I.

Questions for discussion:

1. What is a phoneme (âm vị) ?

- A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish 2

words

- An allophone? Allophones are phonemes derived from the same phoneme in

different distribution or relation

2. Discuss the functional view and the physical view of the phoneme.

The functional view: The functional view regards the phoneme as the minimal
sound unit by which meanings may be differentiated
e.g. beat - bought sea - she three - free

The physical view: The physical view regards the phoneme as family of sounds
satisfying certain conditions, notably:

a- The various members of the “family” must show phonetic similarity to one
another, in other words be “related in character”.

b- No member of the “family” may occur in the same phonetic context as any
other, this condition is often referred to as the requirement of complementary
distribution (propounded by Daniel Jones in 1950).

3. What is a distinctive feature? Does an allophone have both distinctive and

non-distinctive features?

=>Hence voice is a distinctive feature.

No, they doesn’t.

4. How do you understand the two terms: segmental and suprasegmental

phoneme?

segmental is: a distinction is made between the vowels and consonants of a

particular language.
suprasegmental: make use of such parameters as loudness, pitch, and
duration

5. What is the phonemic transcription? The allophonic transcription? What

kind of transcription should be used in the teaching of English at secondary
school?

The phonemic transcription: is used to show only the distinctive sounds of a

language

The allophonic transcription: ) used allophonic symbols for various sounds,

including symbols to show in detail how a particular sound pronounced. It is to
show finer points of pronunciation.

II. T /F: Decide whether the following statements are true or false”

1- Phonology( âm vị học) studies the phonemic (âm vị) system of a language. (T)

(Phonology studies the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in
human language).

2- The approaches to phoneme have seen it as a psychological entity, as a family of

sounds and a functional unit. (T)

(The approaches to the phoneme have seen it as a psychological entity, as a

family of physical sounds, and as a functional unit to be identified by the
oppositions obtaining between it and other phonemes of the language in question)

3- The functional view regards the phoneme as a family of sounds.

(F) The functional view regards the phoneme as the minimal sound unit by which
meanings may be differentiated

4- The phoneme is a distinctive unit of sounds in a language.

(F) A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish 2
words

5- The allophones of a phoneme are concrete realizations of that phoneme. The

phoneme is an abstract unit. =>TRUE
6- All phonemes can be regarded as being made up of a number of distinctive

(T) All phonemes can be regarded as being made up of a number of these

simultaneous properties, which are known as “distinctive features.

7- All allophones are made up of only non-distinctive features. => False(form a set
of sounds that (a) do not change the meaning of a word, b- are all very similar to
one another, and c- occur in phonetic contexts different from one another and d-
have non -distinctive differences.)

8- The allophones of a phoneme are predictable phonetic variants of that phoneme.

(T)

9- RP is the type of pronunciation employed in America.

(F) In British English

10- Phonemic transcription is based on the principle “One symbol per phoneme”
(T) It is based on the principles “one symbol per phoneme”.

III- Multiple Choice: Choose the best answer

1- Which of the following is not true?

A- The phoneme is the smallest distinctive unit of sound in a language.

B- The phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish
two morphemes or two words.

( According to this view, the phoneme is defined as the minimal distinctive unit of
sound in a language. Its main function is to distinguish between the meaning of
two morphemes or two words.)

C- The allophones of the same phoneme must show phonetic similarity to one
another.

D- The allophones of the same phoneme must occur in the same phonetic context.
(c- occur in phonetic contexts different from one another)
2-……………. regards the phoneme as the minimal sound unit by which
meanings may be differentiated.

( The functional view regards the phoneme as the minimal sound unit by which
meanings may be differentiated)

A- The mentalist view B- The physical view

C- The functional view D- The abstract view

3- Allophones are known as …………………..

( An allophone can be defined as a predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme.)

A- the predictable syllabic B- the predictable phonetic

C- the predictable morphological D- the predictable textual

4. Which of the following is not a segmental phoneme?

A- the vowel B- the stress C- the consonant D- the diphthong

5- Which of the following words form a minimal pair?

A- bat-bite B- thin-free C- bat-she D- ship-three

6- Which of the following pairs of phoneme differs in two distinctive features?

A- /p – b/ B- /t – d/ C- /k – g/ D- /p – z/

7- How many phonemes are there in the word teaching?

A- 2 B- 3 C- 4 D- 5

8- The initial vowel of economics could be either /i:/ or /e/ according to the
variation in the pronunciation of different speakers. These sounds are said to be
…………… in that particular word.

(We noted that in some words two phonemes may occur interchangeably without
changing the meaning of a word, as in the initial sound of economics which people
pronounce with an /i:/ and others pronounce with an /e/. We said that these two
phonemes were in free variation in that particular word)

A- free variation B- positional variation

C- distinctive variation D- significant variation

9- A/ An ………………transcription is based on the principle “one symbol per

phoneme”.

A- allophone B- phonemic C- narrow D- non – distinctive

10- When the word meat is transcribed as [mi:t], ……………… transcription is

used.

A- allophonic (phiên mã) B- phonemic (phiên âm)

C- narrow D- morphophonemic

IV. Trancribe the following words:

1. bake /beɪk/ 6. bough /baʊ/

2. goat /ɡəʊt/ 7. bored /bɔːd/

3. doubt /daʊt/ 8. guard /ɡɑːd/

4. bought /bɔːt/ 9. pea /piː/

5. tick /tɪk/