ALTA CERTIFIICATION REVIEW EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS | LATEST UPDATED 2026/2027 |
GRADED A+.
Vowel - ANSWER A type of open speech sound produced by the free movement
of air via a moderately open vocal tract. A, E, I, O, U.
ANSWER A consonant is a type of spoken sound in which sound flowing
through the vocal tract is constricted or impeded by the lips, tongue, or teeth
while articulating.
Accent - ANSWER Stress or emphasis on a single syllable in a word, or one or
more words in a phrase or sentence. The accented portion is spoken louder,
longer, and/or in a higher pitch. When the speaker says an emphasized syllable,
his or her lips expands wider.
Base Word - ANSWER A word to which affixes are applied. A root word can
stand alone.
Derivative - ANSWER A word formed from a base word by adding one or more
affixes
Affix - ANSWER A letter or group of letters added to the beginning or end of a
basic word or root to produce a derivative with a distinct meaning or
grammatical form.
A syllable is a spoken or written unit that must have a vowel sound and may
include consonants that come before or after the vowel. Syllables are sounds
produced by a single vocal impulse.
ANSWER: An open syllable is one that ends with a long vowel sound. (work,
freedom)
, Closed Syllable - ANSWER A syllable that contains one or more
consonants. The vowel is typically short.
Prefix - ANSWER An affix added to the beginning of a word to change its
meaning.
A suffix is a morpheme that is added to the end of a word to give it a distinct
form or use. Suffixes comprise inflected forms that denote tense, number,
person, and comparatives.
Cedilla - ANSWER A curving line used beneath the letter c to indicate that it is
pronounced "soft" or (s) rather than "hard" or (k). Students utilize the coding on
c before the letters e, i, or y (softeners) to remind themselves to pronounce the
(s) sound, e.g. mice.
Digraph - ANSWER Two adjacent letters repress a single consonant sound.
Consonant Digraph - ANSWER: Two adjacent letters that suppress a single
consonant sound
Vowel Digraph - Respond to neighboring letters indicating a single vowel
sound.
Macron - ANSWER A flat diacritical symbol above a vowel in a send image or
phonic/dictionary notation that signifies a prolonged sound.
Breve - ANSWER A curving diacritical mark above a vowel in a sound image or
phonic/dictionary symbol notation that signifies a short sound in a closed
syllable with at least one consonant following the vowel.
Tilde - ANSWER A diacritical mark. A wavy line is drawn over any vowel
preceding r in a combination to represent the unaccented pronunciation of a
letter. Tildes are used to code words as well as to create sound pictures. The
, symbol (er) is used to represent the pronunciation of any unaccented vowel-r
combination in the dictionary sound image.
Trigraph - ANSWER Three adjacent letters representing one spoken sound
(tch).
Quadrigraph - ANSWER: Four adjacent letters represent one sound (eigh).
Grapheme – An important unit of visual shape. We use the term "visual shape"
to refer to any shape observed by the eye that is a visible representation of a unit
of speech, including writing. A single graphic letter or letter cluster that depicts
a spoken sound.
Phoneme - ANSWER A single functional or signaling unit in our word patterns.
Individual sound components of spoken syllables.
Morpheme - ANSWER A foundation word or meaningful unit used in structural
linguistics.
Orthography – The writing system of a language. Correct or standardized
spelling in accordance with accepted use.
Combination - ANSWER A group of letters (found in a single syllable) that
appear frequently together. The pronunciation of at least one of the component
parts is surprising, or the letters stand in an unexpected order (ar, er, ir, or, us,
qu, wh).
Diphthong - ANSWER Two vowels adjacent in the same syllable, their sounds
blending seamlessly together. English contains only four diphthongs. These
include ou/out, ow/cow, oi/oil, oy, boy.
ANSWER: An ability exam is designed to assess your general intellect or
mental aptitude in a specific field. For example:
AND ANSWERS | LATEST UPDATED 2026/2027 |
GRADED A+.
Vowel - ANSWER A type of open speech sound produced by the free movement
of air via a moderately open vocal tract. A, E, I, O, U.
ANSWER A consonant is a type of spoken sound in which sound flowing
through the vocal tract is constricted or impeded by the lips, tongue, or teeth
while articulating.
Accent - ANSWER Stress or emphasis on a single syllable in a word, or one or
more words in a phrase or sentence. The accented portion is spoken louder,
longer, and/or in a higher pitch. When the speaker says an emphasized syllable,
his or her lips expands wider.
Base Word - ANSWER A word to which affixes are applied. A root word can
stand alone.
Derivative - ANSWER A word formed from a base word by adding one or more
affixes
Affix - ANSWER A letter or group of letters added to the beginning or end of a
basic word or root to produce a derivative with a distinct meaning or
grammatical form.
A syllable is a spoken or written unit that must have a vowel sound and may
include consonants that come before or after the vowel. Syllables are sounds
produced by a single vocal impulse.
ANSWER: An open syllable is one that ends with a long vowel sound. (work,
freedom)
, Closed Syllable - ANSWER A syllable that contains one or more
consonants. The vowel is typically short.
Prefix - ANSWER An affix added to the beginning of a word to change its
meaning.
A suffix is a morpheme that is added to the end of a word to give it a distinct
form or use. Suffixes comprise inflected forms that denote tense, number,
person, and comparatives.
Cedilla - ANSWER A curving line used beneath the letter c to indicate that it is
pronounced "soft" or (s) rather than "hard" or (k). Students utilize the coding on
c before the letters e, i, or y (softeners) to remind themselves to pronounce the
(s) sound, e.g. mice.
Digraph - ANSWER Two adjacent letters repress a single consonant sound.
Consonant Digraph - ANSWER: Two adjacent letters that suppress a single
consonant sound
Vowel Digraph - Respond to neighboring letters indicating a single vowel
sound.
Macron - ANSWER A flat diacritical symbol above a vowel in a send image or
phonic/dictionary notation that signifies a prolonged sound.
Breve - ANSWER A curving diacritical mark above a vowel in a sound image or
phonic/dictionary symbol notation that signifies a short sound in a closed
syllable with at least one consonant following the vowel.
Tilde - ANSWER A diacritical mark. A wavy line is drawn over any vowel
preceding r in a combination to represent the unaccented pronunciation of a
letter. Tildes are used to code words as well as to create sound pictures. The
, symbol (er) is used to represent the pronunciation of any unaccented vowel-r
combination in the dictionary sound image.
Trigraph - ANSWER Three adjacent letters representing one spoken sound
(tch).
Quadrigraph - ANSWER: Four adjacent letters represent one sound (eigh).
Grapheme – An important unit of visual shape. We use the term "visual shape"
to refer to any shape observed by the eye that is a visible representation of a unit
of speech, including writing. A single graphic letter or letter cluster that depicts
a spoken sound.
Phoneme - ANSWER A single functional or signaling unit in our word patterns.
Individual sound components of spoken syllables.
Morpheme - ANSWER A foundation word or meaningful unit used in structural
linguistics.
Orthography – The writing system of a language. Correct or standardized
spelling in accordance with accepted use.
Combination - ANSWER A group of letters (found in a single syllable) that
appear frequently together. The pronunciation of at least one of the component
parts is surprising, or the letters stand in an unexpected order (ar, er, ir, or, us,
qu, wh).
Diphthong - ANSWER Two vowels adjacent in the same syllable, their sounds
blending seamlessly together. English contains only four diphthongs. These
include ou/out, ow/cow, oi/oil, oy, boy.
ANSWER: An ability exam is designed to assess your general intellect or
mental aptitude in a specific field. For example:
