Progress Test 6

In counting the syllables in words, we are in fact counting the ...?

VOWELS

Experimental work has shown that four factors that cause a syllable to be made prominent are not ...?

EQUALLY IMPORTANT

Words generally stressed in sentences are ...? (including nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and question words)

CONTENT WORDS

Certain words can be pronounced in two different ways, which are called ...?

STRONG FORMS and WEAK FORMS

The word "that" has a weak form when used in a ...?

RELATIVE CLAUSE

... is the process when a sound is influenced by the sound that precedes it.

PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION

The word "twelfths" has a ... final cluster.

FOUR-CONSONANT

The word "squeak" has an initial ... cluster.

THREE-CONSONANT

In the production of ..., we will feel the air coming out of our mouth and producing noise because of the friction.

FRICATIVES

A constriction between the vocal cords, inside the larynx, has a ... place of articulation.

GLOTTAL

Punishment

/'pʌnɪʃmənt/

Comfortable

/'kʌmfətəbl/

Attracted

/ə'træktɪd/

Export

/'ekspɔːt/

Produce

/prə'djuːs/

Photography

/fə'tɒɡrəfi/

Anthropology

/ˌænθrə'pɒlədʒi/

Receipts

/rɪ's iːts/

Questions

/'kwestʃənz/

Purchase

/'pɜːtʃəs/

from - Strong

/frɒm/

from - Weak

/frəm/

at - Strong

/æt/

at - Weak

/ət/

but - Strong

/bʌt/

but - Weak

/bət/

than - Strong

/ðæn/

than - Weak

/ðən/

of - Strong

/ɒv/

of - Weak

/əv/

What is a distinctive feature? Give three examples to illustrate.

→ When a phonetic feature distinguishes one phoneme from another, it is a distinctive feature. When two words are exactly alike phonetically except for one feature, the phonetic difference is distinctive, since this difference alone accounts for the contrast in meaning.
Examples:
Nasality [± nasal]: Distinguishes bat [bæt] and mat [mæt].
Length [± long]: Distinguishes hit [hɪt] and heat [hi:t].
Voicing [± voiced]: Distinguishes sue [su:] and zoo [zu:].

To what parts of speech do weak forms belong?

Almost all the words which have both a strong and a weak form belong to the category of function words, which are words that do not have a lexical meaning. They include articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and helping verbs.

What is a syllable? Briefly state the nature of the syllable and give examples.

1. Phonetically, a syllable consists of a centre which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud. Before and after this centre (at the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound.
   Examples:

• Minimal syllable (just a vowel centre): are /ɑ:/, or /ɔ:/.

• Syllable with an onset (begins with a consonant): bar /bɑ:/, key /ki:/.

• Syllable with a coda (ends with a consonant): am /æm/, ease /i:z/.

• Syllable with onset and coda: run /rʌn/, sat /sæt/.

would - Strong

/wʊd/

would - Weak

/wəd/

and - Strong

/ænd/

and - Weak

/ən/

are - Strong

/ɑː/

are - Weak

/ə/

should - Strong

/ʃʊd/

should - Weak

/ʃəd/

can - Strong

/kæn/

can - Weak

/kən/