Question 1: What is a phoneme? How are phonemes classified?

 Both phonetics and phonology study and describe the distinctive

sound units or phonemes of a language and their relationship to one
another. ( ex: pen, hen /p/ and /h/ )
 A phoneme is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from
another in a particular language.

Ex: /m, n, e, æ, ʌ/

 The phonemes are classified into consonants and vowels.

 English has 44 phonemes which include 24 consonants (ex: n, m) , 12
vowels(ex: u:,i: ) and 8 diphthongs (ex: ae, ei).

Question 2: What is allophone? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

 An allophone is any of the different forms of a phoneme.

Ex: top [thop]

The aspirated in TOP and the unaspirated in STOP have the same
phoneme function. That is, they are both heard and identified as [p] and
not as [b]. They are both ALLOPHONES of the PHONEME [p].

Question 3: How does phonology differ from phonetics?

Definition:

 Phonetics is the basis for phonological analysis

 Phonology is to separate units of sounds of a language.
The study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.

Phonetics Phonology

 Is the basis for phonological  Is the basis for further

analysis. work in morphology,
 syntax, discourse, and
orthography design.

 Analyzes the production  Analyzes the sound

of all human speech patterns of a particular
sounds, regardless of language by
language. +determining which phonetic
sounds are significant, and
+explaining how these
sounds are interpreted by the
native speaker.

Question 4: What is a consonant? How are consonants classified?

 Consonant sounds are the sounds obstructs the airflow

E.g. /m, n, ŋ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ /

 Consonants can be classified into 3 criterias

1. Places of articulation
1.1 Bilabial: | b, m, p,w |
1.2 Labio-dental: |f, v|
1.3 Dental: |ð, θ |
1.4 Alveolar: |d, t, l, n, z, s|
1.5 Palato/post- alveolar: |Ʒ, ʃ, ʧ, ʤ|
1.6 Velar: |ŋ|
1.7 Glottal: |h|
1.8 Palatal: |j|
1.9 Retroflex: |r|
2. Manner of articulation
 2.1 Plosive or stop: |p, b, t, d, k,g|
2.2 Fricative: |v, f, s, z, Ʒ, ʃ, ð,θ|
2.3 Nasal or nasal stop: |m, n, ŋ|
2.4 Lateral: |l|
2.5 Gliding or semivowel/approximant/: |w, r, j|
2.6 Affricate: / ʧ, ʤ /
3. Voicing
 Voiced: /b/
 Voiceless: /p /

4. ASPIRATION

 Aspirated: can
 Unaspirated: spend

Question 5: What is a vowel? How are vowels classified?

 Vowel sounds are the sounds which do not obstruct the airflow.
E.g. /e, æ, ʌ, ɔ, ɔ:, Ə, Ə:/
 Vowels can be classified into 4 criteria:
1. Vowel length
 Is based on duration of the air-stream to produce vowels
 5 long vowels and 7 shorts ones.
 7 short vowels: |i, æ, Ə, Ɔ, Ʊ, e, ʌ|
 5 long vowels: |i:, Ə:, Ɔ:, u:, a:|
2. Tongue height
 According to the height of the tongue vowels are classified into:
high, mid-high, mid, mid-low, low.
3. Tongue position
According to the height of the tongue vowels are classified into: front,
central, back.
 4. Lip rounding
 According to the rounding of the lips, vowels are classified into:
rounded and unrounded
+ Rounded:| Ʊ, u:, Ɔ, Ɔ:|
+ Unrounded: other vowels

5. MUSCLE TENSION:

Tenseness in the muscles of the jaw and throat. The muscles may be lax
or tense. Short vowels are often lax vowels meanwhile tense vowels are often
long vowels.

Question 6: In what cases are consonants syllabic? Give illustrative

examples.

 Syllabic consonants are the ones which can form syllable without
vowels.
 A consonant , either l, r or a nasal stands as the peak of weak
syllables instead of the vowels.

Eg: /infƏ’meiʃn/ cattle /kætl/

problem [prɒblm̩] thicken[θikŋ]

literal [litərl]

Question 7: what is the different between vowels and consonants?

 The alphabet is made up of 26 letters, 5 of which are vowels (a, e,

i, o, u) and the rest of which are consonants.
 A vowel is a sound that is made by allowing breath to flow out of
the mouth, without closing any part of the mouth or throat.
Ex: /e, æ, ʌ, ɔ, ɔ:, Ə, Ə:/
 A consonant is a sound that is made by blocking air from flowing
out of the mouth with the teeth, tongue, lips or palate
 Ex: 'b' is made by putting your lips together, 'l' is made by touching
your palate with your tongue.
(Vowel sounds: sounds which do NOT obstruct the airflow. E.g. /e, a:,
…/
Consonant sounds: sounds obstruct the airflow. E.g. /m, n, ŋ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ /)
Question 8: show the difference between phonemic and phonetic
transcription of the sounds in the English language. Illustrate your answer
with examples?

 Narrow transcription (also called phonetic transcription): The

transcription in which phonemes are transcribed phonetically (with
allophones). The phonetic symbol is [ ] (square brackets). This type
is more complex, more detailed & gives more information about a
phoneme. Ex: little, cattle
 Broad transcription (also called phonemic transcription): The
transcription in which phonemes are transcribed phonemically. The
symbol is / / (slant bars). This type is easy and quick to learn. It is
preferred due to these 2 reasons: simple phonemic symbols and
easy printing. As a result, it is the study object of PHONETICS.
Ex: /pen/

Question 9: what is stress? What are the rule applied for affix-words?
What are the rules applied for two- syllable verbs? What are the rules
applied for three- syllable nouns?

 Stress is the prominence given to the syllable. The prominence is

made up of 4 factors: clearer, longer, higher and louder.
• 3 types of stress
+ Word stress
+ Phrase stress
 + Sentence stress

The rule applied for affix-words (prefixes and suffixes) the rule
applied for affix-words:

 Prefixes: Stress in prefix-words is governed by the same rules as

those for polysyllabic words without prefixes.
 Suffixes:
- Suffixes stressed themselves: ex: entertain, volunteer
- Suffixes don’t affect stress: ex: beauty - beautiful
- Suffixes affect stress in the base (on the last syllable): Ex: ‘photo-
pho’tography

The rules applied for two- syllable verbs:

 If the second syllable of the verbs contains a long vowel or

diphthong or if it ends with more
 than one consonant, that second syllable is stressed.
E.g. App’ly, a’rrive, a’ttract, a’ssist
 If the second syllable of the verbs contains a short vowel and ends
with one or no final
 consonant, the first syllable is stressed.
E.g. ‘enter, ‘envy, ‘open, ‘equal….
 If the second syllable contains |Əʊ|, the first syllable is stressed.
 E.g. ‘follow, ‘borrow…

The rules applied for three- syllable nouns:

 If the last syllable contains a short vowel or |ƏƱ |, it is unstressed

and if the syllablepreceding this final syllable contains a long
vowel or diphthong, that middle syllable will be stressed.
 E.g. po’tato, di’saster
  If the last and the middle syllables contain a short vowel and ends
with not more than one consonant, the first syllable is stressed.

E.g. ‘cinema, ‘quantity, ‘emperor

 If the last syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong and/or ends

with more than one consonant, the first syllable will be stressed.

E.g. ‘intellect, ‘marigold,

Question 10: How does the stress help to make the difference between
compound words and free word groups?

 When an adjective and noun combine to form a compound noun, the first
element often takes the primary stress. Ex: ‘Whitehouse (compound
noun)
 When an adjective modifies a noun, the noun usually has the primary
stress. Ex: White’house (free group word)

Question 11: What is linking? When does linking occur? Illustrate your
answer with examples.

 Linking happens when we link words together, usually for ease of

pronunciation.

 Linking usually occurs in colloquial, connected speech

Eg. That’s a beautiful girl.

/ s ә/

We can link:
-vowel to vowel: Very interesting, the story is
-Stop-to-stop consonants: That’s a bad dog, Put ten in the box

-Consonant-to-vowel: Drink a cup of tea

Question 12: What is elision? What are cases of elison? Illustrate your
answer with examples.

 Elision is the complete disappearance of a consonant or vowel sound, or

both
 There are 2 cases of elison: vowel elison and consonant elison.
1. Vowel elison

/ə/: is elided within words in the following cases

+ in the sequence of |ə| + |r| + weak vowel after a consonant:

|tər| - |tr| (‘secretary) - | ‘sekrəteri| _--> | ‘sekrətri|

/i/:

+/ following a consonant and preceding /l/:

`similar __ /`simlә/
+/ following a consonant in a post-nuclear position:
`cabinet /`kæbnәt/

2. Consonant elision

 /t/,/d/ in the middle of a cluster of 3 consonants:

Eg: exactly /ik`zækli/ ; handsome /`hænsәm/
 /θ/, /ð/ in a cluster of 3 consonants:
Eg: months __ /mΛns/
fifths __ /fifs/’
clothes__ /klәuz/
 /h/ in he, his, her, had (aux), has (aux), have (aux) when
these words are unstressed and do not begin a sentence.
Eg:
 He is a doctor, isn’t he?
/hi: iz `dɔktә/ `iznti:?/
  Here he is! // hiәr i: iz!/
 He’s arrived. //hi:z ә`raivd./

Question 13: What is assimilation? What are kinds of assimilation?

Illustrate your answer with examples.

ASSIMILATION

 Is the influence of one phoneme upon another neighbouring, so that they

become more alike.
 More likely found in rapid and casual speech.
 Affects the consonants only.

There are 2 kinds of assimilation:

1. Regressive assimilation: consonant final (Cf) → consonant initial (Ci)

E.g. one more /wΛnmƆ:/ /gub bƆi/ / laip blu:/

/wΛmmƆ:/

2. Progressive assimilation: (Cf ← Ci)

E.g. in the /in ðә/ /in nә/ read these / ri:d di:z/

Question 14: According to place of articulation, how are consonants

classified?

According to place of articulation, consonants are classified:

 Bilabial: two lips are pressed together /b, m, p, w/

 Labio-dental: the upper teeth and the lower lip come close together /f, v/
 Dental: the tip of the tongue is between the upper and lower teeth /θ, ð/
 Alveolar: the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge /d, t, l, n, z, s/
 Palato – alveolar: the front of the tongue touches the part between the
alveolar ridge and the hard palate /Ʒ, ʃ, ʧ, ʤ/
  Palatal: /j/
 Velar: /k, g, ŋ/
 Glottal: /h/
 Retroflex: the tip of the tongue touches the back of the alveolar ridge /r/

Question 15: According to manner of articulation, how are consonants

classified?

According to manner of articulation, consonants are classified:

1. Plosive: the air is stopped, then released with an explosive sound /p, b,
t, d, k, g/
2. Fricative: the air is blocked causing friction when passing through the
organs of speech /v, f, s, z, Ʒ, ʃ, ð,θ/
3. Nasal: the air passes through the nose when the uvula is lowered /m, n,
ŋ/
4. Lateral: the air passes out at both sides of the tongue /l/
5. Approximant: the tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar ridge /w, r,
j/
6. Affricate: / ʧ, ʤ /

Question 16: How does a stressed syllable differ from an unstressed one?
Illustrate your answer w Differences between a stressed & an unstressed
syllable:

-Stress is the prominence given to the syllable.

-Any words with more than one syllables will be stressed.

-Differences between a stressed & an unstressed syllable:

 stronger
 higher
  longer
 clearer

Ex: Camera |’kæmrә |

Question 17: What are main articulators?

There are 8 main articulators:

1. Nose: an important part for making sounds, particularly nasal sounds /m,
n/
2. Teeth: (upper and lower teeth): sounds made with the tongue touching
the the front teeth are called dental. /ð/
3. Alveolar ridge: between the top front front teeth and the hard palate. /t,
d/
4. Tongue: an important articulator, can be moved into many different
places and different shapes. Tip of the tongue touches alveolar
ridge=>alveolar: /s,
5. Hard palate: is often called “roof of the mouth” /j/
6. Soft palate: an articulator can be touched by the tongue=>velar
consonants /k,g/
7. Lips: important in speech. They can be pressed together=>bilabial
sounds; sounds made with lip-to-teeth contact=>labiodental. /p,b/
8. Pharynx: a tube which begins just above the larynx. /h/

Question 18: What are the functions of intonation? Illustrate your answer
with examples.

The function of intonation is to express attitude, feeling or emotion.

E.g: Thank you.  (showing real gratitude)

Thank you.  (casual acknowledgement of something not very important)

Question 19: How are tones used in different kinds of sentences according
communicative functions?

1. Falling tune (glide down):

 Finality, definiteness, strong exclamation.

 WH question.
 tag question (expecting answer YES from the listener.)

Ex: Stop talking.

2. First Rising tune (glide up):

 Y-N questions
 statements intended as questions
 Statement –intended to be soothing, encouraging
 Greeting, saying goodbye

Ex: hello

3. Fall-rise (dive):

 Uncertainty, doubt, requesting, correction, warning

 incomplete sen.
 Reservations

Ex:

4. Second rising tune-Take-off:

 tag quetions after commands

 If exclamation is questioning
 grumble

Ex:

Question 20: What is a rhythm unit? Give examples for your answer.
  A rhythm unit is a unit of a stressed syllable as its center and any
unstressed syllable around it.
 The unstressed syllables are closely connected grammatically to the
stressed.

E.g. || aim ‘gƏƱiŋ ‘hƏƱm fƏ ‘krismƏs.||

( 3 rhythm units )