UNIT V THE CONSONANT SOUNDS A consonant is a speech sound produced by the closure or narrowing of the speech tract. Interruptions of the breath are made by the lips, tongue, teeth, toothridge, the soft or the palate or the glottis which are active in the articulation of consonants. The consonants are: /p/~ peace J 2] - zest (n/- knight /b/~ bank / fi ~ shoe /n/-ring /t/-time /3/- pleasure /M/-love /d/-doll Th/~home Ir / = tise /k/-can 10 think /j/-young /g/- good /9/- them Jw/ = well /f/- face /Af/ = charm (hw /- white /v/-vine 1.43 /- joke /s/-sing /m/-mend CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS: 1.) Consonants are classified according to: A. Voicing Consonants are classified according to voicing articulation. Sounds produced by the vibration of the vocal cords are voiced; without such vibration, the sounds are voiceless. By putting two fingers on each side of the throat while articulating, you can fee! the vibration or non-vibration of the vocal cords. ‘The voiced consonants are: ivi Tel 1 /a/ td! w fat /m/ j /3/ Inf hw /d3/ fyf /b/ icf The voiceless consonants are: fi Af / ‘h /0/ ipl s/ my ‘fl k/ 49B. Manner of Articulation a. Stops or plosives vith a puff of air and complete obstruction or sound is produced { comp! the Th pases out release of the blockage and explosive escape gf the breath, consonant is pronounced instantaneously, followed by abruy A stoy ; : felease resulting in a slight explosion —like /1/. The consonants under this category ae: er FF td/ 7k/ te! b. Continuants : ‘A continuant is a sound like / v /, which may be prolonged as long as the speaker has breath to pronounce it and without a change in the position on the speech organs. Continuants may be grouped into fricatives, nasas, retroflex, sound lateral 1. Fricatives — These are friction sounds. They include: IL Il in! var isi va ist 13! 2. Nasals ~ These sounds are produced by stopping the air in the mouth and emitting it through the nose. These three nasals in English are: im/ Ind fgl 3. Retroflex — The tongue tip is slightly flipped back dred 4. Lateral ~ The breath is released through one or both sides of the tongue, a ¢. Glides ~ or semi vowels are formed by rounding the lips, closing the \elum, raising the back of the tongue way toward the velum, and expelling the voiced breath, Jwl ‘jl thw / hi d, Affricates ~ These sounds are a combin: ation of a plosive and a fricative sound like Ta 1a3/ 50C. Place of Articulation ‘This refers to the speech organs used in producing the consonants. According 10 may be classified as: the place of articulation, conson: |. Bilabial (tips). These sounds are produced by pressing the lower and the upper lips together. /b/, /p/y Ihw/, ‘mv, /w/ are bilabial sounds 2, Lingua-dental (tongue tip-teeth). This sound is produced with the tip of the tongue and teeth in contact as in / 0 / and / 0/. Labio-dental (lip-tecth). This sound is produced by placing the lower lip against the upper teeth as in /f/ and /v/. 4, Lingua-alveolar (tongue tip-upper teeth ridge). This is produced with the tip of the tongue touching the upper teeth ridge as in /t/,/d/,/1/,/m/,/8 hlahsrle 5, Lingua-alveo palatal (tongue-hard palate). This sound 1s produced by allowing the air to escape through a narrow passage between the tongue and the hard palate as in (f /, /tf1,/3/,/3/,/i/- 6. Lingua-velar (back of tongue ~ velum or soft palate). This sound is produced by the action of the back of the tongue against the roof of the mouth as in/Kki,/ gh, /nl. 7. Glottal — (glottis) ~ /h/