Phonetics & Phonetic Transcription — GK Questions with Answers

1. How many phonemes are there in English?
   1. 26
   2. 40
   3. 44
   4. 48
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   Answer: (C) 44

   English has 44 phonemes — 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds.

2. The vowel sound in "ship" is —
   1. /iː/
   2. /ɪ/
   3. /e/
   4. /ə/
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   Answer: (B) /ɪ/

   Ship has the short /ɪ/; sheep has the long /iː/.

3. Which of these is a diphthong?
   1. /ɑː/
   2. /ɔɪ/
   3. /ʊ/
   4. /ɜː/
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   Answer: (B) /ɔɪ/

   /ɔɪ/ as in boy glides from one vowel to another. The others are pure vowels.

4. The correct transcription of "know" is —
   1. /knəʊ/
   2. /nəʊ/
   3. /nɔː/
   4. /naʊ/
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   Answer: (B) /nəʊ/

   The k and w are silent, so the word is /nəʊ/.

5. The sound /ʒ/ occurs in —
   1. measure
   2. mission
   3. mixture
   4. misery
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   Answer: (A) measure

   Measure is /ˈmeʒə/. Mission has /ʃ/ and mixture has /tʃ/.

6. Which sound is a voiceless dental fricative?
   1. /ð/
   2. /θ/
   3. /s/
   4. /f/
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   Answer: (B) /θ/

   /θ/ as in thin is dental and voiceless; /ð/ as in this is its voiced partner.

7. /ŋ/ as in "sing" is a —
   1. bilabial nasal
   2. alveolar nasal
   3. velar nasal
   4. palatal nasal
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   Answer: (C) velar nasal

   The back of the tongue meets the soft palate, so /ŋ/ is a velar nasal.

8. The commonest vowel sound in spoken English is —
   1. /iː/
   2. /æ/
   3. /ə/
   4. /ɑː/
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   Answer: (C) /ə/

   The schwa /ə/ occurs in almost every unstressed syllable.

9. How many syllables are there in "beautiful"?
   1. two
   2. three
   3. four
   4. five
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   Answer: (B) three

   /ˈbjuː-tɪ-fl/ — three vowel sounds, so three syllables.

10. In the word "record" used as a verb, the stress falls on —
    1. the first syllable
    2. the second syllable
    3. both equally
    4. neither
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    Answer: (B) the second syllable

    As a verb it is reˈcord /rɪˈkɔːd/; as a noun it is ˈrecord /ˈrekɔːd/.

11. Which word is stressed on the second syllable?
    1. table
    2. happy
    3. begin
    4. water
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    Answer: (C) begin

    Two-syllable verbs usually take second-syllable stress: beˈgin.

12. The suffix -ity places the stress —
    1. on the suffix itself
    2. on the syllable just before the suffix
    3. on the first syllable always
    4. it does not affect stress
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    Answer: (B) on the syllable just before the suffix

    possiˈbility, uˈniversity — the stress moves to the syllable immediately before -ity.

13. Which suffix carries the stress itself?
    1. -ness
    2. -ment
    3. -eer
    4. -able
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    Answer: (C) -eer

    engiˈneer, volunˈteer — the suffix -eer is stressed.

14. In "blackboard" meaning the board in a classroom, the stress is on —
    1. black
    2. board
    3. both
    4. neither
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    Answer: (A) black

    A compound noun is stressed on its first element: ˈblackboard.

15. A pair of words that differ in only one sound is called —
    1. a homophone
    2. a minimal pair
    3. an allophone
    4. a diphthong
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    Answer: (B) a minimal pair

    That is the definition of a minimal pair, such as pin and bin.

16. The /p/ of "pin" and the /p/ of "spin" are —
    1. two different phonemes
    2. two allophones of one phoneme
    3. a minimal pair
    4. two syllables
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    Answer: (B) two allophones of one phoneme

    They sound slightly different but never change meaning, so they are allophones of /p/.

17. The -ed of "walked" is pronounced —
    1. /d/
    2. /t/
    3. /ɪd/
    4. /əd/
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    Answer: (B) /t/

    After the voiceless /k/, the ending is said /t/ — /wɔːkt/.

18. Which word contains a silent l?
    1. ball
    2. calm
    3. bell
    4. line
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    Answer: (B) calm

    Calm is /kɑːm/ — the l is not pronounced.

19. The transcription /ˈwɪmɪn/ stands for —
    1. woman
    2. women
    3. winning
    4. weaving
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    Answer: (B) women

    Women is /ˈwɪmɪn/, while the singular woman is /ˈwʊmən/.

20. Which group lists only voiced consonants?
    1. /p t k/
    2. /b d ɡ/
    3. /f s ʃ/
    4. /θ h tʃ/
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) /b d ɡ/

    /b d ɡ/ are the voiced plosives; the others in the list are voiceless.

21. All English speech sounds use which airstream mechanism?
    1. glottalic ingressive
    2. pulmonic egressive
    3. velaric ingressive
    4. pulmonic ingressive
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    Answer: (B) pulmonic egressive

    Air pushed out of the lungs — pulmonic egressive.

22. Which organ decides whether a sound is oral or nasal?
    1. the tongue
    2. the soft palate
    3. the vocal cords
    4. the teeth ridge
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    Answer: (B) the soft palate

    The soft palate or velum: lowered for nasals, raised for oral sounds.

23. /t/ is correctly described as a —
    1. voiced alveolar plosive
    2. voiceless alveolar plosive
    3. voiceless dental fricative
    4. voiceless velar plosive
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) voiceless alveolar plosive

    Voicing, place, manner — voiceless alveolar plosive.

24. In the syllable, the consonants coming after the vowel form the —
    1. onset
    2. nucleus
    3. coda
    4. rhyme
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    Answer: (C) coda

    The coda; nucleus + coda together make the rhyme.

25. Which part of a syllable is compulsory?
    1. onset
    2. nucleus
    3. coda
    4. rhyme
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    Answer: (B) nucleus

    Only the nucleus — eye /aɪ/ is a complete syllable.

26. The maximum number of consonants English allows in a syllable onset is —
    1. two
    2. three
    3. four
    4. five
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    Answer: (B) three

    Three, as in street and splash, and the first must be /s/.

27. Which word contains a syllabic consonant?
    1. cat
    2. button
    3. strength
    4. about
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    Answer: (B) button

    Button /ˈbʌtn/ has a syllabic /n/.

28. English is described as a —
    1. syllable-timed language
    2. stress-timed language
    3. tone language
    4. mora-timed language
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    Answer: (B) stress-timed language

    Stress-timed — the beat falls on stressed syllables at roughly equal intervals.

29. Most Indian languages are syllable-timed. The practical effect on Indian English is that —
    1. vowels are lengthened
    2. every syllable gets roughly equal weight
    3. consonants are dropped
    4. intonation always rises
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    Answer: (B) every syllable gets roughly equal weight

    Unstressed syllables keep their full value instead of being reduced to schwa.

30. Which group is normally UNSTRESSED in a sentence?
    1. nouns
    2. main verbs
    3. prepositions and articles
    4. adjectives
    Show answer

    Answer: (C) prepositions and articles

    Function words are unstressed and take their weak forms.

31. A yes/no question normally takes which tone?
    1. falling
    2. rising
    3. falling-rising
    4. level
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    Answer: (B) rising

    Rising; statements, commands and wh-questions fall.

32. "Where do you live?" normally takes which tone?
    1. rising
    2. falling
    3. level
    4. rising-falling
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    Answer: (B) falling

    A wh- question takes a falling tone.

33. A falling-rising tone usually conveys —
    1. certainty
    2. doubt or reservation
    3. a command
    4. surprise
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    Answer: (B) doubt or reservation

    It implies an unspoken but.

34. The syllable carrying the main pitch movement in a tone group is the —
    1. onset
    2. tonic syllable
    3. coda
    4. head
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    Answer: (B) tonic syllable

    The tonic syllable, also called the nucleus.

35. "Ten bikes" pronounced /tem baɪks/ shows —
    1. progressive assimilation
    2. regressive assimilation
    3. coalescent assimilation
    4. elision
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    Answer: (B) regressive assimilation

    The later /b/ changes the earlier /n/ — regressive.

36. The /s/ of cats and the /z/ of dogs illustrate —
    1. regressive assimilation
    2. progressive assimilation
    3. elision
    4. liaison
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    Answer: (B) progressive assimilation

    The earlier sound decides the later one — progressive.

37. "Would you" pronounced /ˈwʊdʒuː/ is an example of —
    1. elision
    2. coalescent assimilation
    3. intrusive r
    4. juncture
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    Answer: (B) coalescent assimilation

    Two sounds merge into a third — coalescent.

38. "Next day" said as /neks deɪ/ shows —
    1. assimilation
    2. elision
    3. liaison
    4. juncture
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    Answer: (B) elision

    The /t/ drops out between two consonants.

39. The /r/ heard in "law and order" is called —
    1. linking r
    2. intrusive r
    3. retroflex r
    4. trilled r
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    Answer: (B) intrusive r

    Intrusive /r/ — there is no letter r in the spelling.

40. "An aim" and "a name" differ only in —
    1. stress
    2. juncture
    3. intonation
    4. vowel length
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) juncture

    The placing of the break — juncture.

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