Phonetics Exercises
Phonetics Exercises
Phonetics Exercises
Exercise 1:
Write down the phonetic symbols representing the following descriptions, and illustrate each of
the sounds with two English words.
Exercise 2:
Answer the following questions.
a) What voiced consonant has the same place of articulation as [t] and the same manner of articulation
as [f]? ______________
b) What voiced consonant has the same place of articulation as [b] and the same manner of articulation
as [n]? ______________
c) What voiceless consonant has the same place of articulation as [d] and the same manner of
articulation as [b]? ______________
Exercise 3:
Do the following pairs of consonants have the same or different place of articulation?
[s] : [l] [b] : [f] [m] : [n] [k] : [ŋ] [v] : [ð] [p] : [g] [s] : [v]
Exercise 4:
Write the phonetic symbol for the initial sound in each of the following words
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Exercise 5:
Write the phonetic symbol for the last sound in each word
Exercise 6:
In this exercise, you are presented with sets of words. In each set, circle each word that has a
consonant with the place of articulation for that set.
Exercise 7:
In this exercise, you are presented with sets of words. In each set, circle each word that has
a consonant with the manner of articulation for that set.
Exercise 8:
Write down the phonetic symbols representing the following descriptions, and illustrate each of
the sounds with two English words.
a) A high front unrounded vowel ______ b) A high back rounded vowel ______
c) A mid front unrounded vowel ______ d) A low central unrounded vowel ______
e) A mid back rounded vowel ______ f) A mid central unrounded vowel ______
Exercise 9:
Write the following words in phonetic transcription, according to your pronunciation.
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g. bush ___________ h. health ___________ i. said ___________
j. helped ___________ k. sign ___________ l. night ___________
m. joyful ___________ n. mine ___________ o. clown ___________
p. around ___________ q. issue ___________ r. itchy ___________
s. dry ___________ t. clue ___________ u. stayed ___________
v. measure ___________ w. finger ___________ x. maid ___________
y. breathe ___________ z. breath ___________
Exercise 10:
Shame
1. [ð] _____________________________
That
2. [ʒ]_____________________________
3. [j]_____________________________ Chair
4. [ŋ]_____________________________ Liking
5. [dʒ]_____________________________ Thank
6. [ʃ]_____________________________ Pleasure
7. [tʃ]_____________________________
Jogger
8. [θ]_____________________________
Yasmin
Exercise 11:
Describe each of the following phonetic symbols in words.
1. [i] ______________________________
2. [θ] ______________________________
Exercise 12:
In the space provided, write the PHONETIC SYMBOL for the underlined boldface letters in each
word.
Exercise 13:
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Fill in the blanks with the correct word/phrase.
1. The underlined sounds in spoil, brown, and hide are examples of three _________________ in
English.
Exercise 14:
Decide whether each of the following words has an open syllable or a closed one:
1. Cat 3. He
2. Blue 4. Flip
Exercise 15:
Identify the place of articulation of the following underlined sounds.
1. Cloves............................................
2. Guy............................................
3. Stop............................................
4. Held............................................
Exercise 16:
Use a check mark ( ) to indicate whether the following sets of words are minimal
pairs, minimal sets, or neither.
Examples minimal pair minimal set neither
a. roof, rough
b hip, trip, hit, sip, dip, nip
c. knife, wife, life, rife
d. zoo, two
Exercise 17:
Identify the co-articulation effect in each of the following words/utterances.
1. that boy [ðæt bɔj] → [ðæp bɔj]
2. ten plains [tɛn plenz] → [tɛm plenz]
3. Would you? [wʊd ju] → [wʊdʒ ju]
4. next day [nɛkst de] → [nɛks de]
5. acts [ækts] → [æks]
Exercise 18:
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A. Transcribe the word ‘plan’.
B. Use your phonetic transcription to graphically illustrate the basic structure of a syllable in
a tree diagram
Plan ………………...