Phonetics: Vowel and Stress
Progress test 2 due to 28th of February 2012
Phonetics
1) Transcribe the following sentences. Mark the stressed words and use weak forms where appropriate:
'She can 'swim 'faster than 'I can. (contrast)
/'ʃi: kən 'swɪm 'fɑ:stə ðən 'aɪ kən/
'She's from 'Scotland. 'Where 'are 'you from? (contrast)
/'ʃi:z frəm 'skɒtlənd. 'weər ɑ: 'ju: frəm?/
'Sally's been 'trying to 'send you an 'e-mail.
/'sælɪz bin 'traɪɪŋ tə 'send ju ən 'i:meɪl/
'Alastair 'claimed he was 'selling the 'company.
/'ælester 'kleɪmd i wəz 'selɪŋ ðə 'kɅmpəni/
2) What is the difference between a monophthong and a diphthong? Give some examples. The main difference is that a monophthong is a phoneme that consists of only one ("mono" means one) vowel sound and a diphthong is a phoneme consisting of two ("di" means two) vowel sounds that are "connected" or "linked" to each other. The diphthong starts out with one vowel sound and "glides" into the other vowel sound. These "vocalic glides" are always within one syllable. The monophthongs have a quite stable tongue position. The monophthongs can be either long or short.
Some examples of monophthongs: /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /Ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/ Some examples of diphthongs: /ɪə/, /ʊə/, /ɔɪ/, /aɪ/, /eɪ/, /aʊ/
Which diphthongs in RP do not exist in AE? /əʊ/ (stone), /ɪə/ (ear), /eə/ (air), /ʊə/ (poor)
Give some examples of diphthongs in RP and AE.
Examples in RP: /əʊ/ (stone), /ɪə/ (ear), /eə/ (air), /ʊə/ (poor), /ɔɪ/ (boy), /aɪ/ (nice), /eɪ/ (wait), /aʊ/ (down).
Examples in AE: /ɔɪ/ (boy), /aɪ/ (nice), /eɪ/ (wait), /oʊ/ (old), /aʊ/ (down).
By means of minimal pairs show how a diphthong can change the meaning of a word. Give the spelling and the transcription of your minimal pairs.
By replacing a diphthong with another diphthong, some words change their meaning completely. These are so called minimal pairs, words that are written (phonemic transcription) and spoken the same way except for one phoneme. When
Phonetics
1) Transcribe the following sentences. Mark the stressed words and use weak forms where appropriate:
'She can 'swim 'faster than 'I can. (contrast)
/'ʃi: kən 'swɪm 'fɑ:stə ðən 'aɪ kən/
'She's from 'Scotland. 'Where 'are 'you from? (contrast)
/'ʃi:z frəm 'skɒtlənd. 'weər ɑ: 'ju: frəm?/
'Sally's been 'trying to 'send you an 'e-mail.
/'sælɪz bin 'traɪɪŋ tə 'send ju ən 'i:meɪl/
'Alastair 'claimed he was 'selling the 'company.
/'ælester 'kleɪmd i wəz 'selɪŋ ðə 'kɅmpəni/
2) What is the difference between a monophthong and a diphthong? Give some examples. The main difference is that a monophthong is a phoneme that consists of only one ("mono" means one) vowel sound and a diphthong is a phoneme consisting of two ("di" means two) vowel sounds that are "connected" or "linked" to each other. The diphthong starts out with one vowel sound and "glides" into the other vowel sound. These "vocalic glides" are always within one syllable. The monophthongs have a quite stable tongue position. The monophthongs can be either long or short.
Some examples of monophthongs: /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /Ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/ Some examples of diphthongs: /ɪə/, /ʊə/, /ɔɪ/, /aɪ/, /eɪ/, /aʊ/
Which diphthongs in RP do not exist in AE? /əʊ/ (stone), /ɪə/ (ear), /eə/ (air), /ʊə/ (poor)
Give some examples of diphthongs in RP and AE.
Examples in RP: /əʊ/ (stone), /ɪə/ (ear), /eə/ (air), /ʊə/ (poor), /ɔɪ/ (boy), /aɪ/ (nice), /eɪ/ (wait), /aʊ/ (down).
Examples in AE: /ɔɪ/ (boy), /aɪ/ (nice), /eɪ/ (wait), /oʊ/ (old), /aʊ/ (down).
By means of minimal pairs show how a diphthong can change the meaning of a word. Give the spelling and the transcription of your minimal pairs.
By replacing a diphthong with another diphthong, some words change their meaning completely. These are so called minimal pairs, words that are written (phonemic transcription) and spoken the same way except for one phoneme. When