Revision exercises
General phonetics revision exercises
Important: You must have installed the phonetic font "Charis SIL" or tested this installation to determine if the phonetic characters installed properly.
The following exercises are provided to test your knowledge of the concepts dealt with in lecture topics 1-4 and 6 as well as the tutorial topic on the International Phonetic Alphabet. An answer sheet is also provided.
1. What are the active and passive articulators in the following?
| i. | Velar nasal stop |
| ii. | Central uvular fricative |
| iii. | Alveolar lateral approximant |
| iv. | Velar ejective |
| v. | Retroflex approximant |
2. Provide phonetic notation for any three sounds produced on an ingressive airstream.
3. Provide phonetic notation for any five front vowels.
4. Provide phonetic notation for any three open (low) vowels.
5. Provide phonetic notation for any two different lateral consonants.
6. Circle the place(s) of articulation at which lateral consonants can be produced.
| bilabial | labiodental | alveolar | uvular |
7. Provide phonetic notation for any four sounds whose active articulator is the back of the tongue.
8. Which of the following combinations are not possible?
| active articulator | passive articulator | |
| lower lip | upper teeth | |
| back of tongue | alveolar ridge | |
| back of tongue | upper lip | |
| back of tongue | uvula | |
| tongue tip | hard palate | |
| tongue blade | uvula |
9. Which of the following productions are not possible?
| central nasal oral fricative |
| central lateral nasal stop |
| oral approximant |
| lateral approximant |
lateral fricative |
| lateral nasal stop |
10. Which vocal organ provides the main source of power in producing ejectives and implosives?
11. Briefly describe the production of clicks.
12. Define secondary articulation.
13. What diacritic is added when transcribing labialised sounds?
14. Circle the sounds that are produced with nasal airflow:
| l | ɢ | w | v | m | ɔ̃ | ǁŋ |
15. Circle the labial sounds:
| v | n | dʲ | ɹʷ | u | w |
16. Circle the sounds in which the passive articulator is the uvular:
| k | χ | n | u |
17. Circle the sounds that are produced with complete closure at the alveolar ridge:
| s | ɗ | ɾ | tʰ | ʒ | ɮ | ɯ | n |
18. Provide phonetic names for the feature classes Laryngeal, Airstream, Place, Nasality, Stricture for the speech sounds listed below.
| i. | m |
| ii. | zʲ |
| iii. | ɗ |
| iv. | ɡ |
| v. | ʁ |
| vi. | ʒ |
19. Give phonetic notation for the following speech sounds:
| i. | breathy alveolar lateral approximant |
| ii. | voiced retroflex oral stop |
| iii. | voiceless lateral fricative |
| iv. | creaky alveolar fricative |
| v. | alveolar lateral click |
20. In a certain language, consonants are palatalised before close (high) front vowels and velarised before close (high) back vowels. Make any changes to the consonants on the left that precede the vowels on the right in accordance with this rule. If no change is necessary, write NC.
| i. | t y |
| ii. | f ɯ |
| iii. | k i |
21. In a certain language, close (high) vowels become glides (maintaining their fronting and rounding features) when they precede other close vowels. Make any changes to the vowels on the left that precede the vowels on the right in accordance with this rule. If no change is necessary, write NC.
| i. | u y |
| ii. | ø ø |
| iii. | i i |
| iv. | i y |
| v. | ɯ u |
22. What features do the groups of sounds have in common?
| i. | m,b,ɸ | voiceless lateral bilabial approximant egressive | |
| ii. | ç, j | breathy retroflex pulmonic palatal nasal | |
| iii. | r,ʁ | voiced egressive trill tap fricative | |
| iv. | z,n,l,zʲ | alveolar voiced nasal pulmonic fricative | |
| v. | y, n,ø,ɶ,ɔ | front half-open close rounded voiced |
23. Convert the following sounds into equivalent laterals:
| i. | z |
| ii. | s |
24. Convert the following sounds into equivalent fricatives:
| i. | t |
| ii. | d |
| iii. | l |
25. Convert the following into equivalent sounds produced with lip-rounding:
| i. | θ |
| ii. | j |
26. Briefly explain why the following notation is not possible:
| i. | uʷ |
| ii. | dʼ |
| iii. | mʰ |
27. Give a brief definition of what is meant by the following labels:
| i. | glottalic |
| ii. | breathy |
| iii. | velarised |
| iv. | ingressive |
28. Provide phonetic notation for any two speech sounds that conform to the following description:
| i. | the soft-palate is lowered; the airstream mechanism is velaric |
| ii. | the vocal folds are completely closed at some stage during the production of the sound |
| iii. | the tip of the tongue makes a complete closure against the alveolar ridge |
| iv. | the blade of the tongue is raised towards the hard-palate but without making a complete closure |
29. Define a diphthong
30. Give three criteria for distinguishing consonants from vowels
Answer sheet
1. What are the active and passive articulators in the following:
| ACTIVE | PASSIVE | |||
| i. | velar nasal stop | back of tongue | soft palate | |
| ii. | central uvular fricative | back of tongue | uvula | |
| iii. | alveolar lateral approximant | tongue tip | alveolar ridge | |
| iv. | velar ejective | back of tongue | soft palate | |
| v. | retroflex approximant | tongue tip | hard palate |
2. Provide phonetic notation for any three sounds produced on an ingressive airstream.
| ɓ | ɗ | ǀ | ǁ | ǃ | ǀŋ | etc. |
3. Provide phonetic notation for any five front vowels.
| i | e | ɛ | a | y | ø | œ |
4. Provide phonetic notation for any three open (low) vowels.
| a | ɑ | ɒ | œ |
5. Provide phonetic notation for any two different lateral consonants.
| l | ɮ | ɬ |
6. Circle the place(s) of articulation at which lateral consonants can be produced.
| alveolar |
7. Provide phonetic notation for any four sounds whose active articulator is the back of the tongue.
| k | ɡ | q | ɢ | ŋ | kʼ | etc. |
8. Which of the following combinations are not possible?
| active articulator | passive articulator | |
| back of tongue | alveolar ridge | |
| back of tongue | upper lip | |
| tongue blade | uvula |
9.Which of the following productions are not possible?
| central nasal oral fricative |
| central lateral nasal stop |
| lateral nasal stop |
10. Which vocal organ provides the main source of power in producing ejectives and implosives?
| larynx |
11. Briefly describe the production of clicks.
| i. | Complete closure achieved at the soft palate |
| ii. | Another closure in front of velar occlusion |
| iii. | Posterior occlusion slides back towards uvular |
| iv. | Air pressure reduced between the two occlusions |
| v. | Release of alveolar constriction |
| vi. | Inflow of air to equalise pressure |
12. Define secondary articulation.
| Simultaneous bilabial, palatal or velar approximant produced at the same time as a primary articulation which has a higher degree of stricture (usually stop stricture, occasionally fricative stricture) and which is produced at another place of articulation. |
13. What diacritic is added when transcribing labialised sounds?
| The diacritic [ʷ] superscripted to the symbol of the primary articulation |
14. Circle the sounds that are produced with nasal airflow.
| m | ɔ̃ | ǁŋ |
15. Circle the labial sounds:
| v | rʷ | u | w |
16. Circle the sounds in which the passive articulator is the uvular:
| χ |
17. Circle the sounds that are produced with complete closure at the alveolar ridge:
| ɗ | ɾ | tʰ | n |
18. Provide phonetic names for the feature classes Laryngeal, Airstream, Place, Nasality, Stricture for the speech sounds listed below.
Laryngeal | Airstream | Place | Nasality | Stricture | ||||||||
| i. | m | voiced | pulmonic | bilabial | nasal | stop | ||||||
| ii. | zʲ | voiced | pulmonic | palatalised alveolar | oral | fricative | ||||||
| iii. | ɗ | voiced | glottalic | alveolar | oral | stop | ||||||
| iv. | g | voiced | pulmonic | velar | oral | stop | ||||||
| v. | ʁ | voiced | pulmonic | uvular | oral | fricative | ||||||
| vi. | ʒ | voiced | pulmonic | palato- alveolar | oral | fricative |
19. Give phonetic notation for the following speech sounds:
| i. | breathy alveolar lateral approximant | l̤ | |
| ii. | voiced retroflex oral stop | ɖ | |
| iii. | voiceless lateral fricative | ɬ | |
| iv. | creaky alveolar fricative | z̰ | |
| v. | alveolar lateral click | ǁ or ǁŋ |
20. In a certain language, consonants are palatalised before close (high) front vowels and velarised before close (high) back vowels. Make any changes to the consonants on the left that precede the vowels on the right in accordance with this rule. If no change is necessary, write NC.
| i. | t | y | tʲ | ||||
| ii. | f | ɯ | fˠ | ||||
| iii. | k | i | kʲ or c |
21. In a certain language, close (high) vowels become glides (maintaining their fronting and rounding features) when they precede other close vowels. Make any changes to the vowels on the left that precede the vowels on the right in accordance with this rule. If no change is necessary, write NC.
| i. | u | y | w | ||||
| ii. | ø | ø | NC | ||||
| iii. | i | i | j | ||||
| iv. | i | y | j | ||||
| v. | ɯ | u | ɰ |
22. What features do the groups of sounds have in common?
| i. | m,b,ɸ | bilabial egressive | ||
| ii. | ç,j | pulmonic palatal | ||
| iii. | r,ʁ | voiced egressive | ||
| iv. | z,n,l,zʲ | pulmonic voiced alveolar | ||
| v. | y, n, ø, ɶ,ɔ | voiced |
23. Convert the following sounds into equivalent laterals:
| i. | z | ɮ | ||||
| ii. | s | ɬ |
24. Convert the following sounds into equivalent fricatives:
| i. | t | s | ||||
| ii. | d | z | ||||
| iii. | l | ɮ |
25. Convert the following into equivalent sounds produced with lip-rounding
| i. | θ | θʷ | ||||
| ii. | j | ɥ |
26. Briefly explain why the following notation is not possible:
| i. | uʷ | u is already labialised | ||
| ii. | dʼ | ejectives cannot be voiced | ||
| iii. | mʰ | only oral sounds can be aspirated |
27. Give a brief definition of what is meant by the following labels:
| i. | glottalic | airstream involving laryngeal power source | ||
| ii. | breathy | inefficient vocal fold vibration allowing escape of air | ||
| iii. | velarised | secondary articulation involving raising the back of the tongue | ||
| iv. | ingressive | inflowing air |
28. Provide phonetic notation for any two speech sounds that conform to the following description:
| i. | the soft-palate is lowered; the airstream mechanism is velaric | ǀŋ ǁŋ ǃŋ | ||
| ii. | the vocal folds are completely closed at some stage during the production of the sound | ʔ pʼ tʼ kʼ | ||
| iii. | the tip of the tongue makes a complete closure against the alveolar ridge | t d n | ||
| iv. | the blade of the tongue is raised towards the hard-palate but without making a complete closure | j ç |
29. define a diphthong
| When two vowels occur in a single syllable |
30. Give three criteria for distinguishing consonants from vowels
| i. | acoustic | - | loudness | |||
| ii. | physiological | - | oral impedance | |||
| iii. | phonological | - | syllabic position |
Content owner: Department of Linguistics Last updated: 12 Mar 2024 10:45am