Questions and tasks

1. What is assimilation?

2. What is the difference between progressive and regressive assimilation?

3. What kind of assimilation affects the alveolar articulation of the [t, d, n] and [l] when they are followed by [θ] or [ð]?

4. What allophone of the phoneme [l] is used within the word health? How does this allophone differ from the principal one?

5. Transcribe the words white, thorn, although, breadth, underline the consonants affected by assimilation, and define its type.

6. What similar assimilative changes do the allophones of the phonemes [ t, d, n, l, s, z] undergo when they are used before [θ] or [ð]?

7. What consonant in the sentence “ Call the boy. ” is affected by regressive assimilation?

8. Read and transcribe the words train, trifle. Say what consonant is assimilated in them and what degree of assimilation it is.

9. Transcribe and pronounce the words three, thread, thrill, throat, throw. Say what allophones of the phoneme [r] are used in them.

10. What allophone of the phoneme [r] is used within the word through? Explain the difference between this allophone and the principal one.

11. What allophone of the phoneme [d] is used within the words drop, drug? Explain the difference between this allophone and the principal one. Say what degree of assimilation it is.

12. What articulatory features of the sonorant [l] within the word flower are affected by assimilation?

13. Transcribe and pronounce the words train, quarter, twilight, and swallow and say what type of assimilation takes place in them.

14. Read the following sets of words concentrating on the difference between the sonorant [w] in word initial position and the [w] preceded by the plosives [t, k] or [s]. What type of assimilation is it? (1) win – twin, (2) wept – swept, (3) white – quite.

15. Which consonant within the word clock is affected by assimilation?

16. What kind of assimilation do you come across in the cluster [tw] in the word twilight? In what other clusters do we come across the same type of assimilation?

17. What articulatory features of the sonorant [w ] are affected by assimilation within the words twin, swing, queen. What type of assimilation is it?

18. Can you formulate the principles which determine the pronunciation of the ending –ed, added to regular English verbs from the Past Indefinite tense? Give examples illustrating all the possible cases.

19. Formulate the principles which determine the pronunciation of the ending – s, -z, added to the end of the word to make a noun plural or possessive, or to put a verb in the third person singular form of the present tense. This ending is spelled in several different ways: -s, -es, -‘s, -s’.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16