下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
Study questions
1. What is thedifference between acoustic phonetics and articulatory phonetics?
Key: (1) Acoustic Phonetics: a studyof how speech sounds are transmitted: when sound travels through the air fromthe speaker's mouth to the hearer's ear it does so in the form of vibrations inthe air;
(2) Articulatory Phonetics: describes how vowels and consonants areproduced or ‘articulated’ in various parts of the mouth and throat.
2. Which of the following words normally end withvoiceless (−V) sounds and which end with voiced sounds (+V) sounds?
(a) bang +V
(b) crash −V
(c) ding +V
(d) fizz +V
(e) rap –V
(f) smack –V
(g) splat –V
(h) thud +V
(i)wham +V
Key:
(a) +V
(b) –V
(c) +V
(d) +V
(e) –V
(f) –V
(g) –V
(h) +V
(i) +V
3. Try to pronounce the initial sounds of thefollowing words and identify the place of articulation of each one (e.g.bilabial, alveolar, etc.).
(a) calf __________
(b) chin__________
(c) foot__________
(d) groin__________
(e) hand__________
(f) knee__________
(g) mouth__________
(h) pelvis__________
(i) shoulder__________
(j) stomach__________
(k) thigh__________
(l) toe__________
Key:
4. Identify the mannerof articulation of the initial sounds in the following words (stop, fricative,etc.).
(a) cheery__________
(b) crazy__________
(c) dizzy__________
(d) funny__________
(e) jolly__________
(f) loony__________
(g) merry__________
(h) silly__________
(i) wimpy__________
Key:
5. Which written Englishwords are usually pronounced as they are transcribed here?
Key:
6. Using symbols introduced in this chapter,write a basic phonetic transcription of the most common pronunciation of thefollowing words.
(a) catch__________
(b) doubt__________
(c) gem__________
(d)measure__________
(e) noise__________
(f) phone__________
(g) shy__________
(h) these__________
(i) thought__________
(j) tough__________
(k) would__________
(l) wring__________
Key:
Tasks
B. Using a dictionary if necessary, try to decidehow each of the following words is usually pronounced. Then, put the words infive lists as illustrations of each of the sounds [eɪ], [i], [f], [k] and [ʃ]. Some words will bein more than one list.
air, belief,critique, crockery, Danish, gauge, giraffe, headache, keys, meat, mission,nation, ocean, pear, people, philosopher, queen, receipt, scene, Sikh, sugar,tough, weight
Key:
C. We can create a definition for each consonant(e.g. [k]) by using the distinction between voiced and voiceless plus the termsfor place (i.e. velar) and manner of articulation (i.e. fricative). So we saythat [k] is a voiceless velar fricative. Write similar definitions for theinitial sounds in the normal pronunciation of the following words.
fan, lunch,goal, jail, mist, shop, sun, tall, yellow, zoo
Are there any definitions in which the voiced/voicelessdistinction is actually unnecessary and could be omitted?
Key: fan: voiceless labiodentalfricative
lunch: (voiced) alveolar liquid
goal: voiced velar stop
jail: voiced palatal affricate
mist: (voiced) bilabial nasal
shop: voiceless palatal fricative
sun: voiceless alveolar fricative
tall: voiceless alveolar stop
yellow: (voiced) palatal glide
zoo: voiced alveolar fricative
In cases where there is no voiceless sound in contrast, the (voiced)feature, shown in brackets, could be omitted.
D. The terms “obstruent” and “sonorant” aresometimes used in descriptions of how consonants are pronounced. Among thetypes of consonants already described (affricates, fricatives, glides, liquids,nasals, stops), which are obstruents, which are sonorants, and why?
Key: (1) The obstruents are thestops, the fricatives, and the affricates;
(2) The sonorants are the vowels, liquids, glides, and nasals.
Obstruents are prototypically voiceless, though voiced obstruentsare common. This contrasts with sonorants, which are rarely voiceless.
E. (I) How would youmake a retroflex sound?
Key: Retroflex sounds are made withthe tongue tip curled back. In some languages, retroflexes are so extreme thatthe tongue tip touches the hard palate or contact is made by the underside ofthe tongue tip.
(II) How are retroflex sounds identified in phonetictranscription?
Key: In the International PhoneticAlphabet, retroflex consonants are indicated with a hook in the bottom right,such as [ʂ ʐ ʈ ɖ ɳ ɭ ɽ ɻ]
(III) With which varieties of English are retroflex soundsgenerally associated?
Key: Retroflex sounds need to bedistinguished from other consonants made in the same parts of the mouth(postalveolar, alveolar, or palatal):
(1) The palato-alveolar sounds (e.g. [ʃ ʒ]), such as the sh, ch andzh occurring in English words like ship, chip and vision
(2) The alveolo-palatal sounds (e.g. [ɕ ʑ]), such as the q, j and xoccurring in Mandarin Chinese
(3) The dorsal palatal consonants (e.g. [ç ʝ ɲ]), such as the ch [ç]in German ich or the ñ [ɲ] in Spanish año
(4) The grooved alveolar consonants (e.g. [s z]), such as the s andz occurring in English words like sip and zip
The first three types of sounds above have a convex tongue shape,which gives them an additional secondary articulation of palatalization. Thelast type has a groove running down the center line of the tongue, which givesit a strongly hissing quality. The retroflex sounds, however, have a flat orconcave shape, with no associated palatalization, and no groove running downthe tongue. The term "retroflex", in fact, literally means "bentback" (concave), although consonants with a flat tongue shape are commonlyconsidered retroflex as well.
F. What is forensicphonetics?
Key: Forensic phonetics is theapplication of expertise in phonetics to assist in legal and law enforcementcontexts, and the extension of research on phonetics to topics relevant to thelegal system.