ExercisesPart one1. What is acoustic phonetics? [人大2003研]【答案】Acoustic phonetics is a technical area of linguistics. It is the study of sound waves made by the human vocal organs for communication.2. Auditory phonetics studies how sounds are perceived by the speaker.[清华2001研]【答案】FPart two:一、术语解释IPA [南开大学2004研]【答案】IPA: the abbreviation of International Phonetic Alphabet, which is devised by the International Phonetic Association in 1888. IPA is a set of symbols which can be used to represent the phones and phonemes of natural languages.二、简答题What are the three parts of the vocal organs (3 points)? [清华2001研]【答案】The pharynx, the mouth and the nose are the three parts of the vocal organs.三、论述题Is English a language that uses a phonetic alphabet system? Explain briefly why or why not with examples. (15 points) [北外2004研] 【答案】The Phonetic Alphabet is a system of letters and symbols that are used to represent the individual sounds of a language. English is a language that uses a phonetic alphabet system because it is a phonographic language by nature. There are mainly three types of language concerning its writing system: ideographic language which uses symbols (ideograms) to represent whole words or concepts (ideas), with Chinese as an example; syllabic language in which words or concepts are represented by syllable, with Japanese syllabic system as an example; phonographic language which uses special alphabetic or other typographical characters to express the sounds of an actual spoken utterance in writing, with many European languages as examples. English uses alphabetic script to represent certain single type sound. For example, the sound which is written as sh in English can be expressed by symbol [∫], as in ship; and the sound that is written as c can be expressed by the symbol of [k], as in cup.四、选择题Of the three cavities, is the most variable and active in amplifying and modifying speech sounds. [北京第二外国语学院2004研]A. nasal cavityB. pharynx cavityC. oral cavity【答案】C五、判断正误1. When the vocal folds are apart, the air can pass through easily and the sound produced is said to be voiced. [大连外国语学院2008研] 【答案】F2. Of the three cavities, pharynx cavity is the most variable and active in amplifying and modifying speech sounds. [北京第二外国语学院2007研]【答案】FPart three一、术语解释1. Cardinal vowel [四川大学2006研，大连外国语学院2008研] 【答案】The cardinal vowels are a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intended to provide a frame of reference for the description of the actual vowels of existing languages.2. Glottal Stop [四川大学2006研]【答案】V ocal tract is composed of oral cavity, nasal cavity and pharynx. When the vocal folds are totally closed, no air can pass between them. The result of this gesture is the glottal stop.3. Bilabial consonant [四川大学2007研]【答案】Bilabial consonants refer to consonants which are made with the two lips.4. V oiceless [西安交通大学2008研]【答案】When the vocal folds are apart, the air can pass through easily and the sound produced is said to be voiceless. For example, consonants [p, s, t] are produced this way, so they are voiceless consonants. “V oiceless”is defined in contrast with “voiced”. Consonants [b, z, d] are voiced consonants.二、简答题1. Mention a labiodental sound in English. Tell what speech organs are involved in producing labiodental sounds. (4 points) [北京第二外国语学院2007研]【答案】/f/ (or /v/), the upper front teeth and the lower lip are involved.2. What are the differences between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in terms of articulation? [南开大学2004研]【答案】When the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiceless. Consonants [p, s, t] are produced in this way. When the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly push them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiced. [b, z, d] arevoiced consonants.三、选择题1. Of the consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /m/, /z/ and /g/, which has the features of voiceless and velar? [对外经济贸易大学2005研]A. /k/B. /p/C. /g/D. /t/【答案】A2. The vowel is a low back vowel. [西安外国语学院2006研]A. /i:/B. /u/C. /æ/D. /a:/【答案】D3. Point out which item does not fall under the same category as the rest, and explain the reason in ONE sentence. [南京大学2008研] A. /f/ B. /z/ C. /v/ D. /k/ [Focus on manner of articulation]【答案】D (Reason: A, B and C are fricatives, but D is a plosive.)五、填空题1. Consonant articulations are relatively easy to feel, and as a result are most conveniently described in terms of place and of articulation. [北京第二外国语学院2008研]【答案】manner2. are produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some place to divert, impede, or completely shut off the flowof air in the oral cavity. [中山大学2006研]【答案】consonants六、判断正误1. Bilabial consonant is produced when the obstruction is partial and the air is forced through a narrow passage. [对外经济贸易大学2006研]【答案】F2. The sound segments are grouped into consonants and vowels. [大连外国语学院2008研]【答案】T七、音标题Work out the distinctive features of the following sounds. (10%)[南开大学2007研]1.[t h]2.[w]3.[v]4.[ð]5.[l]【答案】1. [t h] aspirated voiceless alveolar stop2. [w] voiced bilabial approximant3. [v] voiced labio-dental fricative4. [ð] voiced dental fricative5. [l] voiced alveolar lateral一、术语解释1. Phoneme [人大2006研，浙江大学2005研，上海交通大学2007研]【答案】Phoneme refers to the abstract element of sound, identified as being distinctive in a particular language. For example, in English, /p/ is described as a phoneme.2. Minimal pairs [武汉大学2005研，浙江大学2004研，四川大学2007研，上海交通大学2006研，北京航空航天大学2008研，北京第二外国语学院2006研]【答案】Two words which are identical in every way except for one sound segment that occurs in the same place in the string. For example, the English words bear and pear constitute a minimal pair as they differ in meaning and in their initial phonemes /b/ and /p/. 3. Free variation [武汉大学2004研]【答案】Free variation is the interchangeable relationship between two phones, in which the phones may substitute for one another in the same environment without causing a change in meaning. For example, the final consonant of cup may not be released by some speakers so there is no audible sound at the end of this word. In this case, it is the same word pronounced in two different ways : [kʰʌpʰ]and [kʰʌp] (The diacritic “┐”indicates “no audible release ” in IPA symbols.)4. Allophone [四川大学2008研，北京交通大学2007研]【答案】Allophone refers to variants of the same phoneme, which are in complementary distribution and bear phonetic similarity.5. Coarticulation[武汉大学2008研，四川大学2006研，南开大学2007研]【答案】Coarticulation refers to the phenomenon that sounds continually show the influence of their neighbors. For example, in lamb, when a is followed by m, the velum will begin to lower itself during the articulation of a so that it is ready for the following nasal. When such simultaneous or overlapping articulations are involved, we call the process coarticulation. If the sound becomes more like the following sound, it is known as anticipatory coarticulation. If the sound displays the influence of the preceding sound, it is perseverative coarticulation.6. Broad and narrow transcription [中山大学2006研]【答案】When we use a simple set of symbols in our transcription, it is called a BROAD TRANSCRIPTION. And the use of more specific symbols to show more phonetic detail is referred to as a NARROW TRANSCRIPTION. Both are phonetic transcriptions so we put both forms in square brackets [ ].7. Complementary distribution [武汉大学2008研，南开大学2007研]【答案】When two sounds never occur in the same environment, they are in complementary distribution. For example, the aspirated English stops never occur after [s], and the unaspirated ones never occur initially. Allophones of the same phoneme are usually in complementary distribution. The allophones of /p/, for instance, are also in complementary distribution. The unaspirated [p] occurs after /s/, while the aspirated [ph] occurs in all other environments except after /s/.二、论述题What are phonemes, phones and allophones? Explain their relationship with examples from English or Chinese. (15 points) [北外2005研]【答案】A phoneme is a minimally distinctive set of sounds in a language that can signal a difference in meaning. It is an abstract phonological unit represented or realized by a certain phone in a particular phonetic context. A phone is an individual phonetic unit or segment that occurs in speech. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. Each of the set of phones which correspond to a single phoneme of a language is called an allophone. Phonemes are placed between slant lines (/ /)and phones are placed between square brackets ([ ]). Allophones of the same phoneme generally occur in different contexts and never distinguish one word from another. For example, when we pronounce the two words peak and speak, we are aware that the sound [p] is pronounced differently, in the word peak, it is pronounced with a strong puff of air stream; but the same stop sound is pronounced slightly differently in the word speak, where the puff of air is withheld a little. The [p] sound in peak is called an aspirated [ph] and the [p] sound in speak is an unaspirated [p]. There is a slight difference in the way they are pronounced, but such a difference does not give rise to difference in meaning. So /p/ is a phoneme in the English sound system, and it can be realized differently as aspirated or unaspirated in different contexts. The phoneme /p/ in English can be realized as aspirated [ph] and unaspirated [p], which are allophones of the phoneme /p/.三、选择题1. Which of the following is true of an allophone? [对外经济贸易大学2005研]A. A phone can be the allophone of all English vowel phonemes.B. There are no restrictions on the distribution of an allophone.C. There is no possibility of an allophone becoming a phoneme.D. An allophone changes the meaning of the word.【答案】C2. Which of the following CANNOT be considered as minimal pair? [大连外国语学院2008研]A. /ai/-/ɔi/B. /p/-/b/C. /s/-/θ/【答案】C3. Point out which item does not fall under the same category as the rest, and explain the reason in ONE sentence. [南京大学2007研] A. resolution B. resident C. restart D. resignation [Focus on the pronunciation of “s”]【答案】C ( Reason: in A, B, D, “s”are all pronounced as [z], while in C “s”is pronounced as [s].)四、填空题transcription should transcribe all the possible speech sounds, including the minute shades.[北京第二外国语学院2004研]【答案】narrow五、判断正误1. A phoneme in one language or one dialect may be an allophone in another language or dialect. [清华2000研，清华2001研] 【答案】T2. Broad Transcription is intended to symbolize all the possible speech sounds, including the minute shades. [北京第二外国语学院2003研]【答案】F3. Phonetic similarity means that the allophones of a phoneme must bear some morphological resemblance. [大连外国语学院2008研]【答案】F补充：此题型还常考free variation和complementary distribution，phone和phoneme的区别。
