BÀI TẬP MẪU

NGỮ ÂM VÀ ÂM VỊ HỌC TIẾNG ANH

(ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY)

EXERCISE 1
Part 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
I. Choose the best answers for the following questions
1. Which criteria can be used to distinguish vowels in English?
a. muscle tense b. Manner of articulation
c. Lip rounding d. a&c
2. Which branch of phonetics deals with the physiological aspects of speech sounds?
a. Articulatory phonetics b. Acoustic phonetics
c. Auditory phonetics d. All of them
3.What does the saying “English is not a phonographic language” mean?
a. One sound in English may be represented by one letter.
b. One sound in English must be represented by many letters.
c. There is no one- to – one relation between sounds and spelling in English
d. All of the above
4. The speech organ includes ……………
a. the articulator b. the glottis
c. the larynx d. All of them
5. Bilabial sounds are made…………….
a. with two lips b. with the lower lip and upper front teeth
c. with the upper lip and the teeth d. none is correct
6. Which of the following groups of sounds is similar in manner of articulation?
a. /f,v,b/ b. /t,d,k/
c. /g,k, ŋ/ d. /p, m, w/
7. Voiceless sounds can be found in …………..
a. lateral consonants b. semi-consonants
c. stop consonants d. rounded vowels
8. Rounded vowels are produced when the lips are ……………..
a. more or less rounded b. spread or neutral
c. both a&b d. neither a nor b
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 narrowing of the articulators
causing audible friction.
d. The fricatives are continuant consonants
10. The word “climb” contains a ……………
a. long vowel b. short vowel
c. diphthong d. triphthong

II. Read the statements and decide whether they are true (T) or false (F)
1. English is a phonographic language  F .
2. Lip-rounding can be used to distinguish consonants in English  F
3. Voiceless sounds are found in stop and fricative consonants  T
4. The nasals are consonants produced with the complete stoppage of the air in the mouth
which causes explosion F
5. The group /p, t, k/ contains a sound that differs in manner of articulation F
Part 2: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Transcribe the following phrase and describe all the vowels and consonants in it
“COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL”
Your transcription: ……/ˌkɒmprɪˈhensɪv skuːl / …………………
 Consonants’ description:
MANNER OF PLACE OF ORAL OR
SOUNDS VOICING
ARTICULATION ARTICULATION NASAL?
stop Velar voiceless Oral
/k/
nasal bilabial voiced Nasal
/m/
stop bilabial voiceless Oral
/p/
approximant alveolar voiced Oral
/r/
Fricative glottal voiceless Oral
/h/
/n/ nasal Alveolar voiced Nasal

fricative alveolar voiceless Oral

/s/
 fricative labiodental voiced oral
/v/
lateral alveolar voiced oral
/l/

 Vowels’ description:
SOUNDS TONGUE TONGUE LIP MUSCLE LENGTH
POSITION HEIGHT ROUNDING TENSE
/ɒ/ back low Rounded lax Short

front high Unrounded lax Short

/ɪ/
/e/ front Mid Unrounded lax Short

/uː/ back high rounded tense long

EXERCISE 2
Part 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE
I. Circle the best answers
1. All vowels are ……………..
a. Sonorous b. obstructed
c. Voiced c. a&c
2. The sound ………corresponds to the following description [high front short unrounded
vowel]
a. /a:/ b. /I/
c. /e/ d. /ə/
3. The word “play” contains a……………..
a. long vowel b. short vowel
c. diphthong d. triphthong
4. Three criteria: lip rounding, tongue height and voicing can be used to describe ………..
a. vowels b. syllables
c. consonants d. none of them
5. The rhyme of a syllable is made up of its ……………
a. nucleus and coda b. nucleus and onset
c. onset and coda d. some nucleuses
6. The sound /l/ can be syllabic…..
a. wherever b. anywhere after consonants
c. before stop consonants d. after consonants and at the end of words
7. The final syllable in the word cattle has ……….
a. no nucleus b. one nucleus /e/
c. two nucleuses / ļ / and /e/ d. one nucleus /ļ/
8. ……………..assimilation happens in the sound sequence /aI ni:d ju:/
a. Mutual b. Progressive
c. Regressive d. Voicing
9. When /p, t/ k/ are preceded by………………….., aspiration happens
a. /s/ b. /l/
c. /m/ d. no sounds
10.What is the syllabic element of the second syllable of the word “nation”?
a. the sound /a/ b. the sound /io/
c. the sound /ņ/ d. the sound / æ /
II. Write T (true) or F (false) at the end of each statement.
11. Fricative sounds are formed by complete closure of the air passage during a short time.
F
12. The sound /e/ is nasalized in the sound sequence /men/  T
13. / e, з:/ are mid vowels, produced when the raised part of the tongue is half-way between
its high and low position.  T
14. Short vowels are produced with greater tension of the tongue.  F
15. Phonemes are sounds that contrast in the same environment.  T

Part 2: CRITICAL WRITING

Topic: What happen when the phrase “this mad pen-pal” is pronounced rapidly? Describe the 4
processes.
“this mad pen-pal” /ðɪs mæd pen pl/  [ðɪs mæb phem pļ]
1. Labialization of /m/  [b]
2. Labialization of /n/  /m/
3. Aspiration of voiceless stop /p/  [ph]
4. Syllabicity of /l/  [ļ]
EXERCISE 3
Part 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE
I. Circle the best answers
1. Which criteria can be used to distinguish consonants in English?
a. Voicing b. Manner of articulation
c. Lip rounding d. a&b
2. Voiceless sound can’t be found in……………..
a. Nasal consonants b. Stop consonants
c. Fricative consonants d. All of them
3. Which of the following pairs is different in voicing?
a. /b,d/ b. /t,k/
c. /s,n/ d. /a,e/
4. Labio-dental sounds are made…………….
a. with two lips b. with the lower lip and upper front teeth
c. with the upper lip and the teeth d. none is correct
5. Which of the following groups of sounds differs in place of articulation?
a. /f,v,b/ b. /t,d,l/
c. /g,k, ŋ/ d. /p, m, w/
6. Unrounded vowels are produced when the lips are ……………..
a. more or less rounded b. spread or neutral
c. both a&b d. neither a nor b
7. The two words that are identical in every way except for one phoneme that occurs in the
same place are called…………….
a. minimal pairs b. complementary distribution
c. segments d. allophones
8. Which of the followings contains a short vowel?
a. girl b. far
c. home d. some
9. Which branch of phonetics deals with the physiological aspects of speech sounds?
a. Articularory phonetics b. Acoustic phonetics
c. Auditory phonetics d. All of them
10. What does the saying “English is not a phonographic language” mean?
a. One sound in English may be represented by one letter.
b. One sound in English must be represented by many letters.
c. There is no one- to – one relation between sounds and spelling in English
d. All of the above
II. Write T (true) or F (false) for each statement.
1. ……..Lateral sounds are formed by complete closure of the air passage during a short
time.  F
2. ……..The allophone is any form of the variants of a phoneme in pronunciation T

3. ……..Some and home are a minimal pair F

4. ……..The sound /l/ can be devoiced in the word click  T
5. ……..Short vowels are produced with greater tension of the tongue. F

Part 2: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Describe all of the sounds in the following phrase: A GOOD FRIEND

Your transcription: ……………………/ə ɡʊdfrend/

……………………………………………………
 Consonants’ description:
MANNER OF PLACE OF ORAL OR
SOUNDS VOICING
ARTICULATION ARTICULATION NASAL?
Stop Velar voiced Oral
/g/
/d/ stop alveolar voiced oral

/f/ fricative labiodental voiceless Oral

/r/ approximant alveolar voiced Oral

/n/ nasal alveolar voiced Nasal

 Vowels’ description:

SOUNDS TONGUE TONGUE LIP MUSCLE LENGTH

POSITION HEIGHT ROUNDING TENSE
Central Mid Unrounded Lax Short
/ ə/
 Back High rounded Lax Short
/ʊ/
/e/ Front Mid Unrounded Lax Short
EXERCISE 4
Part 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE
I. Circle the best answers
1. Which criteria can be used to distinguish consonants in English?
a. Muscle tense b. Manner of articulation
c. Lip rounding d. a&b
2. Which of the following words contains an affricate consonant?
a. arrange b. trace
c. vision d. measure
3. Which of the following examples illustrates the rule?
[+vowels]  [+nasal] before [nasal]
a. song b. nation
c. mat d. me
4. ………………is the study of how the vocal tract produces the sounds of language
a. Auditory phonetics b. Articulatory phonetics
c. Acoustic phonetics d. All of them
5. Velar sounds are made…………….
a. with two lips b. with the lower lip and upper front teeth
c. with the upper lip and the teeth d. at the back of the tongue
6. Which of the following pairs of words makes a minimal pair?
a. home/some b. bomb/comb
c. lens/sense d.a & b
7. In which sound sequence will assimilation happen when pronouncing rapidly?
a. that pen b. interesting
c. industrialization d. a&c
8. ……………………..means that where one sound occurs, the other does not.
a. Minimal pair b. Allophone
c. Free variation d. Complementary distribution
9. What kind of intonation is applied with the first utterance in the following dialogue?
“Where are you from?”
“London”
a. the take off b. the dive
c. the glide up d. the glide down
10. What is the syllabic element of the second syllable of the word “angel”?
a. the sound /e/ b. the sound /o/
c. the sound /ļ/ d. the sound /t/
II. Write T (true) or F (false) at the end of each statement.
11. The sound /p/ is unaspirated in the sound sequence /spin/ T
12. The sounds /m/ and /n/ are allophones in English F

13. There are 6 syllabic elements in the word INTERNATIONALISM  F.

14. The diphthongs that glide towards the /I/ vowel are called raising diphthongs.  T
15. The rhyme of a syllable is made up of its onset and nucleus  F

Part 2: SHORT ANSWERS

Describe all of the sounds in the following phrase: BAD JUMPERS

Your transcription: ……………………/bæddʒʌmpərz/

………………………………………
 Consonants’ description:
MANNER OF PLACE OF ORAL OR
SOUNDS VOICING
ARTICULATION ARTICULATION NASAL?
Stop Bilabial voiced Oral
/b/
/d/ Stop Alveolar voiced oral

/dʒ/ Affricate Palatoalveolar voiced Oral

/p/ Stop Bilabial Voiceless Oral

/m/ nasal bilabial Voiced Nasal

/r/ approximant alveolar Voiced Oral

/z/ fricative alveolar voiced oral

 Vowels’ description:

SOUNDS TONGUE TONGUE LIP MUSCLE LENGTH

POSITION HEIGHT ROUNDING TENSE
Central Mid Unrounded Lax Short
/ ə/
Central low unrounded Lax Short
/ʌ/
/æ/ Front low Unrounded Lax Short
EXERCISE 5
Part 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE
I. Circle the best answers
1. Which word ends with a bilabial stop?
a. wow b. stop
c. climb d. b&c
2. Which of the followings contains a diphthong?
a. hello b. like
c. home d. all of them
3. Which allophonic rule(s) can be seen in the following sound sequence: “/ti:n/”?
a. aspiration of voiceless stop b. nasalization of vowel
c. syllabicity of nasal d. a&b
4. What can be the onset of the first syllable in “cleaning”?
a. /cl/ b. /kl/
c. /k/ d. /r/
5. Choose the best illumination for the rule: “Voiceless alveolar is flapped when intervocalic”
a. data b. date
c. attend d. all of them
6. Which of the following pairs of words makes a minimal pair?
a. home/some b. four/for
c. lens/sense d.c & b
7. In which sound sequence will assimilation happen when pronouncing rapidly?
a. bad boys b. interesting
c. miss you d. a&c
8. Which criteria can be used to distinguish consonants in English?
a. Muscle tense b. Manner of articulation
c. Lip rounding d. a&b
9. What kind of intonation is applied with the second utterance in the following dialogue?
“It’s so hot in here”
“Hot?”
a. the take off b. the dive
c. the glide up d. the glide down
10. What is the syllabic element of the second syllable of the word “Castle”?
a. the sound / æ / b. the sound /a/
c. the sound /ļ/ d. the sound /e/

II. Write T (true) or F (false) for each statement.

 1. …..In English, allophones of the sound /l/ can be found in “LEMON”, “CLEAR” and
“FILE”  T
2. ……..The diphthongs that glide towards the /e/ vowel are called raising diphthongs. 
F
3. ……..Stress can be used to distinguish a noun compound from a free word group, like
GREENhouse and greenHOUSE. T
4. ……..The second syllable in the word KETTLE has no nucleus. F
5. ……..The beginning sound of the word PSYCHOLOGY is a bilabial stop.  T
Part 2: CRITICAL WRITING
Describe the allophonic processes happening in the following sound sequence, in rapid
speech:
RED PANTS


/red pæntz/  [rebphænts]
1. Assimilation: labilalization of /d/  [b]
2. Aspiration of voiceless stop /p/  [ph ]
3. Nasalization of /æ/
4. Voicing assimilation of /z/  /s/