Chapter test: Phonology – Vowels, Consonants, Stress

Explanation: The Nucleus (usually a vowel sound or syllabic consonant) forms the indispensable core of any syllable. The initial consonant is the Onset, and the closing consonant is the Coda.

Explanation: There are 7 short pure vowels (/ɪ, e, æ, ʌ, ɒ, ʊ, ə/) in standard English RP. The remaining 5 pure vowels are long.

Explanation: /ɪə/ (heard in 'ear' and 'clear') glides towards the central schwa vowel /ə/, making it a centring diphthong. The other three are closing diphthongs gliding towards /ɪ/.

Explanation: 'Cat' contains the short front open-mid vowel /æ/. 'Car' has /ɑː/, 'call' has /ɔː/, and 'cut' has /ʌ/.

Explanation: English has 6 plosive consonants: bilabial /p, b/, alveolar /t, d/, and velar /k, g/. 9 is the number of fricatives, and 3 is the number of nasals.

Explanation: The Schwa (/ə/) is the neutral, mid-central unaccented vowel sound found in unstressed syllables of words like 'about', 'teacher', and 'doctor'. Plosives and fricatives are consonants.

Explanation: 'Cultivate' is a trisyllabic verb ending in '-ate', which places stress on the antepenultimate syllable: ˈcul-ti-vate (first syllable, which is 3rd from the end).

Explanation: /p/, /b/, /m/, and /w/ involve both the upper and lower lips during articulation, classifying them as bilabial consonants.

Explanation: The length mark (ː) placed after a phonetic vowel symbol signifies that the vowel is long (e.g., /iː/, /ɑː/, /uː/). An apostrophe indicates stress, not length.

Explanation: /p/, /t/, and /k/ are the three voiceless plosives produced without vocal cord vibration. /b/, /d/, and /g/ are voiced plosives.

Explanation: Disyllabic homographs take primary stress on the first syllable when functioning as a noun (ˈcon-duct = behavior), and on the second syllable when functioning as a verb (con-ˈduct = to lead).

Explanation: 'Pin' (/pɪn/) and 'bin' (/bɪn/) differ by only one single phoneme in the initial position (/p/ vs /b/), which makes them a classic minimal pair. The other pairs are synonyms or unrelated words.

Explanation: 'Book' and 'look' contain the short close-back vowel /ʊ/. The other three pairs contain the long vowel /uː/.

Explanation: 'Seat' contains the long front vowel /iː/, whereas 'sit', 'fit', and 'hit' contain the short vowel /ɪ/.

Explanation: 'Communication' is divided into 5 syllables: com-mu-ni-ca-tion (/kə-ˌmjuː-nɪ-ˈkeɪ-ʃn/), containing 5 distinct vowel sounds.

Explanation: There are exactly 8 diphthongs in Received Pronunciation, divided into 3 centring diphthongs and 5 closing diphthongs. 12 is the number of monophthongs, and 24 is the consonant count.

Explanation: There are 20 vowel sounds in English, consisting of 12 monophthongs (pure vowels) and 8 diphthongs (vowel glides). The number 5 refers only to written vowel letters (A, E, I, O, U).

Explanation: 'Psychology' is transcribed as /saɪ-ˈkɒl-ə-dʒi/, which consists of 4 distinct vowel sounds and syllables: psy-chol-o-gy.

Explanation: Words ending in the suffix '-phy' take primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end), placing the accent on the second syllable: pho-ˈto-gra-phy.

Explanation: /f/ and /v/ are labio-dental sounds, articulated by placing the lower lip in contact with the upper front incisor teeth.

Explanation: The sound in 'thin' is the voiceless dental fricative denoted by the Greek symbol Theta /θ/. The voiced dental fricative in 'this' or 'then' is denoted by Eth /ð/.

Explanation: Compound nouns typically carry primary stress on the first constituent word (e.g., ˈtea-pot, ˈpost-man, ˈblack-board). Compound adjectives generally place primary stress on the second element.

Explanation: /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ (as in 'sing') are the three nasal sounds in English, produced by lowering the soft palate to allow air to pass exclusively through the nasal cavity.

Explanation: /l/ is the only lateral consonant in English; during its articulation, the tongue blocks the center of the alveolar ridge while air escapes along the sides (laterals) of the tongue.

Explanation: 'Ugly' begins with the short, central-back unrounded vowel /ʌ/. 'Apple' begins with /æ/, 'arm' with /ɑː/, and 'orange' with /ɒ/.