TÜRKÇE SES VE BİÇİM BİLGİSİ - Deneme Sınavı - 5

In Turkish grammar books, final devoicing rule is stipulated as voiceless stops and affricate becoming voiced when a suffix beginning with a vowel is attached. When such a rule is applied to, for example, kitap → kitab-ı, /p/ becomes /b/ because the accusative suffix –i is attached. However, this rule does not account for words in which voiceless stops do not become voiced when vowel initial suffix is attached. The word 'sanat' is an example for these. 'D' is the correct option.

In phonology, a distinction between underlying representation (UR) and surface realization (SR) is made to explain the use of final devoicing rule. Underlying representation means that a word may have a different form than its actual realization (i.e., how the word is said). Surface realization, on the other hand, refers to how it is actually said. Final devoicing rule applies to 'C' only because there is a difference between UR and SR in that word, so 'C' is the correct option.

Place of articulation assimilation means that the place of articulation of one sound becomes like the neighboring sound, in other words, /n/ is pronounced like /m/, as in 'A', 'C', 'D' and 'E'. In the word ‘sandık’, /n/ is followed by an alveolar stop. As both /n/ and /d/ are alveolar sounds, there is no change in the realization of /n/, it remains as an alveolar nasal. 'B' is the correct option.

When /n/ is followed by a velar stop /k/ or /g/, /n/ is realized as /ŋ/. The word 'mantı' is the only example where /k/ is followed by /t/, not /k/ or /g/, so there is no change in the sound /n/. 'E' is the correct option.

If the words in Turkish end with a voiced sound, the initial consonant of the suffix therefore is also voiced. If the words end with a voiceless consonant, the initial consonant of the suffix becomes voiceless, too. This is called voicing assimilation. If the word "çiçek", for example, takes a suffix like "-ci", it turns into "-çi" when we pronounce it. The words in the other options all end with a voiced sound, so the suffixes they take do not change their forms. "C" is the correct option.

Suffixes with initial consonants other than stops and affricates do not assimilate in voicing. Consider the plural suffix –ler as an example. In the words af-lar and av-lar, the voicing of the root-final consonant remains the same. This example suggests that voicing assimilation, unlike place of articulation assimilation, is progressive (from left to right; going forward). It is the root-final sound that determines the voicing of the alternating suffix-initial consonant. "A" is the correct option.

Schwa(ə) is called a neutral vowel because it is produced with the tongue at rest position. "D" is the correct option.

Turkish has only one low vowel – ‘a’ as in ‘ağla’. The IPA symbol for ‘a’ is /a/. "A" is the correct option.

/o/ is a mid back rounded vowel, so "E" is the correct option.

The word "key" has the sound /i/, whereas the others have /I/ sound. "C" is the correct option.

Only the word "add" has an /æ/ sound. "Head" and "best" have /ɛ/ sound. "Say" and "rain" have /e/ sound. "B" is the correct option.

Only the word "bus" has an /ʌ/ sound. The others have an /a/ sound. "D" is the correct option.

The word "dog" contains an /ɔ/ sound, whereas the others contain an /o/ sound. "D" is the correct option.

Only the word "royal" has the diphthong /oi/. The others have /au/ and /ai/ sounds. "A" is the correct option.

The sound /i/ is tense, high, front and unrounded. "E" is the correct option.

Phonology is the study of how speech is organized. Thus, the correct answer is D.

The domain shared by both phonetics and phonology is speech. Thus, the correct answer is C.

Only the word “bats” is pronounced with a final /s/. All the others have /z/ as their final sound. Thus, the answer is B.

Variation of sounds in suffixes such as  -ler and -lar is not arbitrary, It is rule governed. Thus, the correct answer is B.

Only the morpheme -er always have the same form on every word that it is attached to. Thus, the correct answer is A.