EE Pronunciation Varieties  MOCK TEST                                            May 11, 2023

A/20pts/

1a The author of Accents of English, 1982:

1b The author of Sociophonology, 1998:

2 Match phonetic  terms and their definitions:

                                                          A continuant, B liaison, C fricative, D
pitch, E schwa, F velum.

…..  A consonant in which the vocal tract is narrowed sufficiently to cause turbulent air flow.

….. The central vowel /ə/, found in great abundance in casual English.

….. The soft palate.

….. A consonant that may be prolonged indefinitely unlike a stop (plosive)  or fricative.

….. Linking, or, the strategy of using the final sound of one word to initiate the following.

….. The relative musical tone of an utterance.

3 Transcribe the modern (innovated) EE pronunciations of the terms obscure:

variety:                                                           Buddha images:

4 Which English linguist propagates the inclusion of innovations into official transcriptions of
RP? Who is his follower at this department?


5 State what the urban accents spoken in the following towns are called: Birmingham=

Liverpool=                      Newcastle upon Tyne=                            Glasgow=

6 Which accent in England has a Celtic substratum and gives a sing-song impression?

7 Which is the only accent of English where schwa can be stressed?

   What is the schwa here an allophone of?    /     /.

8 What would you say are the biggest differences between Scottish and Northern Irish Eng.?


9 What does the Cockney diphthong shift consist in? Complete the chain:

/i:/ > /e   / > /a   / > /       /

10 Characterize the accent of Eire (Irish Republic).

 B/10pts/Match the origins of speakers with the numbers of their recordings reading “Please call
Stella“.

1 ………………………………           speech accent archive: browse (gmu.edu)        Camberley, Surrey

2 ………………………………           speech accent archive: browse (gmu.edu)           Manchester, Lanc.

3 ………………………………           speech accent archive: browse (gmu.edu)           Glasgow, Sc

4 ……………………………….          speech accent archive: browse (gmu.edu)        Strabane, NI

5 ………………………………           speech accent archive: browse (gmu.edu)        Sydney, Aus

C/20pts/

1        2:46, played once, 5pts:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PWSJH02krs

A stand-up comedian recalls practising his father’s language.

a)      The comedian’s name (T.N.):

b)      Where he spent the first two decades of his life:

c)      The two official languages of that country:

d)      The political setup in that country while he was a child:

e)      The language of his father:


2        2:04, played once, 5 pts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkmUktJ94jg

You´ll hear a professional recording of a monologue in which a woman speaks about a trauma she has
suffered, in quite a pronounced accent.

a)      Localize her accent:

b)      The kind of trauma she has suffered:


3        2:30, played once, 5 pts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7mBbXxJYA

You‘ll hear the beginning of a TED talk about living in a cult. Decide what the young woman’s
pronounced accent is. How long has she lived in the cult for?


4        1:36, played once, 5pts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsUvcjk8J5c

A report on losses and strays on a sheep farm. Localize the accent and give evidence.