Oral Communication Phonology Quiz

Oral Communication (Phonology) Quiz (Multiple Choice Type). You can use these items for your short formative test after a classroom discussion. Answers are already highlighted. 

  1. It is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of nucleus, most often a vowel with optional initial and final margins or consonants.
    • phoneme
    • syllable     
    • word
    • morpheme
  2. It is a word consisting of a single syllable.
    • morpheme
    • phoneme
    • monosyllable 
    • diphthong
  3. Which of the following consonant sound is a labio-dental fricative?
    • /th/
    • /f/  
    • /n/
    • /z/
  4. It is the smallest structural unit in speech that distinguishes meaning.
    • phoneme
    • morpheme 
    • vowel
    • consonant
  5. What is the distinguishing characteristic of voice that makes it pleasant or unpleasant?
    • vocal range
    • quality or timbre
    • intensity
    • voice disorder
  6. It is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis.
    • vowel
    • diphthong
    • consonant
    • schwa
  7. Which of these are function words?
    • nouns
    • principal verbs
    • prepositions
    • adjectives
  8. It is a sound characterized by a constriction or complete or partial closure at one or more points along the vocal tract.
    • consonant
    • vowel
    • diphthong
    • affix
  9. Which is the standard phonetic transcription of the word stand?
    • /stand/
    • /t⟆aend/
    • /stænd/
    • /sta:nd/
  10. Which word does not belong to the vowel sound group?
    • back
    • hard
    • pack
    • tap
  11. It is a morpheme that is attached to a root to form a word.
    • affix
    • phoneme
    • diphthong
    • consonant
  12. Which is not a component of stress in speech?
    • intensity
    • pitch
    • duration
    • pause
  13. It is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract as in /b/.
    • plosive
    • fricative
    • sibilant
    • semi-vowel
  14. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet while ASCII stands for:
    • American Standard Code of Information Interchange
    • American Sounds Code of Information Interchange
    • African Sound Code of Information Interchange
    • African Standard Code of Information Interchange
  15. It is a type of affricative or affricate consonant made by directing a jet of air through narrow channel  in the vocal tract towards the sharp edge of the teeth as in /s/.
    • fricative
    • plosive
    • sibilant   
    • nasal
  16. It is the act, faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; the ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by sounds and other gestures.
    • speech
    • voice
    • communication
    • language
  17. It is the relative tone of a person’s voice; how high or low it is.
    • pitch
    • intensity
    • quality
    • voice
  18. Which word does not belong to the vowel sound group?
    • breathe
    • cheap
    • pick
    • leave
  19. It is the span from the highest to the lowest note a particular voice can produce.
    • intensity
    • quality
    • rate
    • vocal range
  20. It is the variation of pitch when speaking—the rise and fall of the voice as it slides from one pitch to another.
    • stress
    • intonation
    • rhythm
    • timing
  21. It is a person’s talking speed; how fast or slow it is.
    • vocal range
    • rate
    • timing
    • pitch
  22. Which of these is not a nasal sound?
    • /m/
    • /w/
    • /n/
    • /η/
  23. It is the voice quality resembling a sexy, whispery bedroom voice.
    • hypernasality
    • hoarseness
    • breathiness
    • nasality
  24. It is the study of the nature, structure, and variation of language.
    • syntax
    • morphology
    • linguistics
    • phonetics
  25. Which is the correct phonetic transcription of the word dream?
    • /dreem/
    • /driim/
    • /dre:m/
    • /dri:m/
  26. It is the loose hanging end of the soft palate in the oral cavity.
    • pharynx
    • velum
    • uvula
    • alveolar
  27. Which word contains a silent phoneme?
    • salmon
    • bald
    • fuel
    • colon
  28. It is the sound uttered through the mouth of living creatures, especially of human beings in speaking, shouting, etc.
    • speech
    • voice 
    • sound
    • noise
  29. Which of the following words contains a diphthong?
    • soil
    • cup
    • cart
    • antique
  30. What sound is produced by placing the tip of the tongue between the upper and the lower teeth, forcing the air though the front of the tongue, and making a buzzing noise?
    • /θ/
    • /t⟆/
    • /δ/
    • /⟆/
  31. Which of these words contains a vowel sound ugh?
    • cap
    • cop
    • cup
    • corps
  32. It is a type of classical male singing voice that has the lowest vocal range of all voice types.
    • alto
    • soprano
    • bass
    • tenor
  33. Which word does not belong to the th consonant sound group?
    • thick
    • throw
    • them
    • thin
  34. It is a set or system of arbitrary signs, sounds or gestures used by a number of people in communicating intelligibly with other members of the community.
    • language
    • culture
    • behavior
    • experience
  35. The consonant x sounds either /eks/ or /egz/ depending on the phoneme that follows it where the stress falls. Which word is pronounced with x as /egz/?
    • excellent
    • exhibit
    • excuse
    • excel
  36. What intonation pattern is used in the question, “Who do you prefer—Mozart or Beethoven”?
    • rising intonation
    • falling intonation
    • peaking intonation
    • dipping intonation
  37. What intonation pattern is used in the question, “Are you dating him?”
    • rising intonation
    • falling intonation
    • peaking intonation
    • dipping intonation
  38. It is a combination of sounds creating symbols that represent meanings to both the speaker and the listener.
    • voice
    • speech
    • communication
    • stimuli
  39. Which statement is correct?
    • Vowels are unvoiced.
    • The smallest unit of speech sound is a morpheme.
    • Consonants may be voiced or unvoiced.
    • The combination of two or more vowels into a phoneme is a schwa.
  40. It is a type of affricative consonant made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract towards the sharp edge of the teeth as in /s/.
    • liquid
    • lateral
    • sibilant
    • nasal