Phonetics: Stop/Plosive Releases 1.1
This exercise will help you better understand the nature of the release stage in the production of plosives (oral stops) in Standard American English.
Remember that differing phonological environments will affect this stage of articulation. Generally speaking, plosives are released when followed by a vowel or, in some cases, a sonorant.
Plosives are partially/unreleased when:
- they are in word-final position or adjacent to another stop across syllable or word boundaries
- they are the first of adjacent stops sharing the same place of articulation and thus do not undergo the release stage and are unreleased
- they are the first of adjacent stops that do not share the same place of articulation and thus undergo partial release
In the following exercise, state whether the stop in each word is fully, partially, or unreleased. If the word includes more than one stop, you will be examining the environment of the one that is between slashes ( / / ).
Remember that differing phonological environments will affect this stage of articulation. Generally speaking, plosives are released when followed by a vowel or, in some cases, a sonorant.
Plosives are partially/unreleased when:
- they are in word-final position or adjacent to another stop across syllable or word boundaries
- they are the first of adjacent stops sharing the same place of articulation and thus do not undergo the release stage and are unreleased
- they are the first of adjacent stops that do not share the same place of articulation and thus undergo partial release
In the following exercise, state whether the stop in each word is fully, partially, or unreleased. If the word includes more than one stop, you will be examining the environment of the one that is between slashes ( / / ).
You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
Your answers are highlighted below.
