A CHECK - UP TEST ON ENGLISH PHONETICS PHONOLOGY
Time allotted: 25’ (SAMPLE)
Please read the questions and tick the correct answer in your answer sheet
(Please do not write anything in this paper) *
1. Which of the following phonetic transcriptions corresponds to each of the
following phonetic description: high back rounded lax vo wel?
[ ʊ ] b. [ æ ] c. [ i ] d. [ ɒ ]
2. Which of the following phonetic transcriptions corresponds to each of the
following phonetic description: voiceless alveolar-palatal affricate?
a. [ th ] b. [ tʃ ] c. [ d ] d. [ j ]
3. Which of the following symbols corresponds to each of the following
phonetic description : voiceless bilabial stop?
a. [ v ] b. [ g ] c. [ ð ] d. [ p ]
4. Which of the following groups contains a segment that differs in place of
articulation from the other segment?
a. [ t, r, d, s ]
b. [ k, g , ŋ, j ]
c. [ p, b, w ]
d. [ t, d, n, z ]
5. Which of the following groups contains a segment differs in voicing from
the other segments?
a. [ d, g, b, m ]
b. [ m, n, ŋ, v ]
c. [ w, j , r, l ]
d. [z, d , S, b ]
6. Which of the following statements is correct?
When a feature value is unpredictable by a general principle or rule, it is
a. a distinctive feature for that class of segments
b. a phonetic feature for sounds that contrast
c. a phonemic feature for that class of segment
d. a non-distinctive or non-phonemic feature for that class of segments
7. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. Alveolars are sounds made at the soft area toward the rear of the roof of
the mouth
b. Alveolars are sounds made just behind the alveolar ridge
c. Alveolars are sounds made at the teeth ridge
d. Alveolars are sounds made with the tongue placed against the teeth
8. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. When two or more sounds never occur in the same phonemic context or
environment they are said to be different phonemes
b. When two or more sounds never occur in the same phonemic context or
environment they are said to be in free variation
c. When two or more sounds never occur in the same phonemic context or
environment they are said to be identical segments
d. When two or more sounds never occur in the same phonemic context or
environment they are said to be allophones of the same phoneme
9. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. The fricatives are consonants produced with a continuous airflow
through the mouth
b. The fricatives are consonants produced with the complete stoppage of
the air in the mouth which causes explosion
c. The fricatives are consonants produced with the lowering of the soft
palate
d. The fricatives are non-continuant consonants.
10. Which of the following is the minimal pair?
a. [ ðə ] [ bet ] there - bet
b. [ dæb] [ bæd ] dab – bad
c. [ bæd ] [ bet ] bad – bet
d. [ ðə] [ də ] there – dare
11. Which of the following is the stress distribution for the compound word
artificial as in this context: Please give him artificial respiration?
a. [a:ti]
b. [ A:"tifiS@l ]
c. [ A:ti"fi S@l ]
d. [ "A:ti fiS@l ]
12. Which of the following assimilation processes occurs when [ b ] in the
sound sequence [ [‘wIbsi:] becomes [ p ] in the sound sequence [ ‘wIpsi:]?
a. voicing assimilation b. progressive assimilation c. regressive assimilation
d. both a and c
13. Which of the following coarticulation processes that may happen to
the alveolar [ n ] in this context: [ kr æ nb@ri ] cranberry?
a. [ n ] may be devoiced before the voiced [ b ]
b. [ b ] may become syllabic after the nasal [ n ]
c. [ n ] may be labialized before [ b ]
d. [ b ] may be nasalised after [ n ]
22. Which of the following groups contains a segment that differs in place
of articulation from the other segments?
a. [ p , m , w , b ]
b. [ t , d, S n ]
c. [ k, w, ŋ, g ]
d. [ t, d, n, z, l ]
23. Which of the following statements is correct?
Regressive assimilation is a process by which
a. the change of a segment is brought by the preceding segment
b. a sound copies one or more phonetic features from the preceding sound
c. the sound becomes more like the preceding sound
d. a sound copies one or more phonetic features from the following sound
24. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
a. Minimal pairs help us establish which sounds contrast in a language
b. Minimal pairs consist of forms that are placed along the horizontal axis
with respect to their place of articulation and the vertical axis to their
manner of articulation
c. Minimal pair test is a basic test for deciding which sounds are the
allophones of the phoneme
d. A minimal pair consists of two forms with distinct meanings that differ
only by one segment in the same position of each form.
25. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
a. The phonetic representation of utterances shows what the speakers
know about the pronunciation of utterances.
b. The phonemic representation of utterances shows what speakers know
about the abstract underlying phonology.
c. The phonemic representation of utterances shows the finer points of the
sounds or segments in pronunciation
d. The phonetic representation of utterances shows us the non-distinctive
features of the sounds
26. Which of the following groups contains a segment that differs in
manner of
articulation from the other segments?
a. [ p , b , t , d ]
b. [ t , b, k , g ]
c. [ k, t, d, g ]
d. [ m, ŋ , n, z ]
27. Which of the following is correct?
When a feature is predictable by the phonological rules, it is a
a. phonetic feature b. phonemic feature c. redundant feature d. both a and c
28. Which of the following is the correct stress pattern of this
word Portuguese?
a. ["pO: Õ ǝ g i:z ]
b. [ %pO:Õ ǝ"g i:z ]
c. [ pO: ‘Õ ǝ"g i:z ]
d. ["pO:Õ ǝ"g i:z ]
29. Which of the following is the phonetic transcription of this form
Bangor?
a. ["b æ ŋ@ ]
b. ["bæŋ n ]
c. ["bæn@ ]
d. ["bæŋg@ ]
30. Which of the following symbols that corresponds to each of the
following phonetic description: voiced labiodental fricative
a. [ v ] b. [ w ] c. [ ð ] d. [ f ]
31. The process by which an alveolar stop is heard intervocally (voiced)
between 2 vowels,
the first of which is generally stressed, as in ["bet i ] Betty is called
a. metathesis b. epenthesis c. deletion d. flapping
32. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
a. An allophone is a predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme b. An
allophone is an unpredictable phonetic realisation of a phoneme c. A
phoneme is an abstract unit d. An allophone is uttered in speech
33. Which of the following statement is incorrect?
Sonorants
a. do not include affricates, fricatives and liquids b. do not include stops,
affricates, and voiced fricatives c. do not include voiced stops, fricatives,
and voiceless stops d. do not include vowels, nasals, liquids and glides
34. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. Phonology deals with the physiological and acoustic aspects of the of
speech sounds. b. Phonology aims to provide the set of features, or
properties that can describe all sounds in human language. c. Phonology
studies the ways phonemes function in language d. Phonology provides the
means for describing speech sounds.
35. Which of the following coarticulation processes may occur for the
articulatory transition from
the sonorant [ ŋ ] to the nonsonorant [ ] to be eased in this context [ le ŋ
]?
