ELSA Pronunciation & Phonetics Flashcards
6 cards from real ELSA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 ELSA Pronunciation & Phonetics flashcards as text
Which word pair demonstrates the voiced/voiceless consonant contrast?
Answer: pat / bat
'Pat' begins with the voiceless /p/ and 'bat' with the voiced /b/, illustrating a voiced/voiceless consonant contrast.
In the word 'button,' the second syllable contains which special sound?
Answer: A syllabic /n/
In casual American English, 'button' is often pronounced with a syllabic /n/ in the final syllable, with no distinct vowel.
Which word contains the /θ/ sound (as in 'think')?
Answer: three
The word 'three' begins with the voiceless dental fricative /θ/, the same sound at the start of 'think.'
What is the term for the slight puff of air produced after the /p/ sound at the start of 'pot' in English?
Answer: Aspiration
Aspiration is the puff of air that follows voiceless stops like /p/, /t/, and /k/ at the beginning of stressed syllables in English.
Which is an example of vowel reduction to a schwa /ə/ in connected speech?
Answer: The word 'and' pronounced as /ənd/ in fast speech
Unstressed function words like 'and' commonly reduce to a schwa /ə/ in natural connected speech.
Which word has the same vowel sound as the underlined letters in 'b_ir_d'?
Answer: heard
Both 'bird' and 'heard' contain the stressed mid-central r-colored vowel /ɜːr/ in American English.