Phonetics Practice Exercises I

Linguistics 201

I. Write each of the following words in phonetic transcription.

1. heat 6. shrink

2. stroke 7. toque

3. phase 8. attentive

4. chump 9. flop

5. loonie 10. wrath

II. The following is a phonetic transcription of an excerpt of the poem "The Walrus
and the Carpenter", from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass. Each
line of the poem contains one word that is transcribed incorrectly, at the
phonemic or "broad" level of transcription.

Task #1: Identify the word that has been transcribed incorrectly, and then write
the correct form of the transcription.

Task #2: Write each line in normal English orthography.

1: [ tajm hz cm]

2: [ wlrs sed]

3: [tu tlk v mni z]

4: [v uz nd ps]

5: [nd sil wx]

6: [v kbgz nd kz]

7: [nd wj si s bojl ht]

8: [nd wr pgz hv wz]

 Phonetics Practice Exercises I (Answers)
Linguistics 201

I. Write each of the following words in phonetic transcription.

1. heat [hit] 6. shrink [rk]

2. stroke [strowk] 7. toque [tuk]

3. phase [fejz] 8. attentive [tntv]

4. chump [tmp] 9. flop [flp]

5. loonie [luni] 10. wrath [r]

II. The following is a phonetic transcription of an excerpt of the poem "The Walrus and
the Carpenter", from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass. Each line of the
poem contains one word that is transcribed incorrectly, at the phonemic or "broad"
level of transcription.

Task #1: Identify the word that has been transcribed incorrectly, and then write the
correct form of the transcription.

Task #2: Write each line in normal English orthography.

1: [ tajm hz cm] Correction: [cm] [km]

Orthography: the time has come

2: [ wlrs sed] Correction: [sed] [sd]

Orthography: the walrus said

3: [tu tlk v mni z] Correction: [tlk] [tk]

Orthography: to talk of many things

4: [v uz nd ps] Correction: [nd] [nd]

Orthography: of shoes and ships

5: [nd sil wx] Correction: [wx] [wks]

Orthography: and sealing wax

6: [v kbgz nd kz] Correction: [kbgz] [kbdz]

Orthography: of cabbages and kings

7: [nd wj si s bojl ht] Correction: [s] [z]

Orthography: and why the sea is boiling hot
8: [nd wr pgz hv wz] Correction: [wr] [wr]
Orthography: and whether pigs have wings
 Phonetics Practice Exercise #2
Linguistics 201

I. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic

descriptions, then give an English word that contains that sound.

0. Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] dough

1. voiceless bilabial stop

2. low front vowel

3. voiced lateral liquid

4. voiced velar nasal

5. voiced interdental fricative

6. voiceless post-alveolar affricate

7. voiced palatal glide

8. mid lax front vowel

9. high back tense vowel

10. voiceless labio-dental fricative

II. For each of the following consonants, state whether it is voiced or voiceless, its
place of articulation, and its manner of articulation.

1. [m] 4. [h]

2. [r] 5. [s]

3. []

III. List the phonetic properties of each of the following vowels (height,
front/backness, rounded/unrounded, and tense/lax).

1. [o] 4. []

2. [] 5. []

3. []
 Phonetics Practice Exercise #2 (Answers)
Linguistics 201

I. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions,
then give an English word that contains that sound.

0. Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] dough

1.voiceless bilabial stop [p] "peacock"

2.low front vowel [] "cat"

3.voiced lateral liquid [l] "lion"

4. voiced velar nasal [] "orangutan"

5.voiced interdental fricative [] "feather"

6.voiceless post-alveolar affricate [] "shark"

7.voiced palatal glide [j] "yak"

8.mid lax front vowel [] "elephant"

9.high back tense vowel [u] "goose"

10.voiceless labio-dental fricative [f] "pheasant"

II. For each of the following consonants, state whether it is voiced or voiceless, its place
of articulation, and its manner of articulation.

1.[m] voiced bilabial nasal

2. [r] voiced post-alveolar retroflex liquid

3.[] voiceless post-alveolar fricative

4. [h] voiceless glottal fricative

5. [s] voiceless alveolar fricative

III. List the phonetic properties of each of the following vowels (height, front/backness,
rounded/unrounded, and tense/lax).

1.[o] mid back rounded tense

2. [] high front unrounded lax

3. [] high back rounded lax

4. [] low back unrounded tense

5. [] mid back unrounded lax

Linguistics 201

Phonetics Practice Exercise: Stress + Transcription

A. For the following place names, mark [ ] over the vowel in any stressed syllables, and
then give a phonetic transcription for each item.

Example: Halifax [hlfks]

1. Ontario 2. Saskatchewan

3. Medicine Hat 4. Drumheller

5. Regina 6. Alberta

7. Quebec 8. Whitehorse

9. Dawson Creek 10. Uranium City

B. Now try the same for the following animal names, and also circle any stop consonants.

1. elephant 2. hyena

3. monkey 4. giraffe

5. gorilla 6. wombat

7. kangaroo 8. zebra

9. gopher 10. vampire bat

C. Finally, provide phonetic transcriptions, with stress, for the following astronomical
terms. Also, circle any alveolar consonants.

1. astronomy 2. galaxy

3. equinox 4. autumnal

5. solstice 6. telescope

7. satellite 8. radar

9. spaceship 10. vernal

Linguistics 201

Phonetics Practice Exercise: Stress + Transcription

A. For the following place names, mark [ ] over the vowel in any stressed syllables, and
then give a phonetic transcription for each item.

Example: Halifax [hlfks]

1. Ontario [ntriow] 2. Saskatchewan [ssktwn]

3. Medicine Hat [mdsn ht] 4. Drumheller [drmhlr]

5. Regina [rdajn] 6. Alberta [lbrt]

7. Quebec [kbk] 8. Whitehorse [wjthrs]

9. Dawson Creek [dsn krik] 10. Uranium City [jrejnim sti]

B. Now try the same for the following animal names, and also circle any stop consonants.

1. elephant [lfnt] 2. hyena [hajin]

3. monkey [mki] 4. giraffe [drf]

5. gorilla [grl] 6. wombat [wmbt]

7. kangaroo [kgru] 8. zebra [zibr]

9. gopher [gowfr] 10. vampire bat [vmpajr bt]

C. Finally, provide phonetic transcriptions, with stress, for the following astronomical
terms. Also, circle any alveolar consonants.

1. astronomy [strnmi] 2. galaxy [glksi]

3. equinox [ikwnks] 4. autumnal [tmnl]

5. solstice [sowlsts] 6. telescope [tlskowp]

7. satellite [stljt] 8. radar [rejdr]

9. spaceship [spejsp] 10. vernal [vrnl]