Phonology

Question 1

Define phonology

Answer 1

Linguistic method that deals with the sound system.

Question 2

Define regional variation

Answer 2

The umbrella term that incorporates dialect and accent.

Question 3

Define accent

Answer 3

The sound of our voices and pronunciation.

Question 4

Define received pronunciation

Answer 4

A type of language with ‘posh’ connotations. Also known as ‘Queen’s English’ and ‘BBC English’.

Question 5

Define glottal stop

Answer 5

Missing the /t/ sound in words and replacing it with a burst of air.

Question 6

Give an example of a glottal stop

Answer 6

‘Bu”er’ vs ‘Butter’

Question 7

Define prosodic features

Answer 7

The tone, pitch, volume, stars and intonation of our voices

Question 8

Define the schwa vowel

Answer 8

A vowel which sounds like ‘uh’. Marked as /ə/.

Question 9

Define phoneme

Answer 9

The individual sounds in our language. Smallest unit of sound. Coded via //.

Question 10

Define glottal fricative

Answer 10

The /h/ sound, such as in the word ‘home’.

Question 11

Define dental fricative

Answer 11

The ‘th’ sound is coded as /ð/ and /θ/. Found in words like ‘birthday’, ‘think’ (θ) and ‘this’, ‘those’ (ð).

Question 12

Define labiodental fricative

Answer 12

The /f/ and /v/ sounds such as in ‘fruit’ and ‘vase’. /f/ is voiceless and /v/ is voiced.

Question 13

Define alveolar nasal

Answer 13

The /n/ sound, such as in ‘nose’.

Question 14

Define velar nasal

Answer 14

The ‘ing’ sound /ŋ/; such as in the word ‘dancing’.

Question 15

Define alveolar plosives

Answer 15

The /t/ and /d/ phonemes, e.g. ‘teeth’ and ‘dog’.

Question 16

Define monophthong vowels

Answer 16

Vowels that stay in one place in the mouth.

Question 17

Give examples of monophthong vowels

Answer 17

/e/, /æ/, /a/

Question 18

Define diphthong vowels

Answer 18

Vowels that move in the mouth.

Question 19

Give examples of diphthong vowels

Answer 19

/eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/

Question 20

Define alveolar fricatives

Answer 20

Voiceless - /s/. Voiced - /z/.

Question 21

Define assimilation

Answer 21

When the sounds at the end of one word blend with the next because they are similar sounds.

Question 22

Give examples of assimilation

Answer 22

‘Bushelter’ and ‘Hambag’

Question 23

Define homophone

Answer 23

Same pronunciation, different meaning/spelling

Question 24

Define elision

Answer 24

Omission of syllables or words in speech

Question 25

Give examples of elision

Answer 25

‘Fish’n’chips’, ‘gonna’, ‘wanna’, ‘d’ya’

Question 26

Define bilabial plosive

Answer 26

Flow of air out the body when closing lips together. Voiced is /b/, voiceless is /p/.

Question 27

Define consonant clusters

Answer 27

Where you have a group of consonants clustered together without a vowel separating them (children find this difficult to pronounce).

Question 28

Give an example of children struggling with consonant clusters.

Answer 28

‘rass’ or ‘gass’ instead of ‘grass’.

Question 29

Define substitution

Answer 29

Substituting one phoneme for another.

Question 30

Define plosives.

Answer 30

A sound made by blocking the air and releasing it. Easy sounds for children to make. E.g. /p/, /b/ and /t/.

Question 31

Define a near-close, near-back, rounded vowel

Answer 31

/ʊ/ - it is a monophthong

Question 32

Define the strut vowel

Answer 32

/ʌ/ - a monophthong vowel, e.g ‘cut’.

Question 33

Define the alveolar nasal consonant

Answer 33

/n/ - ‘nice’