UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER – ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS

ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY I – 2nd SEMESTER OF 2018

Questionnaire - Chapter 8 – The Syllable

Name: _________________________________________________

A. As a review, answer the following questions.

1. What does segmental phonetics and phonology study?

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2. What does suprasegmental phonetics and phonology study?

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B. After reading sections 8.1 and 8.2 in Roach (2009), answer the following questions.

1. What is a syllable phonetically?

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2. What is a minimum syllable? What is onset and coda? Provide examples.
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3. What does phonotactics study?
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4. What is the maximum number of consonant sounds a word can begin and end with?

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5. When do we say that a syllable has a zero onset or a zero coda? Provide example words.

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6. In terms of their position in the syllable, what name do each consonant receive in the ONSET of the syllable? What
are those names in the syllable’s CODA?

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7. Complete the diagram that shows the phonological structure of the English syllable.
 _______ ________ ________ VOWEL _____ ______ _______ ______ _______

ONSET CODA

8. Reflect. Is it important to study (phonetically and phonologically) the syllable? If so, in what ways? (your
answer to this may be reconsidered after finishing the study of the syllable).
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C. Fill in the gaps in the sentences.

1. The study of phoneme sequences is called ________________ .

2. A group of consonants at the beginning or end of a syllable is called a consonant ____________.

3. When there are three consonants at the beginning of a syllable, the first consonant must be_______ and the
third will be one of four consonants________ ,________ , and __________.

4. In the three-consonant sequences at the beginning of a syllable like ‘spray’ spreɪ we say that the /s/
consonant is in __________ position, the /p/ consonant is in__________ position and the /r/ consonant is in
___________ position.

6. In a three-consonant sequence at the end of a syllable, such as ‘banks’ /bæŋks/ we say that the /ŋ/ is in
___________ position, the /k/ in ____________ position and the /s/ in ______________ position.

7 The phoneme sequence ŋɔːl could not possibly be an English word. True or false?____ .

8 The phoneme sequence krelpt could not possibly be an English word. True or false?_____ .

9 The phoneme sequence hɒŋ could not possibly be an English word. True or false?_____ .

10. The phoneme sequence strʊ could not possibly be an English word. True or false?______.