CT Script Morphology & Phonetics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In transliteration standards, a 'macron' placed over a vowel (e.g., ā, ō) typically indicates:
- A nasal vowel
- A long vowel (Correct answer)
- A stressed vowel
- A reduced vowel
Correct answer: A long vowel
A macron (¯) over a vowel is the standard diacritic for marking vowel length in transliteration systems for languages like Latin, Japanese (Hepburn), and Sanskrit.
Question 2: The Greek letter 'θ' (theta) is most accurately transliterated into English as:
- t
- th (Correct answer)
- d
- f
Correct answer: th
Greek theta represents a voiceless dental fricative [θ], conventionally rendered as 'th' in English transliteration, as seen in words like 'theory' from Greek 'θεωρία'.
Question 3: When transliterating Chinese using Pinyin, the letter 'x' represents a sound most similar to which English phonetic description?
- A voiced velar stop as in 'go'
- A voiceless palatal fricative, like a 'sh' but fronted (Correct answer)
- A lateral approximant as in 'let'
- A voiceless alveolar fricative as in 'sun'
Correct answer: A voiceless palatal fricative, like a 'sh' but fronted
Pinyin 'x' represents a voiceless alveolar-palatal fricative [ɕ], produced further forward in the mouth than English 'sh', with no direct English equivalent.
Question 4: In script morphology, 'final form' letters in Arabic and Hebrew occur because these scripts use:
- Tonal variation in the writing system
- Positional allography where letter shape changes at word's end (Correct answer)
- A separate alphabet for word endings
- Numeric values assigned to terminal letters
Correct answer: Positional allography where letter shape changes at word's end
Both Arabic and Hebrew use positional allography, where certain letters take a distinct final form when they appear at the end of a word.
Question 5: The ALA-LC romanization system is primarily used in which professional context?
- Medical transcription of foreign patient names
- Library cataloging and bibliographic records (Correct answer)
- Diplomatic passport and visa documentation
- Military intelligence transliteration
Correct answer: Library cataloging and bibliographic records
ALA-LC (American Library Association – Library of Congress) romanization tables are the standard for library cataloging and bibliographic control of materials in non-Latin scripts.
Question 6: A 'voiced fricative' differs from a 'voiceless fricative' in that:
- It is produced with the vocal folds vibrating (Correct answer)
- It requires greater airflow velocity
- It is articulated further back in the mouth
- It involves complete closure of the vocal tract
Correct answer: It is produced with the vocal folds vibrating
The distinction between voiced and voiceless fricatives (e.g., /v/ vs. /f/, /z/ vs. /s/) is the presence or absence of vocal fold vibration during production.
Question 7: When the same source-script character maps to different Latin characters depending on its position in a word, this is an example of:
- Phonemic transcription
- Contextual or positional allography in transliteration (Correct answer)
- Diachronic sound change
- Morphophonological assimilation
Correct answer: Contextual or positional allography in transliteration
Positional allography in transliteration occurs when a single source character is rendered differently based on its position (initial, medial, or final) in a word.
CT Script Morphology & Phonetics 3
In transliteration standards, a 'macron' placed over a vowel (e.g., ā, ō) typically indicates: