300+ TOP Phonology Interview Questions [UPDATED]

1. Tell Me What Is Glottal Stop?

A sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken English a glottal stop is often used instead of a ‘t’ sound in the middle or at the end of a word.

2. What Is Stressed Adjective?

linguistics a stressed word or syllable (=part of a word) is pronounced more loudly or with greater force than other words or syllables

3. What Is Phoneme Noun?

An individual speech sound that makes one word different from another. For example, the ‘b’ and ‘f’ in ‘bill’ and ‘fill’.

4. What Is Hiatus?

linguistics a pause between two vowel sounds that come one after the other, for example in the word naive

5. What Is Semi-vowel Noun?

A speech sound that is sometimes pronounced as a vowel but is considered to be a consonant, for example ‘y’

6. What Is Elision?

The practice of leaving a sound out when you say a word or group of words, for example when you say it quickly in ordinary conversation.

7. What Is Syllabic Consonant Noun?

A consonant sound which forms a syllable on its own, for example the second syllable of the word ‘garden’ when the schwa sound is not pronounced

8. What Is Liquid?

linguistics the sound ‘l’ or ‘r’

9. What Is Aspiration?

linguistics the sound produced when you pronounce something by breathing air out through your mouth

10. What Is Intonation?

The way in which your voice rises or falls when you speak

11. What Is Closed Syllable?

A syllable that has a consonant at its end

12. What Is Silent Adjective?

A silent letter is a letter in a word that has no sound when you say the word but that must be used when the word is spelled or written

13. What Is Diphthong?

A combination of two vowel sounds said one after the other, as in the words ‘find’ and ‘fail’

14. What Is Short Adjective?

linguistics a short vowel or syllable is one that you pronounce quickly

15. What Is Unvoiced Adjective?

linguistics an unvoiced sound is produced without using your vocal cords. In English, ‘/t/’, ‘/s/’, and ‘/f/’ are unvoiced sounds.

16. What Is Sibilant Noun?

one of the sibilant speech sounds, for example ‘s’ or ‘sh’ 

17. What Is Labial?

linguistics labial sounds are ones that you pronounce with your lips closed or close together or with your top teeth touching your bottom lip. ‘p’, ‘b’ , ‘f’, ‘v’, and ‘m’ are labial sounds

18. What Is Bilabial?

A bilabial sound is one that you produce using both lips, for example the sound of ‘m’ or ‘p’

19. What Is Uvular Noun?

A consonant sound made when the back of your tongue touches your uvula

20. What Is Syllable Noun?

A word or a part of a word that has only one vowel sound. For example ‘son’ has one syllable and ‘father’ has two syllables.

21. What Is Phonetic Adjective?

Using special symbols as a way of showing speech sounds in writing

22. Tell Me What Is Ipa?

International Phonetic Alphabet: a system of symbols used for representing speech sounds

23. What Is Devoice?

To pronounce a vowel or consonant without passing air over your vocal cords

24. What Is Mute Adjective?

linguistics a letter that is mute is not pronounced

25. What Is Schwa Noun?

A vowel sound used in unstressed syllables, for example the sound of ‘a’ in ‘above’. Its symbol is ə.

26. What Is Voiced Adjective?

voiced sounds are produced by passing air over your vocal cords

27. What Is Unstressed Adjective?

An unstressed word or syllable (=part of a word) is pronounced more quietly or with less force than other words or syllables

28. What Is Phonology Noun?

The pattern of speech sounds used in a particular language

29. What Is Grapheme?

A written letter, group of letters, number, or symbol that represents a single sound in speech

30. What Is Aspirate?

linguistics to breathe out air while pronouncing a sound, for example the ‘h’ in ‘hat’.

31. What Is Consonant?

linguistics a speech sound made by stopping all or some of the air going out of your mouth.

32. What Is Labiodental?

A sound pronounced with the top teeth touching the bottom lip, for example ‘f’ and ‘v’.

33. What Is Secondary Stress Noun?

British the second strongest emphasis on a part of a word or sentence.

34. What Is Vocalic Adjective?

Relating to vowels, or consisting of a vowel.

35. What Is Phonetics Noun?

The study of the sounds used in speech.

36. What Is Nasal Noun?

A speech sound such as ‘m’ or ‘n’ that is produced mainly through your nose.

37. What Is Glottal?

A glottal sound is one that you make in speaking when you partly or completely stop air as it passes through the throat.

38. What Is Alveolar?

A consonant sound such as ‘l’, ‘d’, ‘n’, or ‘t’, made with the tongue touching the skin behind your top front teeth.

39. What Is Fricative?

A speech sound that is made by pushing air out through a small space between your teeth and your tongue or lips, or between your tongue and palate (=the inside upper part of your mouth). ‘F’, ‘z’, and ‘th’ are fricatives.

40. What Is Open Vowel Noun?

A vowel that you pronounce with your tongue on the bottom of your mouth.

41. What Is Retroflex Adjective?

pronounced with the end of your tongue bent backwards.

42. What Is Stress Mark Noun?

A mark that shows which part of a word is pronounced with most emphasis.

43. What Is Vowel Noun?

linguistics a sound that you make when you speak without closing your mouth or throat.

44. What Is Affricate?

A sound used in speech that is like the ‘ch’ sound in ‘church’ or the ‘j’ sound in ‘judge’.

45. What Is Assonance?

The repeating of sounds in words that are close together, especially in poetry, for example ‘I tried to light the fire’.

46. What Is Front?

linguistics a front vowel is made in the front part of your mouth.

47. What Is Long Adjective?

linguistics a long vowel is a vowel that is pronounced for a longer time than most other vowels.

48. What Is Phonic Adjective?

linguistics relating to the sounds used in speech, or to the study of these sounds.

49. What Is Stress Verb?

linguistics to pronounce a particular word or syllable (=part of a word) more loudly or with greater force than other words or syllables.

50. What Is Weak Adjective?

linguistics a weak word, or a weak part of a word, is not emphasized when you say the word.

51. What Is Voiceless Adjective?

voiceless sounds are produced without passing air over your vocal cords.

52. What Is Tone Noun?

linguistics the degree to which the sound of a word or part of a word is high or low.

53. What Is Sibilant Adjective?

formal making a sound like the letters ‘s’ or ‘sh’.

54. What Is Plosive Noun?

A sound that you make by quickly stopping your breath leaving your mouth and then suddenly letting it go again. The sounds ‘k’, ‘p’, and ‘t’ are plosives.

55. What Is Primary Stress Noun?

The strongest emphasis in a word of two or more syllables when it is spoken. For example, when you say the word ‘fantastic’ the primary stress is on the middle syllable ‘tas’. Primary stress is marked in this dictionary.

56. What Is Phonemics Noun?

The study of the phonemes of a language

57. What Is Labiovelar?

A sound pronounced with the lips and upper back part of your mouth, for example ‘w’.

58. What Is Glottal Stop?

A sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken English a glottal stop is often used instead of a ‘t’ sound in the middle or at the end of a word.

59. What Is Close Vowel?

A vowel sound made with your tongue near the top of your mouth

60. What Is Phonology?

Phonology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages.