Allophonic transcription worksheet
1) Transcribe the following words allophonically. Try to identify as many allophonic
features as possible in each one.
a) Feel
b) Spain
c) Make me live.
d) Organ
e) My bag
f) Play
g) Heaven
h) Written
i) Potato
j) Your eyes
k) In part
l) Some food
2) Read the following conversation taken from Sounds English (p 96; task 4a) and
underline all the words that contain the consonant phonemes /p, t, k / in prominent
syllables.
a) I’m a reˈporter from the ˈHendon ˈStandard. Were you ˈpresent when the
ˈaccident ˈhappened?
b) ˈYes, I was ˈstanding at the ˈend of ˈElm ˈAvenue, by the ˈpark.
a) What ˈhappened?
b) There was a ˈred ˈvan travelling ˈwest, and ˈseveral ˈcars and ˈvans beˈhind it.
a) Was the ˈred ˈvan going ˈfast?
b) ˈNo. The ˈdriver kept ˈglancing at a ˈmap on his ˈlap. ˈThen, the ˈblack ˈtaxi started
to ˈpass the red van.
a) Was ˈthat the ˈcause of the accident?
b) It ˈwasn’t the ˈtaxi that caused the accident. It was the ˈred ˈvan. The ˈvan driver
suddenly ˈturned and ˈcrashed ˈinto the taxi.
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a) What ˈhappened then?
b) the ˈtaxi ˈsmashed into a ˈlamppost. The ˈtaxi driver ˈwasn’t badly ˈhurt, but he
was ˈvery ˈangry.
3) From the previous text, pick out examples of ASPIRATION and DEVOICING (group
C). In your search pay special attention to the highlighting of words in the text.
4) Read the following narrative text silently.
It was ˈMildred’s ˈbirthday and she was ˈvery ˈsad. She had been ˈwaiting ˈall
ˈmorning for the ˈpostman to arrive. ˈSuddenly, the ˈletterbox ˈrattled ˈgently and an
ˈenvelope fell ˈsoftly onto the ˈdoormat. She ˈpicked it ˈup and ˈnoticed ˈmiserably
that it was a ˈbill. There were ˈno ˈcards, no ˈpresents and no ˈflowers. She ˈnearly
ˈburst into ˈtears. Just ˈthen, there was a ˈloud ˈknock on the ˈdoor. ˈOpening it, she
saw ˈmany ˈfriends holding ˈgifts and ˈshouting “ˈhappy ˈbirthday!”. ˈMildred
imˈmediately ˈcheered ˈup and ˈgreeted her friends ˈwarmly.
5) Read the following words or combination of words out loud and feel how you
release the air you use to produce them. Then transcribe these examples
allophonically. Which type of release do they have in common?
……………………………. …………………………….. ……………………………..
had been suddenly rattled
picked loud softly
knock immediately
gently
6) Read the following words from the box and write them under the corresponding
syllabicity transcription.
Important – revision – beautiful – assistant – certain – captain – resistant – rifle – mutant –
Britain – occasion.
[-tn̩] [-tn̩t] [-ʒn̩] [-fl̩]
_______________ _______________ _______________ _______________
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Now, do the same with this set of words:
animal oral verbal
approval appearance sensation
legal caution govern
classical local tropical
nasal attribution arrival
7) from the text below, take out all the words containing dark / l / and transcribe them
allophonically.
Last week, my friend Linda was involved in big scandal in a supermarket. People
were pacing their trolleys along the aisles. She was looking for a jar of marmalade
when a lady dressed in blue offered her a free sample of a new jelly. The lady told my
friend to pick one of the little jars she was holding and when she did it, this lady
started screaming and accused Linda of pickpocketing. She couldn’t believe it.
When my friend went to the police, she told the truth and said that she had been
cheated. The conwoman was finally imprisoned and my friend, released.
8) Consider the following words. The / l / in them can be either clear or dark. Write
sentences of your own showing both cases, as in the example. Then, read the
sentences to a classmate.
lull sole bowl doodle ball
- The rocking movement lulled the baby to sleep. [ ɫ ]
- There has been a lull in the war. [ l ]
- She has announced an apparent lull. [ ɫ ]
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9) In the following examples, find cases of dentalization, labiodentalization and
postalveolar articulation.
a) On the route to the country house, I stopped and recollected what she had said.
b) Read all throughout the page and voice your comments about the ideas on it.
c) She was enthusiastic about writing in the agony column.
d) Uniforms are not necessary here. In fact, you can wear comfortable garments.
10) Transcribe the following texts phonemically. Then find as many examples as you
can of the allophonic variations listed below. Finally, transcribe them allophonically.
Tessa
ˈTessa is a ˈ22-year-old uniˈversity ˈstudent. She ˈstudies ˈarchitecture and has a
ˈpart time ˈjob in a ˈshoe shop in ˈLondon. She ˈloves ˈarchitecture but she ˈdoesn’t
like her ˈjob. She finds it ˈboring and ˈtiring. But the ˈneeds the ˈmoney. ˈTessa ˈlives
with her ˈfamily in a ˈcountry ˈvillage about ˈnineteen ˈmiles aˈway from ˈLondon.
She ˈleaves home ˈearly in the ˈmorning because it ˈtakes her ˈover an ˈhour to ˈget
to the ˈshoe shop. She ˈwants to ˈrent a ˈflat ˈnear the uniˈversity. ˈTwo ˈdays ago,
ˈTessa aˈpplied for a ˈjob in a ˈbook shop ˈnot ˈfar from the university. They ˈasked
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her a ˈlot of ˈquestions and ˈseemed to be ˈplease with her. The ˈpay is ˈbetter and
the ˈjob ˈseems more ˈinteresting. She ˈhopes to ˈget the job.
a) Fully-long vowel:
b) Dark l:
c) Devoicing group B:
d) Devoicing group C:
e) Dentalization:
f) Non-audible release:
g) Syllabicity:
h) Aspiration:
i) Half-long vowel:
j) Unaspiration:
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k) Glottal variation:
l) Flapped / t /:
m) Alveolar tap:
What a Sunday!
ˈLast ˈSunday, my ˈelder ˈbrother woke ˈup with the ˈfeeling that ˈthat ˈday was
ˈgoing to be ˈspecial. As he ˈdidn’t have to ˈgo to ˈwork and the ˈweather was OˈK,
he deˈcided to ˈdo the ˈgardening. He ˈcut the ˈgrass and then ˈwent down on his
ˈknees and reˈmoved the diˈseased ˈleaves from the ˈplants. ˈNext, he ˈcooked
ˈlunch, ˈcleaned the ˈkitchen and ˈdid the ˈlaundry. He felt ˈso ˈcomfortable and
ˈhappy ˈthinking that in the ˈevening we would ˈwatch his ˈfavorite ˈprogram on TˈV.
At ˈnine o’clock he ˈturned the ˈtelevision on and ˈnoticed that the ˈpicture was
ˈjumping and there was a ˈstrange ˈnoise instead of ˈsound. ˈAll of a ˈsudden, his
ˈSunday was ˈspoilt.
a) Fully-long vowel:
b) Post-alveolar articulation:
c) Dark / l /:
d) Devoicing group B:
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e) Devoicing group C:
f) Dentalization:
g) Nasal release:
h) Lateral release:
i) Non-audible release:
j) Syllabicity:
k) Aspiration:
l) Half-long vowel:
m) Unaspiration:
n) Labiodentlization:
o) Glottal variation:
p) Flapped / t /:
q) Alveolar tap:
