate.

13.     What is vowel? How many groups can they be divided into?

 A vowel is a speech sound in which the airstream from the lung is not blocked in any way in the mouth or the throat & which is usually pronounced with vibration of the vocal cords.

 Eg: /i/ in “see”

 The types of vowel sound which is produced depend largely on the position of the tongue:

 -   Which part of the tongue (front, middle & back) is raised.

 -   How far the tongue is raised.

 Vowels are divided into 2 groups:

 -   12 monophthongs: ɪ ɒ ʌ ʊ i u ɑ ɜ ɔ ɛ ə æ

 -   8 diphthongs: eɪ aɪ ɒɪ əʊ aʊ ɪə ɛə ʊə

 14.     What is the difference between monophthongs and diphthongs? Give example.

 –Monophthongs are pure vowel sounds which are pronounced without changing the organ of speech throughout the duration of sound production.

 Eg: me /mi/, man /mæn/.

 –Diphthongs are complex vowel sounds which are pronounced so as to make a syllable. In diphthong production, the organ of speech starts in the position of the 1st vowel than glides gradually to the next.

 Ex: shy /ʃaɪ/, day /deɪ/.

 15.     What are the general criteria for English vowel classification?

 General criteria for E vowel classification include:

 1.   Shapes of lips:

 –Spread: ɪ æ i ɛ

 –Rounded: ɒ ʊ u ɑ ɔ

 –Unrounded: ʌ ɜ ə

 2.          Position of tongue:

 –High: ɪ i ʊ u

 –Middle: ɛ ɜ ə ɔ

 –Low: æ ʌ ɒ ɑ

 3.          Highest part of tongue:

 –Front:

 –Central:

 –Back:

 4.          Length of sounds:

 –Long: i u ɜ ɔ ɑ

 –Short: ɪ ɛ æ ə ʌ ʊ ɒ

 16.     What is a consonant? What makes it different from a vowel in terms of articulation stability?

 A consonant is a speech sound in which the airstream from the lung is either completely blocked (stopped) or partially blocked (lateral) or where the opening is so narrow that the air escapes with audible friction. With consonant (nasal), the airstream is blocked in the mouth but allowed to escape through the nose.

 Consonants are speech sounds when we pronounce them, the organ of speech always form obstruction. The airstream is stopped before going out of the mouth, and the pronunciation is with or without vibration of vocal cord. In contrast, vowels have articulatory stability and no obstruction.

 17.     Name the criteria for classifying English consonant. List all English consonant phonemes according to manner of articulation.

 English consonants are classified according to the phoneme criteria:

 1.          Place of articulation

 2.          Manner of articulation.

 3.          Voicing

 4.          Position of soft palate.

 Regarding to the manner of articulation, E consonantal phonemes include:

 1.          Plosive: p, b, t, d, k, g.

 2.          Fricative: f, v, s, z, h, θ, ʃ, ð, ʒ

 3.          Affricate: tʃ dʒ

 4.                            Nasal: m, n, ŋ

 5.                            Lateral: l

 6.                            Glide: w, r, j

 18.     What are manner of articulation referred to? Describe in brief the manner of articulation in producing stop and affricate.

 Manner of articulation is the way in which the obstruction of the airstream is achieved:

 –Stop: complete obstruction of the airstream is produced by stopping the airstream that passage from the lung into the mouth and then suddenly releasing (The air can be can be completely stopped because the lips or the tongue actually touch some part of upper mouth.

 Eg: bilateral /p/, /b/ are bilabial stopped formed by stopping the air with the lips and then releasing them.

 –Affricate:are complex consonant sounds. In the articulation, the top of the tongue makes contact with the top of the mouth and then separates slightly with a friction so that a fricative is made immediately after the stop.

 Eg: /tʃ/ begins with the stop consonant /t/ and is released as the fricative /ʃ/

 19.     What happens to English fortis plosive when they are preceded by a voiceless alveolar fricative?

 The fortis plosive in English: p, t, k

 The voiceless alveolar fricative: s

 When fortis plosive are preceded by /s/, they become unaspirated.

 Eg: pan [pæn], span [spæn]

 20.     What make an English plosive different from English fricative?

 English plosive is pronounced when the air passage is completely closed in the flow of air is stopped at the place of articulation.

 When the obstruction is instantly removed or broken, the air goes out causing an effect of an explosion.

 English fricative is pronounced when the air passage is narrowed, the air flow passes through the narrow gap causing audible friction

 Eg: Plosive: p, b, k, g, t, d

 Fricative: f, v, s, z, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ, h

 21.     What are the basic features that must be included in the classification on English plosive?

 English plosives are classified according to:

 1.          Place of articulation:

 -   Bilabial plosive: b p

 -   Alveolar plosive: t d

 -   Velar plosive: k g

 2.                                               Force of articulation:

 -   Fortis plosive: p t k

 -   Lenis plosive: b d g

 3.                                               Aspiration:

 -   Aspirated: p t k

 -   Unaspirated: b d g

 4.                                               Voicing:

 -   Voiceless: p t k

 -   Voiced: b d g

 22.     What is voicing?

 Voicing refers to the vibration of the vocal cords. Sounds made with the vocal cords vibrating are voiced sounds and those made with no such vibration are voiceless sounds.

 Voicing is one way that make consonant different from one another.

 Eg: voiceless consonant: p t k f θ s ʃ h tʃ

 Voiced consonant   : b d g v ð z ʒ dʒ m n ŋ l w r j

 23.     Classify the consonant in the English language according to the work of the vocal cords.

 According to the work of the vocal cords, English consonants can be classified into 2 types:

 -   Voiceless

 -   Voiced

 Voiced consonants can be subdivided into 2 subtypes:

 +Non- sonorous: b d g ʒ ð v z dʒ

 +Sonorous:  m n ŋ l r j w

 24.     Give the definition of minimal pair.

 Minimal pairs are pairs of words in which a difference in meaning depends on difference of the phoneme that occurs in the same position or distribution or place (The two identical in every way except one sound)

 /hæt/ & /kæt/

 25.     What is minimal set?

 A minimal set is two or more than two words that are identical in every way except one phoneme (sound) that occur in the same position or distribution or place.

 fat - /fæt/; cat - /kæt/; hat - /hæt/; rat - /ræt/

 26.     What can be stated as necessary condition for forming minimal set?

 Minimal set:

 -   More than two words.

 -   Different in the meaning

 -   Same number of segments.

 -   One different segment in the same distribution.

 27.     It can be said that English word’s spelling and pronunciation don’t agree. Give 10 examples to support.

 For most English words, one can not tell how to pronounce them by looking at how they are spelled. There are rules, of course, but there are more exception for the rules than rules themselves.

 chose /tʃəʊz/ - lose /luz/; face /feɪs/ - surface /səfis/

 here /hɪə/ - hear /hɪə/; no /nəʊ/ - know /nəʊ/

 28.     What is stress? Give examples of different types of stress.

 Stress is the pronunciation of the syllable with more force than the surrounding ones, thus making it more prominent than others.

 Eg: translation /tʃɑns’leɪʃn/

 29.     What are main types of word stress?

 Two types:

 -   Primary: the stress is put above the sound or syllable. The stress falls very clearly on the syllable making it more prominent than others.

 Eg: unknown /ʌn׳nəʊn/

 -   Secondary stress: the stress is put under the sound or syllable making it more prominent but less prominent than the one that has primary stress.

 Eg: Economic /ˎikə׳nɒmik/

 30.     What are the functions of stress?

 -   To emphasize certain part of the sentence. This is also referred to accentual function of the stress.

 I bought a ׳book yesterday→ focus on “book”

 -   To express syntactic relationship within words

 a.          Changing word class: Transport /׳trænspɒt/ → (n) - /træn׳spɔt/ → (v)

 b.         Changing the meaning of the word: Implement /ɪmplɪ’mɛnt/ → (v): carry out - /‘ɪmplɪmənt/ → (n): instrument.

 31.     Define pattern of simplification in informal spoken English.

 The pattern of simplification in informal spoken English include:

 1.          Assimilation:

 Every consonant and every vowel will be affected by its neighbouring sound and by the rhythmic structure in which they occur.

 The adaptation of sounds to each other is inevitable and a universal fact of human language.

 Eg: cats [kæts]; dogs [dɒgz]

 2.          Elision:

 A common phenomenon in informal spoken English, the process of gradation or loss of phoneme that would be present in slow, careful pronunciation of a word in isolation.

 Eg: interest [ɪntərɪst] →[ɪntrɪst]

 32.     What is assimilation and what are main types of assimilation?

 Assimilation is a phonetic process by which one speech sound comes to resemble or becomes identical with adjacent (neighbouring).

 Eg: In the word “width” the phoneme /d/ is an alveolar plosive, /θ/ is a dental fricative. Because of /θ/, /d/ in “width” becomes identical to the position of /θ/. So /d/ is said to be dentalized by /θ/.

 Two main types

 -     Progressive assimilation: when the preceding sound assimilates the following one.

 Eg: in the word “place” /l/ become devoiced because of /p/ which is voiceless and aspirated. We can transcribe the word as follow: [pleɪs]

 -   Regressive assimilation: in regressive, the preceding sound is influenced by the one following it.

 Eg: in the word “man”, / æ / is nasalized by /n/. It becomes [mæn]

 /t/ → /p/ before /p/ /b/ /m/That pen [ðɑbpɛn]

 /t/ → /k/ before /k/ /g/           That cup [ðɑkkʌp]

 /d/ → /b/ before /b/ /m/       Good morning [gʊbmɔnɪη]

 /d/ → /g/ before /k/ /g/        Good girl [gʊggɜl]

 /s/ → /ʃ/ before /j/                This year [ðɪʃjɪə]

 /z/ → /dʒ/ before /j/

 33.     What are degrees of assimilation?

 a.          Complete:

 When the assimilation consonant fully coincide with the articulation of the assimilating consonant (the sound is totally change to be exactly the same as the assimilating sound)

 Eg: good boy [gʊbbɒɪ]

 b.  Partial:

 When the assimilated consonant retain its main phonetic feature and become only party similar in some feature of its articulation to the assimilating sound (the sound is changed to be in some way like the assimilating sound).

 Eg: good morning [gʊbmɔnɪη]

 c.          Intermediate

 When the assimilated consonant changes into a different sound but does not coincide with the assimilating consonant (the sound is changed to be totally different from the assimilating sound).

 Eg: haven’t you [hævntʃju]

 34.     What is elision? What are main types of elision?

 A common phenomenon in informal spoken English is the process of gradation or loss of phoneme that would be present in slow, careful pronunciation of a word in isolation.

 Two main types:

 -   Consonant elision: like in assimilation, the most common place to find consonant elision is at the end of the word: first three [fɜsθri]

 -   The most frequent example of vowel elision are found with /ɪ/, /ə/:  similar [sɪmlə]

 35.     What is liaison?

 Liaision is the phenomenon where a sound is linked to another in real connected speech, especially a consonant to a vowel.

 Two main types are often found:

 -   Final consonant + initial vowel: Come in [kʌm in]

 -   Final vowel + initial vowel (with intrusive /r/): you and I [jurəndaɪ]

 36.     State the function of the following tone:

 -   Low fall is used to express impatience.

 -   High fall is used to express excitement or indignation or disagreement.

 -   Falling- rising: is used to express doubt, not sure ore encouragement and also indignation.

 37.     What is intonation? Describe basic intonation pattern

 When speaking, people usually raise or lower their pitch of voice forming pitch pattern. They also give some syllable in their utterances a greater degree of loudness and change their speech rhythm. In other word intonation is the rises and fall in pitch level or pattern of pitch changes.

 The basic intonation patterns are:

 -   Falling nucleus (tone)

 -   Rising nucleus

 -   Falling- rising nucleus

 -   Rising- falling nucleus

 -   Middle level

 38.     Give different description for aspiration and dentalization

 –Aspiration is a little puff of air that sometimes goes with speech sounds: teacher [titʃə]

 –Dentalization is the change of an alveolar sound into dental sound when standing before a dental sound: health [hɛlθ]