General Linguistics

Submitted by: Maryam Shabeer Ayesha Imdad Khalid Saleem Submitted to: Ms. Sunila Aslam Class: M.A. 2nd semester Session: 2013 2015

Discuss the manner of Articulation of consonants and also show the Consonant Chart.
There is considerable variation in the names applied to manners of articulation in the literature. In some cases different names are applied to the same manner of articulation, whilst in other cases labels divided up consonants in different ways. In the present course we will mostly use the following labels for articulation:1. Stops 2. Fricatives 3. Affricates 4. Nasals 5. Approximants 6. The glottal stop

Stops/Plosives:

The word plosive comes from the word plosion. Plosion is the escape of air that produces noise loud enough to be heard. This noise is called plosion. To give a complete description of plosive, we have to see what happens at each of the following four phases in its production. 1. Closing phase: At this stage the air from the lungs is held in the mouth.

2. Compression phase At this stage lips are joined together so that the sound can be held in the mouth. 3. Release phase At this stage, the sound is articulated by the release of air held in the mouth. 4. Post release phase At this stage a burst of air pressure takes place from the mouth.

There are six plosives in English language. 1. p - voiceless 2. b - voiced 3. t - voiceless 4. d - voiced 5. k - voiceless 6. g - voiced

Distributions of plosives: 1. All plosives can come initially at the beginning of the word, medially and also finally. 2. When s sound comes from any of these |p|, |t| and |k|, it makes these sounds un-aspirated. For example: |p| - speak

|t| - strike |k| - sky 3. |b|, |d| and |g| sounds cannot be preceded by any consonant sound. 4. When a word finishes with |p|, |t| and |k| sounds they make these sounds shorter.

Fricatives:

They are consonants that are produced when air escapes through a small passage and makes a hissing sound. There are nine fricatives in English. 1. S voiceless 2. Z - voiced 3. - voiceless 4. - voiced 5. - voiceless 6. voiced 7. f - voiceless 8. v - voiced 9. h - voiceless

Distribution of fricatives: 1. Except these three sounds (, , h) all sounds come initially, medially and finally.

2. There fricatives (f, v, , , s, z) are possible in initially, medial and final positions. 3. |h| is not possible at final position. It is phonetically a vowel sound but phonologically its a consonant sound. 4. (z, , , v, s, , f , ,h) cannot be preceded by consonant sounds.

Affricates:

It is a combination of two processes plosion and friction. In this process the sound begins like a plosive and ends like a fricative. While producing an affricate sound, there is a very smooth burst of air pressure from the mouth. There are two types of affricates in English. 1. |d | - it is a voice sound 2. |T |- it is a voiceless sound.

- In |d | sound production, |D| is a plosive while | | is a fricative. - In |T | sound production, |T| is a plosive while | | is a fricative.

There two are known as affricates and also post-alveolar sounds They may come initially, medially and finally.

Nasals:

While producing a nasal sound, mouth is completely or partially closed and the air pressure is released by the nose, these sounds are known as nasal sounds. The basic characteristic of a nasal consonant is that the air escapes through the nose. For this to happen, the soft palate must be lowered. In cases of other consonants, the soft palate is raised and air cannot pass through the nose.

The consonants m and n, are simple and straight forward with distributions. There is in fact little to be describe. However, is a different matter. There are three nasal sounds in English. Sound 1. m 2. n 3. place Bilabial alveolar velar voicing status voiced voiced voiced

- Distribution of nasals: 1. |m| and |n| sounds come initially but | | cannot 2. |m|, |n| and |n| can come medially and finally. 3. For || sound we have complex root. || sound becomes syllabic consonant when it comes with a cluster of consonant sounds.

Approximants:

They are sounds where the tongue only approaches the roof of the mouth so that there is not enough obstruction to create any friction is called approximants. They are also known as semivowels. There are three approximants in English. r - voiced j - voiced w - voiced

- The important thing about the articulation of r is that the tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar area in approximately but never makes contact with any part of the mouth - The tongue is usually slightly curled backwards with the tip raised. Consonants with this tongue shape are called retroflex. - Accents which have |r| in final position and before a consonant are called Rhotic Accent (American Accent). - The consonant |j| and |w| found at the beginning of the words such as yet |jet| and wet |wet|. There are known as semi vowels also. - The most important thing to remember about consonants is that they are phonetically like vowels but phonologically like consonants. - If a word beginning with |w| and |j| is preceded by definite article and when |j| and |w| consonants preceded by |p|, |t| and |k| at the beginning of a syllable, then |j| and |w| sounds become voiceless.

Glottal Stop: Glottal stop is a term for any articulation involving a simultaneous constriction. In English, glottal stops are often used in this way to reinforce a voiceless plosive at the end of a word. In some languages, this is a separate consonant sound, but in English we often use it with d, t, k, g, b or p when one of those sounds happens at the end of a word or syllable. We close the vocal cords very sharply and make the air stop for just a moment. We don't let the air escape. This glottal stop is the last sound of these words: Words: light, flight, put, take, make, trip, report Multi syllable words: stoplight, apartment, backseat, assortment, workload, upbeat Phrases: right now, talk back, hate mail, fax machine, back-breaking

Consonant Chart

References: https://www.msu.edu/course/asc/232/Charts/ConsonantChartFill edIn.html English Phonetics and phonology (Third Edition) by Peter Roach