Transcription Exercise - Basesproduced.com

Transcription Exercise: Vowels
Linguistics 341
for in-class discussion on Friday, March 21st, 2014
I. Turkish
Turkish is an Altaic language which is spoken by about 50 million people, primarily in
Turkey, where it is the official language.
Things to watch out for in Turkish: front rounded vowels, [y] and [ø], and back
unrounded vowel [ɯ].
Examples
(Note that the final [ɹ] and [l] are devoiced in these examples.)
1. [k h iɹ] ʻdirtʼ
2. [k h yɹ] ʻhealth cureʼ
3. [k h ɯɹ] ʻcountryʼ
4. [k h ɔɹ] ʻred hot cinderʼ
5. [k h uɹ] ʻFrench courseʼ
6. [k h il] ʻFullerʼs earthʼ
7. [k h ɯl] ʻhairʼ
8. [k h ɔl] ʻarmʼ
9. [k h ɛl] ʻringwormʼ
10. [ø:lɛ] ʻnoonʼ

Exercises
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. ʻeastʼ
7. ʻknotʼ
8. ʻendeavorʼ
9. ʻfamilyʼ
10. ʻthingʼ
11. ʻvillageʼ

II. British English
Things to watch out for in this variety of British English: the low, back, rounded vowel
[ɒ], and long reversed epsilon [ɜ:].
Examples
1. [bḁd̥h ] ʻbadʼ
2. [k h ɜ:ɫ] ʻcurlʼ
3. [mɒk h ] ʻmockʼ
4. [flɔ:] ʻflawʼ
5. [t h aɪ] ʻtieʼ
6. [b̥ɔ:d̥h ] ʻboardʼ
7. [dɑ:k h ] ʻdarkʼ
8. [hʌt h ] ʻhutʼ
9. [g̥ɜ:ɫ] ʻgirlʼ

Exercises
1. ʻbaredʼ
2. ʻcullʼ
3. ʻmarkʼ
4. ʻfloorʼ
5. ʻtireʼ
6. ʻbodeʼ
7. ʻdotʼ
8. ʻhurtʼ
9. ʻgullʼ

III. Accents of English: New Zealand English
The following passage comes from a speaker of New Zealand English. Listen to
the utterance, and then identify the segments which she produces differently than
the way you would normally produce them in your variety of English. Then
provide a list of transcriptions (for just those segments) which are appropriate for
both your pronunciation and the speakerʼs pronunciation.
Sample utterance:
“There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one
ever finds it.”