AmE Pronunciation Varieties CREDIT TEST   December 17, 2021    Name:

A/2pts each                           1a J.C. Wells’s major work of 1982 in 3 volumes:

1b Paul Meier’s work of 2010 published by Kansas University:

1c W. Labov’s pioneering sociolingistic work using phonetic tools of 1966:

2 Match phonetic  terms with their definitions and provide an example for each:

               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 rather than having the finite duration of a
stop.

….. 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 American pronunciations of the terms

 laboratory:
missile:


chaos:                                                                  duty:

4 List the 5 characteristics of GenAm as opposed to RP.

5 Robert White found a suitable solution to the problems of the past

    [  ][  ][    ]                [  ][  ]                               [  ]                    [
]

    Transcribe the pronunciations of the underlined letters in Standard AmE.

6 If someone says “The bahses in Wiscansin rahn late“, they show the NCVS. What does the
abbreviation stand for and which U.S. region does this tendency affect?


7 What are well-educated upper-class Boston speakers called?

8 Transcribe the Canadian pronunciation of  out and about. The phenomenon’s name?

9 Who is AAVE spoken by?                            Where is the Patwa spoken?

10 What expression is used in the U.S. for a guided loss of a foreign/substandard accent?

B/ 2pts each Match the origins of speakers reading “Please call Stella“ prompted on the right with
the numbers of their recordings.

1 ………………….
     Westmoreland, Jamaica


2 ………………….
           Fresno, California


3 ……………….…
           Pine Bluff, Arkansas

4 ……………….…
                  Fairfax, Virginia


5 …………………..
                    Brooklyn, NYC

C/ 20pts

1 Listen to one of the past 10 U.S. Presidents speaking for 3 minutes (played just once). His

name: …………   …………………. . Is his accent rhotic or non-rhotic (circle)? Circle the state he comes
from: Texas   Georgia   Arkansas. Characterize his accent:


2 You´ll hear a Delta airlines commercial. Explain the discrepancy between the voice and the
content. Which two AmE accents are being featured here? (1 minute, played just once.)


3  You´ll hear a well-known American actress speaking at a 2012 Democratic Convention (4:10).   Her
name:

a)      Family background:

b)      What is she encouraging young democrats to do?

c)      Transcribe her pronunciation of button  and   lever:

d)      How does she pronounce commit and democrat?

ATTNDNCE

        CONTRIB.

                CREDIT TEST

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