GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - English Practice Quiz

Question 1

In phonology, which statement best defines a phoneme?

Accepted Answer

An abstract contrastive sound unit that can distinguish meaning

Question 2

Which pair of English words is a minimal pair demonstrating that /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes?

Accepted Answer

pat – bat

Question 3

In a language, [h] occurs only syllable-initially and [ŋ] occurs only syllable-finally. There are no minimal pairs. Why is it problematic to conclude immediately that [h] and [ŋ] are allophones of one phoneme?

Accepted Answer

Because complementary distribution alone is insufficient when the sounds are not phonetically similar

Question 4

A fieldworker observes [k] and [kʰ] in a language. [kʰ] occurs word-initially before stressed vowels, but [k] occurs elsewhere. In a few emphatic pronunciations, speakers also use [kʰ] where [k] is expected, without changing meaning. What is the best analysis?

Accepted Answer

[k] and [kʰ] are allophones, primarily in complementary distribution with limited free variation

Question 5

In English, [l] in "leaf" and [ɫ] in "feel" are best analyzed as

Accepted Answer

allophones of /l/ conditioned by syllable position

GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - English

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