Better English Pronunciation

J.D O’CONOR
1967 (1st Edition)
New Edition 1980

First year
Department of English
College of Education
University of Thi-Qar
Lecturer
Hayder Kubashi
English Consonants

First year
Department of English
College of Education
University of Thi-Qar
Lecturer
Hayder Kubash
 The production of sounds

egressive pulmonic air-stream mechanism, because we speak while we expel the air from our lungs
 The articulation of consonants

•Consonants are formed by interrupting, restricting or

diverting the airflow in a variety of ways.
*There three ways of describing the consonant
sounds:
•Voicing
•The place of articulation
•The manner of articulation
 (1)Voicing

• In order to articulate a consonant we should consider the

following:
• In the human larynx there are two flaps of elastic, connective
tissue know as vocal cords, which can open and close which produce the
sound
• Voiced: The glottal state in which the vocal folds are brought close together but
not tightly closed, causing air passing through them to vibrate.
➢[b], [d], [g], [v], [ð], [z], [ʒ], [dʒ], [m], [n], [ŋ], [l], [r], [w], [y]
• Voiceless: The glottal state in which the vocal folds are pulled apart, allowing air
to pass directly through the glottis.
The vocal cords
The vocal cords
 Voicing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoarwB-7O_c
 (2)The place of articulation
Bilabial Using closing movement of both lips, e.g. /p/ - /b/

Labio-dental Using the lower lip and the upper teeth, e.g. /f/- /v

Dental The tongue tip is used either between the teeth or close to the upper teeth, e.g. /θ/ð/

Alveolar The blade of the tongue is used close to the alveolar ridge, e.g. /t/- /s/.

Palato-alveolar The blade ( or tip) of the tongue is used just behind the alveolar ridge, e.g. /ʧ/-/ʤ/

Palatal The front of the tongue is raised close to the palate, e.g. /j/

Velar The back of the tongue is used against the soft palate, e.g. /k/- /ŋ/
 (3)The manner of articulation

• It refers to the interaction between the various articulators and the air stream; i.e. The
air is temporally trapped and then released.
• The manners of articulation are:

• PLOSIVE
• AFFRICATIVE
• FRICATIVE
• NASAL
• LATERAL
• APPROXIMANT
The organs of speech
 The manner of articulation
PLOSIVE ( STOP) A complete closure is made in the vocal tract and the soft palate is also raised. Air
pressure increases behind the closure and is then released explosively, e.g. /p/ and /b/

AFFRICATIVE A complete closure is made in the mouth and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure
increases behind the closure, and is released more slowly than the plosive, e.g. /tʃ/-
/ʤ/

FRICATIVE When two vocal organs come close enough together for the movement of air between
them to be heard, e.g. /f/- /v/

NASAL A closure is made by the lips, or by the tongue against the palate, the soft palate is
lowered, and air escapes through the nose, e.g. /m/- /n/

LATERAL A partial closure is made by the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. Air is
able to flow around the sides of the tongue, e.g. /l/
 Phonetic Description

• When describing phonemes we depend on the transcription International

Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):
➢voicing is first
➢place of articulation is second
➢manner of articulation is third
[p] voiceless bilabial stop
[v] voiced labiodental fricative
 Examples

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

 Examples

• Dave didn’t take his date down-town for a drink

• The tall downcast taxi driver drove tourists to Denver

 Examples

• Betty Botta bought some butter

• But she said, ‘’This butter’s bitter!
• But a bit of better butter
• Will make my batter better.’’
• So she bought a bit of butter
• Better than the bitter butter
• And it made her butter better
 Examples

• I take great care to park my grey car at the corner of Curzon Grove

• The king of Greece came to close the Olympic games

THE END

THANKS