Quiz on Phonology

Time: 20 minutes

1. (2 points) What is the difference between a phoneme and an allophone?

Phonemes are sounds that never contrast significantly with one another and are
treated as the same sound. E.g. /p/ is always treated the same way.
Within a phoneme, sounds that don’t significantly contrast with each other are
called allophones. For example, p and b are separate phonemes in English, but
aspirated and unaspirated /p/ are just allophones of the same phoneme.

2. (3 points) Identify the following phonemes by writing the appropriate phonetic

symbol beside each one.

bilabial nasal /m/

high back vowel /u/

voiced labiodental fricative /v/

3. (3 points) Give the phonological description of the following English phonemes

(e.g., for consonants, voiceless bilabial stop; for vowels, high back vowel).

/n/ alveolar nasal

/æ/ low front vowel

/k/ voiceless velar stop

4. (2 points) Write the following lines in standard English spelling. (ʌ = the vowel
sound in but)

/ pərsuɪŋ ə ĵɛžuət ɛĵukešən ɪz mɑɪ ɑɪdiə ʌv ə fæbjələs tɑɪm /

Pursuing a Jesuit education is my idea of a good time.

 OVER ☞

5. (10 points) Write out the IPA symbol for the underlined letters in each word:

favorite /v/ thong /ŋ/

school /u/ hide /ɑɪ/ or /ɑi/

pizza /ə/ choose /č/

elbow /ɛ/ same /e/ or /ei/

tooth /θ/ crazy /k/

6. (10 points) Write out the following words in the IPA alphabet.

beauty bjuti squash skwɑš

edge ɛǰ phony foni

flavor flev(ə)r happy hæpi

either ið(ə)r / ɑið(ə)r crouch krɑuč

fishing fɪšəŋ pneumonia nəmonjə