Answers to exercises in A Course in Phonetics

Chapter 1
A:

(1) 1: upper lip

2: (upper) teeth
3: alveolar ridge
4: (hard) palate
5: soft palate or velum
6: uvula
7: epiglottis
8: lower lip
9: tongue tip
10: tongue blade
11: tongue front
12: tongue center
13: tongue back
14: tongue root

B:

(2) s: voiceless alveolar central oral fricative

k: voiceless velar central oral stop
n: voiced alveolar central nasal stop
f: voiceless labiodental oral fricative
l: voiced alveolar lateral oral approximant
t: voiceless alveolar central oral stop

C:

(3) a: alveolar stop, e.g. [t h]

b: labiodental fricative, e.g. [f]

c: (inter)dental fricative, e.g. [T]
d: labial stop, e.g. [p]
e: palatoalveolar a ricate, e.g. [> tS]
f. palatoalveolar fricative, e.g. [S]
g. velar stop, e.g. [k]

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D:

(4) 1: met bet pet

2. got cot
3. fat vat
4. zip nip lip sip tip dip
5. thigh thy
6. shy
7. race wreath bush breathe rave rose rough
8. rain rang dumb
9. lip lit crab dog hide back
10. lull
11. we you one run
12. much edge
13. mother robber leisure razor
14. suit meet
15. wad lad
16. gate cat kit
17. coop cop good
18. who

E:

(5) adder: voiced alveolar stop

father: voiced interdental fricative
singing: voiced velar nasal
etching: voiceless palatoalvealor a ricate
robber: voiced labial stop
ether: voiceless interdental fricative
pleasure: voiced palatoalveolar fricative
hopper: voiceless labial stop
selling: voiced alveolar lateral
sunny: voiced alveolar nasal
lodger: voiced palatoalvealor a ricate

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 H: 1

(6) bite: hod/hawed; ho d/hawed

bait: head; head
boat: hood; ho od

I:

(7) laugh: 3
begged: 4
graphic: 5
fish: 3
fishes: 5
fished: 4
batting: 5
quick: 4
these: 3
physics: 6
kno ck: 3
axis: 5

J:

(8) 1: mean
2: steak
3: mast
4. ton
5. good
6. dud

Chapter 3
A:

(9) a. Before the vowel ends the soft palate lowers so that air can ow through
the nasal cavity. At the end of the vowel the blade of the tongue
is raised to make contact with the alveolar ridge, preventing air from

1 I’m not completely sure I understand what’s being asked in this question.

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 passing through the oral cavity. The lips remain open. The vo cal folds
continue vibrating.
b. Then the velum (or soft palate) is raised and the front of the tongue is
raised, while the tip of the tongue remains in the same place. The lips
become more rounded. The vo cal folds stop vibrating.
c. The velum remains closed throughout the end of the word. After a short
period the tip of the tongue moves downward, but the front of the tongue
remains close enough to the alveolar ridge to tightly restrict air owing
through the oral cavity. The lips are partially rounded. The vocal folds
are held open.

B:

(10) a. The lips close to block air ow through the oral cavity, while the velum
is lowered to allow air ow through the nasal cavity. The vocal folds
continue to vibrate.
b. The velum is raised, cutting o nasal air ow, and the vocal folds are
held open, ending voicing. Anticipating the lateral sound, the tip of the
tongue is raised to the alveolar ridge.
c. The lips are opened, allowing air ow through the oral cavity, and one
or both sides of the tongue are lowered to allow air ow around a lateral
obstruction. The vo cal folds resume vibration.

D:

(11) (2) par, tar, car: [p h A ], [t h A ], [k h A ]

(3) stab Ted, love Ted, breathe together, kid Ted, buzz cut, lo dge Ted, hug
Ted: [b h ], [v h ], [ t h ], [d h ], [z h ], [ d>Z t h ], [g t h ] (only relevant segments
t t t t
transcribed)
(4) a boy, this boy; a dog, this dog; a judge, this judge; a girl, this girl: [
b], [s p]; [ d], [s t]; [ g], [s k] (only relevant segments transcribed)
(5) spark, stark, scar (Numbering problem in the book here – Statements 5,
6 and 7 are juggled in the Exercises): [spA k], [stA k], [skA ]
(6) plan, tram, queen, pure (Numbering problem in the book here – State-
ments 5, 6 and 7 are juggled in the Exercises): [p h l h h w

[ph jU ] n], [t m], [k in],

(7) thief, thieve; rat, rad; bus, buzz; lack, lag (Numbering problem in the
book here – Statements 5, 6 and 7 are juggled in the Exercises): [Ti:f], [Tiv];
[ :t], [ d]; [b :s], [b z]; [l :k], [l g]

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 (8) lobbed, lapped, whacked, bagged. (Can you have alveolar stops in this
environment?) [lAb^d], [l p^t], [w k^t], [b g^d]
(9) stop, tot, Scot: [stAPp], [t h APt], [skAPt]

(10) bitten, kitten, litter: ["bIP@n], ["kIP@n], ["lIP@ ]

(11) rotten, sudden, bottom: ["rAtn" ], ["s dn" ], ["bAtm" ]
(12a) puzzle, simple, wrinkle, butter, summer, hacker: ["p zl
"], ["sImpl"], [" INkl
"],
["b R
" ], ["scapital,
(13a) atom, m "], ["h k "] ladder, center, winter: [" R@m], ["k pIR@l], ["fjuR@l],
feudal,
["l R@ ], ["sEnR@ ], ["wInR@ ]
(14) width, had that, done that: [wId ”T], [h d” t], [d n ” at]
(15) hand write, went lo oking, old money: [h n aIt], [wn "lUkIN], [oUl "m ni]
(16) answer, comfort: [" nts@ ], ["k mpf@ t]
(17) wide door, bag girl, love virtue: [waI doU ], [b g@ l], [l v@ > tSu]
(18) can, Kay, guess, gear: [k n], [k eI], [g Es], [g i ]
(19) lip, pill; gull, lug: [lIp], [p h I ]; [g ], [l g]

Chapter 4
C:

(12) [i]: sheep [Sip]

/I/: ship [SIp]
/eI/: shape [SeIp]
/E/: step [stEp]
/ /: sap [s p]
/A/: hop [hAp]
/O/: gawp [gOp]
/oU/: grope [g oUp]
/U/: whoop [wUp] 2

/u/: soup [sup]

/ /: sup [s p]
/aI/: stripe [st Ip]
/aU/: None?
/OI/: None?

2 As in “whoop his ass,” not “whoop for joy.”

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 D:

(13) Vowels that can’t occur in syllables closed with /p/:

/aU/ /OI/
/b/ – –
/m/ – –
/f/ – –
/t/ out [aUt] –
/n/ town [taUn] coin [kOIn]
/l/ owl [aUl] coil [kOIl]
/z/ house (verb) [haUz] poise [pOIz]
/k/ – –

E:

(14) /OI/ occurs before the smallest number of consonants. Alveolar (or coronal)
consonants o ccur after the largest number of vowels.

F:

(15) Tense and lax vowels:

/i/ secrete [s@k it] secretive [sik @tIv]
/I/ explicit [eksplIsIt] explication [ekspl@keIS@n]
/eI/ opaque [oUpeIk] opacity [op s@Ri]
/E/ repair [ @pE ] reparation [ Ep@ eIS@n]
/ / erratic [@ RIk] errant [E @nt]
/A/ monster [mAnst@ ] monstrosity [m@nst AsIRi]
/oU/ provoke [p @voUk] provocation [p Av@keIS@n]
/aI/ divine [d@vaIn] divinity [dIvIn@Ri]

G:

(16) The red monster shu ed around the room three times.
[ Ed mAnst@ S f@ld aUnd um T i taImz.]

H:

(17) (1) me, meet, mead: [mi], [mi:t], [mi::d]

(2) refuse, refuse; protest, protest; contest, contest: [ "fju:z], [" Efjuz]; [p @"t h E:st],
["p oUtEst]; [k n"tE:st], ["kAntEst]
(3) need, needy, neediest; pow, power, powerful: [ni::d], ["ni:di], ["nidi@st];

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 [ph aU], ["ph aU@ ], ["ph aU@ f@l]
(4) testify, repetition, mystify, diluted: ["tEst@ h IS@n], ["mIst@
[daI"lut@ faI], [ Ep@ "t faI],
(5) Sam,d]sin, sang, crumb: [s m], [s In], [s eIN], [k m]
(6) pad, pal; sid, sill: [p h d], [p h ]; [sI], [sI
]

Chapter 7
A:

(18) [b]: pulmonic egressive voiced bilabial oral stop

[th ]: pulmonic egressive aspirated apical alveolar central oral stop
[t’]: glottalic egressive laryngealized apical alveolar central oral stop
[ ]: pulmonic egressive voiceless apical alveolar lateral oral fricative
[!]: velaric ingressive voiceless laminal palato-alveolar central oral stop
[ ]: pulmonic egressive voiced laminal uvular central oral trill

A:

(19) nasal trill

apical pharyngeal
bilabial lateral
pharyngeal nasal
glottalic egressive voiced

C:

(20) [h]; I have no idea.

D:

(21) Sounds with multiple primary articulations, such as [ > gb] and [ ].

References
Ladefoged, Peter (2006) A Course in Phonetics. Wadsworth.