Revision (unit 1-9) PCCV:

Task 1. Fill in the blanks with suitable words

(a) larynx (b) lungs (c) environment (d) allophones

(e) vocal tract (f) vowels (g) first (x2) (h) shift

(i) smallest (j) final (k)Ambisyllabic (l) meaning

(m) stressed (n) trachea

A. In producing most speech sounds, including all the sounds used regularly in English, the air we
use comes from the (1……lungs…..). This air travels up from the lung, passing through the (2(n)
trachea) (windpipe), until it reaches the (3 (a) larynx.) where it might be set into vibration. The
(3 (a) larynx) is commonly known as the voice box, and its front is the protrusion that can be felt
in the front of the neck, which is called the Adam’s apple in men. The air passes through the (3
(a) larynx) into the (4 e) vocal tract).

B. In terms of theory, researchers also sometimes disagree about the syllable distribution of the
intervocalic consonants (consonants in between (5…vowels……….)). Some people think that
stress attracts intervocalic consonants, so that the /p/ in ‘happy’ would belong to the (6…
first……….). syllable, as it is stressed (louder and longer than the second syllable). Some others,
however, think that the /p/ in ‘happy’ belongs to both syllables at the same time (that is, as the
coda of the first syllable and the onset of the second) and say it is (7…ambisyllabic……….). .

C. When we say the words Chinese and Waterloo in isolation, the stress is on the (8…final……….).
syllable: Chiˈnese and Waterˈloo. However, in phrases like ˈChinese ˈtakeaway and ˈWaterloo
ˈstation, stress likely falls on the (8 first………….) syllable of each element. This phenomenon
is known as stress (9………shilf….). , because stress shifts from the lexical stress position to
somewhere else. This happens because another (10…stressed……….) syllable occurs
immediately afterwards – that is, at the start of ‘takeaway’ and ‘station’. English likes stressed
syllables to be separated by some unstressed syllables, and stress shift is one of the techniques the
language employs to do just that.

D. Phonemes are the (11……smallest…….) units that can make a meaning difference in a language,
but they occur in slightly different forms depending on their (12…environment……….) (the
other sounds around them, and factors such as stress and their position in the syllable). We can
tell if two sounds are variants of the same phoneme by replacing one for another in a word and
seeing if they make a (13……meaning…….). difference. If they do not, then we know they are
different versions of the same phoneme. These different versions are called (14……
allophones…….).

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 Task 2. Match the symbols on the left with the places of articulation on the right. There will
only be one match for each one.
/p/ /tʃ/ - postalveolar
/z/ /f/ - labiodental
/f/ /j/ - palatal
/ð/ / ŋ /- velar
/tʃ/ /z/ - alveolar
[ʔ] /ð/- dental
/j/ /p/ - bilabial
/ŋ/ [ʔ] - glottal

Task 3. For each section below, find appropriate words according to the instructions you are
given.
1. Find three words that rhyme with ‘can’, but which start with bilabials.
- Pan, ban, man
2. Find six words that are like ‘make’, except that they finish with an alveolar sound in place of /k/.
Remember to keep the vowel the same and not to think about spelling.
- lake, take, bake, sake, fake, wake
=> made, maid, main, mail, maze, male.
3. Find three words where the first two sounds are exactly like those in ‘tut’, but which end with a
velar sound instead of the final /t/.
- Tung, tug,tusk => tug, tongue, tuck
Task 4. Each of the following sets contains an inappropriate member. Pick it out and say why it is
inappropriate.

Set A

1. /m, n, ŋ, b/

/b/ is oral sound, /m, n, ŋ/ are nasal sound

2. /p, b, t, n/

/b, p, t/ are oral stop (obstrunents) sound, /n/ is nasal stop sound

3. /p, t, m, s/

/p, t, s/ are voiceless, /m/ is voiced

4. /ʊ, e, æ, ɪ/

/e, æ, ɪ/ are front vowels, /ʊ/ is a back sound

5. /l, f, v, s, z/

/f, v, s, z/ are fricatives, /l/ is lateral

6. /t, d, l, n, p/
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 /t, d, l, n/ are alveolars, /p/ is bilabial

7. /t, d, p, f, s/

/p, t, f, s/ are voiceless, /d/ is voiced

8. /t, k, g, ŋ/

/k, g, ŋ/ are velars, /t/ is alveolar

9. /p, tʃ, r, dʒ/

/tʃ, r, dʒ/ are postalveolar, /p/ is bilabial

10. /r w j t/

/t/ is voiceless obstruent, /r, w, j/ are voiced sonorants.

Set B

1. /b p v dʒ n l r/=> /b/ is a voiced sound, the others are voiceless sounds.

=> /p/ is voiceless sound, the rest are voiced sounds

2. /ɡ l t d n s z/ => /g/ is a velar consonant, the others are alveolar

3. /f ʃ ʒ θ v w ð/ => /w/ is an approximant, the others are fricatives
4. /n l r w d j m/ => /d/ is an obstruent, the others are sonorants

Task 5. Give the correct technical terms for the sounds resulting from the following closures.

1. Complete closure followed by slow release of air. (affricate)

2. Complete closure for the oral cavity with the air diverted through the nose (nasal stops)
3. Partial closure where the airstream is blocked by the tip of the tongue but allowed to escape
round the sides of the tongue. (lateral)
4. Complete closure followed by a sudden release of air (plosive)
5. Sounds that involve some kind of pressure change and noise in their production. They include
plosives, affricates and fricatives. (obstruents)

Task 6: Complete the table with suitable information

Place of articulation Active articulator Passive articulator

(1 Bilabial.) Bottom lip Top lip
Labiodental Bottom lip (2 Upper teeth.)
Dental Tongue tip Upper front teeth
Alveolar Tongue tip (3 Alveolar ridge)
Postalveolar Tongue tip or blade Region (4 between hard
palate and/ behind) the
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 alveolar ridge
Palatal Tongue (5 front) Hard palate
Velar Tongue (6 back) Velum
Glottal Vocal folds (7 vocal fold.)

Task 7. Decide whether the statements below are true or false. If they are false, explain why.
a) The velum is lowered for /ɡ/. T
b) All nasals are sonorants. T
c) All voiced sounds are sonorants. F ( All sonorants are voiced sounds)
d) The air is turbulent during the production of a fricative. T
e) Air flows over the sides of the tongue for /j/. F (Air flows over the center of the tongue)
f) Approximants are devoiced when they occur in a cluster after a voiceless plosive in
the onset of a stressed syllable. T
g) The /w/ in ‘weed’ is not devoiced because it does not follow a voiceless plosive in a cluster. T
h) There is a devoiced /r/ in ‘tree’ and ‘privet’, and a devoiced /l/ in ‘plant’ and ‘clover’. T
j) The /r/ in ‘country’ is not devoiced because /tr/ is not the onset of a stressed syllable. T
Task 8. Match the symbols on the left to the appropriate word on the right. There will only be
one match for each one.

hear
part
hair
plume
mass
gin
boy
cow

Task 9. Each of these transcriptions of English words contains errors. Spot the errors and
correct them .

a) quick /qwic/ => /kwɪk/

b) ring /Ring/ => /rɪŋ/
c) box /Box/ => /bɒks/

Task 10. Transcribe the following sentences phonemically (broad)

a) Have you got anything alcohol-free?

/hæv juː ɡɒt ˈeniθɪŋ ˈælkəhɒl friː/
b) The birds are on the feeders in the garden.
/ðə bɜːdz ɑːr ɒn ðə fiːdərz ɪn ðə ‘gɑːrdn/
c) I believe she’s got eleven units left to write.
/aɪ bɪˈliːv ʃiːz ɡɒt ɪˈlevn ˈjuːnɪts left tə raɪt/
Task 11. Find minimal pairs to illustrate that the following pairs of sounds belong to separate
phonemes in English.
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 For example, for [t]–[d], you could say ‘tangle’ and ‘dangle’.

[p]–[b] pile - bile

[s]–[z] ice - eyes
[θ]–[ð] bath – bathe thigh - thy
[z]–[ʒ] please – pleasure => mega – measure ; bays – beige
[ɡ]–[ʒ] vigor - vision
[ŋ]–[h] no pairs match because [ŋ] never word-initial, [h] only word-initial

Task 12. Which of the following words can be words in English? Which ones cannot be
English words? Explain why.

/dem/: English

/ŋʊdəl/: not English (no E-words start with /ŋ/)

/splim/: English

/spfid/: not English (/sp/ can’t be followed by obstruents (/f/) in the onset)

/ʒɔdʒ/: not English (E-words can’t begin with /ʒ/)

/bɑh/: not English (no E-words end with /h/)

/sɪŋt/: not English

Task 13. Divide the following words into syllables and explain for your answers.

1. Lengthy

Pre-initial Initial Post-initial Peak Pre-final final Post-final Post-final Post-final

1 2 3

læŋ l æ ŋ

θi θ i

=> /læŋ/ is the first syllable and a strong syllable with a short vowel /æ/, so it must have coda.
Therefore, /ŋ/ is pre-final of this syllable.

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 => /θi/ is the second syllable because when we follow the maximal onset principle, the
consonant /θ/ is attached to the right-hand syllable.

2. Restore

Pre-initial Initial Post-initial Peak Pre-final final Post-final Post-final Post-final

1 2 3

ri r i

stɔ s t ɔ

=> /ri/ is the first syllable. It is a weak syllable /i/ inside the word, so this syllable does not have
coda.

=> /stɔ/ is the second syllable.

Task 14. Transcribe the following words phonetically

gold, silver, bronze, website, bagpipe, hotdog

=> Transcribe:

● gold [g̥əʊld̥] (Dark L sound)

● silver [sɪlvər]
● bronze [b̥rɒ̃nz̥]
● website [web̥saɪ̆ t] (shortening of vowels
● bagpipe [b̥æɡ̥paɪ̆ p]
● hotdog [hɒ̆td̥ɒɡ̥]