SOUNDS OF ENGLISH TRIMESTER 2 EXAM – MAY 2020
Answer ALL questions in Section A Answer ONE question in Section B
A copy of the IPA will be provided
A distinctive feature chart will be provided
SECTION A
- Consider the following lexical items:
- [skwɒt]
- [tʰw̥ɪtʃ]
(i) Write out the two words indicated above in ordinary orthography.
(ii) What process is represented by the diacritic underneath the [w] in the second of the above words?
(iii) Why does this process occur? Write about 50-100 words.
(iv) State another example of a word in which the above process occurs and transcribe the word in IPA notation.
(v) Construct a rule accounting for the process in (ii).
- Write short notes (about 100-150 words) on each of the following, making sure to give appropriate examples. Each set of notes are equally-weighted.
- {+ sonorant}
- Ambisyllabicity
- [-voice]
- [+nasal]
- Respond to all the following sub-parts of the question.
- What is meant by the term ‘connected speech processes’?
- Why does the word ‘handwash’ sound like ‘hamwash’ in normal fluent speech?
- Write a phonological rule to explain your answer in (b).
- Respond to all the following sub-parts of the question.
- What is the structure of the metrical foot?
(b) Draw a metrical tree to represent the metrical structure of the following sentence:
The facilitation of the journey was key
(c) What is extrametricality?
SECTION B
- Explain the interactions, if any, between syllables and word boundaries?
OR
- “Language variation experienced in everyday speech is just allophony.” To
what extent is this statement correct? Discuss with reference to both phonemes and distinctive features.
