DLAB Phonetic Pattern Recognition 2

Question 1

In a language, /s/ becomes /z/ when it appears between two vowels: 'asa' is pronounced [aza]. What phonological process is this?

Accepted Answer

Voicing (intervocalic voicing)

Answer

The voiceless /s/ becomes voiced /z/ between vowels (intervocalic position). The surrounding voiced vowels cause the consonant to assimilate their voicing feature. This intervocalic voicing is common in Spanish, where 's' between vowels often voices.

Question 2

A language has these words: 'pat,' 'pit,' 'pot,' 'put.' The vowels /a, i, o, u/ can all appear in the same position. How many vowel phonemes are minimally demonstrated?

Accepted Answer

4

Answer

Four different vowels (/a, i, o, u/) in the same consonant frame (p_t) create four different words. Since each vowel change produces a meaning change, each must be a separate phoneme. This gives us a minimum of four vowel phonemes.

Question 3

In a language, the plural suffix is '-lar' after back vowels (a, o, u) and '-ler' after front vowels (e, i, ö, ü). What phonological process determines the suffix form?

Accepted Answer

Vowel harmony

Answer

The suffix vowel matches the frontness/backness of the stem vowel: back vowels trigger '-lar' (back) and front vowels trigger '-ler' (front). This is vowel harmony — a long-distance assimilation where vowels in suffixes agree with stem vowels. Turkish is the textbook example.

Question 4

The sounds [p] and [pʰ] (aspirated p) both appear in a language. [p] appears after /s/ and [pʰ] appears at the start of words. They never swap positions. What is their relationship?

Accepted Answer

They are allophones of one phoneme

Answer

[p] and [pʰ] are in complementary distribution — each appears in a specific environment where the other does not. This means they are allophones (predictable variants) of a single phoneme /p/. English works exactly this way: 'spin' [sp] vs. 'pin' [pʰ].

Question 5

A word is pronounced differently in fast speech: 'handbag' becomes 'hambag.' The /n/ changed to /m/ before /b/. What process occurred?

Accepted Answer

Place assimilation (the nasal matches the following consonant)

Answer

The alveolar nasal /n/ assimilated to the bilabial place of /b/, becoming bilabial /m/. This is place assimilation — a sound changes its place of articulation to match an adjacent sound. This is one of the most common phonological processes in natural speech.

DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Practice Test

DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Practice Test

DLAB Phonetic Pattern Recognition 2