Introducing English Linguistics

7 The sounds of English
1. In a phonetic alphabet, each symbol equals one and only one sound. If the English alphabet
became purely phonetic, all speakers of English would simply spell words as they pronounced
them, and the current situation – one grapheme often corresponding to many different pro-
nunciations – would cease to exist. However, spelling variation would ultimately increase
because pronunciation varies considerably among speakers of English. Thus, a speaker of
American English would spell bath differently than a speaker of British English. Thus, we are
ultimately better off with the current system, which standardizes (though with some excep-
tions) how all writers of English should spell words.
2. The words fast and feast are minimal pairs: words that differ by one phoneme in the same
position. Because the substitution of /æ/ for /i/ in this context produces a different word, we
know that these sounds contrast and are therefore phonemes.
3. a 3, b 3, c 6, d 7, e 3 (though the vowel is a diphthong), f 7, g 6, h 9, i 10, j 7
4. 1 c, 2 a, 3 b, 4 a, 5 c, 6 b
5. (a)
the initial unvoiced plosive is aspirated, and the vowel is lengthened before the final
voiced consonant
(b)
the initial unvoiced plosive is aspirated, and the vowel is lengthened before the final
voiced consonant
(c)
neither process applies in this word
(d)
the vowel is lengthened before the final voiced consonant
(e)
the vowel is lengthened before the second to last consonant, which is voiced
(f)
the initial plosive is aspirated
(g)
the initial unvoiced plosive is aspirated, and the vowel is lengthened before the final
voiced consonant
6. (a)
re.ci.'ta. tion
(b)
pre.'dom.i.nate
(c)
cig.a.'rette
(d)
'con.test (noun) or con.'test (verb)
(e)
'bur.eau
(f)
con.'tent.ment
(g)
dis.'like
(h) un.con.'vin.cing
7. tonic syllables in unmarked tone units:
(a)
The turtle walked SLOWly|| into the ROOM||
(b)
Our teacher HELPED us|| with our HOMEwork||
(c)
With little or no reSIStance|| the child put his SHIRT on||
If (a) were prefaced by a question such as Who walked slowly into the room? the tonic syllable
would shift to turtle:
The TURtle walked slowly|| into the ROOM||
If somebody commented I heard the turtle ran into the room, the tonic syllable would shift yet again:
The turtle WALKED slowly|| into the ROOM||
Answers to self-study activities
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