Overview
1. English consonants: The British English inventory
2937. English Phonetics and Phonology.
2012-2013
Weeks 1/2.
Unit 1. Lecture 1.
Consonants
1.1. Plosives
• 6 plosive phonemes
— /p/ voiceless bilabial plosive
(e.g. pet /pet/, apply /əˈplaɪ/, cop /kɒp/)
— /b/ voiced bilabial plosive
(e.g. boot /buːt/, abbot /ˈæbət/, lab /læb/)
— /t/ voiceless alveolar plosive
(e.g. tooth /tu:θ/, letter /ˈletə/, seat /siːt/)
— /d/ voiced alveolar plosive
(e.g. down /daʊn/, addition /ə'dɪʃən/, found /faʊnd/)
1.2. Nasals
• 3 nasal consonants
— /m/ voiced bilabial nasal
(e.g. mum /mʌm/, comma /ˈkɒmə/, dumb /dʌm/)
— /n/ voiced alveolar nasal
(e.g. nut /nʌt/, annoy /əˈnɔɪ/, sign /saɪn/)
— /ŋ/ voiced velar nasal
(e.g. *word-initially, dinghy /ˈdɪŋi/, sing /sɪŋ/)
1.1. Plosives
1.2. Nasals
1.3. Non-sibilant Fricatives
1.4. Sibilant Fricatives and Affricates
1.5. Approximants
2. Summary and references
1.1. Plosives
• 6 plosive phonemes (continued)
— /k/ voiceless velar plosive
(e.g. coop /kuːp/, locker /ˈlɒkə/, cheque /ʧek/)
— /g/ voiced velar plosive
(e.g. game /geɪm/, beggar /ˈbegə/), rag /ræg/)
1.3. Non-sibilant Fricatives
• 5 non-sibilant (non-high-pitched) fricatives
— /θ/ voiceless dental fricative
(e.g. thing /θɪŋ/, Arthur /ˈɑ:θə/, cloth /klɒθ/)
— /ð/ voiced dental fricative
(e.g. this /ðɪs/, other /ˈʌðə/, smooth /smu:ð/)
— /f/ voiceless labio-dental fricative
(e.g. fetch /feʧ/, coffin /ˈkɒfɪn/, graph /grɑ:f/)
— /v/ voiced labio-dental fricative
(e.g. vest /vest/, Stephen /ˈsti:vn/, of /ɒv/)
1
 1.3. Non-sibilant Fricatives
• 5 non-sibilant (non-high-pitched) fricatives (continued)
— /h/ voiceless glottal fricative
(e.g. who /huː/, ahead /əˈhed/, *word-finally)
1.4. Sibilant Fricatives/Affricates
• 4 sibilant (high-pitched) fricatives
— /s/ voiceless alveolar fricative
(e.g. say /seɪ/, lesson /ˈlesn/, palace /ˈpælɪs/)
— /z/ voiced alveolar fricative
(e.g. zoo /zu:/, exam /ɪgˈzæm/, please /pli:z/)
1.4. Sibilant Fricatives/Affricates
• 4 sibilant (high-pitched) fricatives (continued)
— /ʃ/ voiceless post-alveolar fricative
(e.g. shine /ʃaɪn/, action /ˈækʃn/, English /ˈɪŋglɪʃ/)
— /ʒ/ voiced post-alveolar fricative
(e.g. genre /ˈʒɑ:nrə/, treasure /ˈtreʒə/, beige /beɪʒ/)
• 2 sibilant (high-pitched) affricates
— /ʧ/ voiceless post-alveolar affricate
(e.g. chain /ʧeɪn/, culture /ˈkʌlʧə/, Dutch /ˈdʌʧ/)
— /ʤ/ voiced post-alveolar affricate
(e.g. jam /ʤæm/, fragile /ˈfræʤaɪl/, pledge /pleʤ/)

1.5. Approximants 2. Summary and references

• 4 approximant consonants • Consonant Inventory:
— /w/ voiced labial-velar approximant 6 plosives /p, b, t, d, k, g/
(e.g. wet /wet/, away /əˈweɪ/, *word-finally)
3 nasals /m, n, ŋ/
“Semi-
— /j/ voiced palatal approximant vowels” 9 fricatives:
(e.g. yet /jet/, few /fjuː/, *word-finally) 5 non-sibilants /θ, ð, f, v, h/
— /r/ voiced post-alveolar approximant 4 sibilants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/
(e.g. ray /reɪ/, sorry /ˈsɒri/, *word-finally) 2 affricates (sibilant) /ʧ, ʤ/
“Liquids”
4 approximants: /w, j, r, l/
— /l/ voiced alveolar (lateral) approximant
(e.g. leaf /liːf/, telly /ˈteli/, call /kɔːl/)

2. Summary and references

Roach, P. 2001. English Phonetics & Phonology: A

Practical Coursebook. CUP.