Audio Exercises

Unit 1

English Phonetics and Phonology

Unit 1 – Exercise 1

Identification. How many phonemes do you think there are in the following words? Diphthongs and triphthongs count as one single phoneme. Listen and count.

1. worst /wɜ:st/ 4 2. proof /pru:f/ 4 3. wound /wʊnd/ 4 4. season /ˈsiːzn̩/ 4 or 5 5. added /ˈӕdɪd/ 4
6. vague /veɪg/ 3 7. seat /si:t/ 3 8. logged /lɒgd/ 4 9. thorough /ˈɵʌrə/ 4 10. bomb /bɒm/ 3

Unit 1 – Exercise 2

Identification. Now do the same, but without listening to the words at first; watch out for silent letters. Then, listen to the word and decide.

1. should 2. bottle 3. answer 4. people 5. aren´t
6. hero 7. heir 8. guitar 9. nation 10. sign

1. /ʃʊd/ 3 2. /ˈbɒt(ə)l/ 4 or 5 3. /ˈɑ:nsə/ 4 4. /pi:p(ə)l/ 4 or 5 5. /ɑ:nt/ 3
6. /hɪərəʊ/ 4 7. /eə/ 1 8. /gɪˈtɑ:/ 4 9. /ˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ 4 or 5 10. /saɪn/ 3

Unit 1 – Exercise 3

Production. Short vowels. Read aloud the following words from the transcription; then, listen and repeat again. Provide the spelling accent.

1. /bɪd/ 2. /gʊd/ 3. /pӕd/ 4. /kɒd/ 5. /gɪv/
6. /rʌf/ 7. /hʌt/ 8. /sed/ 9. /bʊk/ 10. /hӕnd/

1. bid 2. good 3. pad 4. cod 5. give
6. rough 7. hut 8. said 9. book 10. hand

Unit 1 – Exercise 4

Production. Long vowels. Read the following words from the transcription; then, listen and repeat again. Provide the spelling.

1. /bi:d/ 2. /fu:d/ 3. /kɑ:d/ 4. /kɔ:d/ 5. /hɑ:t/
6. /wɜ:d/ 7. /blu:/ 8. /sɔ:d/ 9. /ʃru:d/ 10. /klɑːk/

1. bead 2. food 3. card 4. cord 5. heart
6. word 7. blue 8. sword 9. shrewd 10. Clarke

Unit 1 – Exercise 5

Production. Diphthongs. Read the following words from the transcription; then, listen and repeat again. Provide the spelling.

1. /laɪf/ 2. /həʊm/ 3. /wəʊ/ 4. /hɪə/ 5. /keə/

1. life 2. home 3. woe 4. hear/here 5. care

Unit 1 – Exercise 6

Give the phonetic symbol for the vowel sound in each of the following words you hear. There are ten.

1. /ʌ/ 2. /ɔ:/ 3. /əʊ/ 4. /ɜ:/ 5. /ɒ/
6. /aɪ/ 7. /ɪ/ 8. /ʊ/ 9. /e/ 10. /u:/

Unit 1 – Exercise 7

Identification. Give the phonetic symbol for the initial consonant sound in each of the following words you hear. There are ten.

1. /r/ 2. /s/ 3. /p/ 4. /j/ 5. /w/
6. /ʤ/ 7. /k/ 8. /r/ 9. /n/ 10. /z/

Unit 1 – Exercise 8

Identification. Give the phonetic symbol for the medial consonant sound in each of the following words you hear. There are ten.

1. /f/ 2. /w/ 3. /s/ 4. /ɵ/ 5. /z/
6. /r/ 7. /m/ 8. /d/ 9. /s/ 10. /v/

Unit 1 – Exercise 9

Identification. Give the phonetic symbol for the final consonant sound in each of the following words you hear. There are ten.

1. /f/ 2. /ʧ/ 3. /s/ 4. /l/ 5. /ɵ/
6. /n/ 7. /ɵ/ 8. /f/ 9. /ŋ/ 10. /d/

Unit 1 – Exercise 10

Listen to the following passage written in broad phonetic transcription. Then, you read it.

|| ə fəʊn z ə ˈsɪŋɡl̩ fəˈnetɪk seɡˈment | vjuːd ɪn tɜːmz əv ɪts fəˈnetɪk ˈkærəktə wɪðˈaʊt rɪˈɡɑːd tu ɪts ˈpɒsəbl̩ ˌfəʊnəˈlɒdʒɪkl̩ ˈsteɪtəs || ðə tɜːm fəʊn z rɪˈleɪtɪd tə ˈfəʊniːm ɪn ðə seɪm ˈweɪ mɔːf s rɪˈleɪtɪd tə ˈmɔːfiːm ||

A phone is a single phonetic segment viewed in terms of its phonetic character without regard to its possible phonological status. The term phone is related to phoneme in the same way morph is related to morpheme.