Criteria for classifying consonants

a. place of articulation: the place where an active articulator enters in contact with a passive
one.

b. manner of articulation: how the air is released and how it can be heard

c. voicing: whether the vocal cords vibrate or not.

PLOSIVES

3 stages:

A. closure: the two articulators come into contact and leave no space for the air flow to escape

B. stop: blockage of the air flow

C. release: the two articulators come back to their original place and there is complete opening
for the air flow to escape. The sound is heard as an explosion.

As regards the manner of articulation, plosives can be:

 Bilabial total closure is made using both lips. The soft palate is raised.
 Voiced /b/
 Voiceless /p/
 Alveolar Closure is made by the tongue blade against the alveolar
ridge.
 Voiced /d/
 Voiceless /t/
 Velar Closure is made by the back of the tongue against the soft
palate.
 Voiced /g/
 Voiceless /k/
Glottal ( in Spanish)
This
glottal plosive is formed by closing the glottis completely (bringing the vocal c
ords into contact) then suddenly opening it. Voiceless.

más  alt [ˈma ˈʔal̻ t̻ o̞]

 o

In many English dialects this symbol is used as an allophone of /t/

/bʌʔǝ/_______butter

b], [g] and [d] are plosives in English and in Spanish. However, in Spanish /b/, /g/ and /d/
have fricative forms [β], [ɤ] and [ð].The main difference between the plossives in English and
Spanish is that in certain circumstances (when not preceded by –s or when voiceless plossives
are in prominent position ) they are subject of aspiration.

1. Alófonos de /b/

a) [ β̞ ] aproximant bilabial voiced (cuando no inicia ni está después de /n/)

“haba”: /aba/ → [aβ̞ a]
2. Alófonos de /d/

a) [ ð̞ ] aproximant dental voiced (cuando no inicia ni está después de /n/ ni /l/)

“hada”: /ada/ → [að̞a]

Fricatives
After the partial closure of the vocal cords, the air is released producing a friction because the
space between them is narrow. There are two stages: approximation and friction.

ENGLISH

LABIO DENTAL: upper teeth – lower lip ___-/f/ voiceless / v/ voiced

DENTAL: tip of tongue- upper teeth _____/ ɵ/ voiceless / ð/ voiced

ALVEOLAR: blade of tongue- alveolar ridge /s/ voiceless / z/ voiced

POST ALVEOLAR: tip of tongue- back of the alveolar ridge / ʃ/ voiceless /Ʒ/ voiced

GLOTTAL: in the glottis (space between the vocal cords ) /h / voiceless

SPANISH
 Unlike English, in Spanish the lower lips slightly touch the upper teeth.

In Spanish, the letter “b” in initial position is pronounced as /b/

ɹ. Variant: alveolar, as in / mere/ in English and / mar/ in Spanish.

Voiced

Variant: alveolar, as in / tree/ in English and / carbón/ in Spanish.

Voiceless.

PALATAL FRICATIVE

/ʝ/ yo or Santiago

It is intervocalic. “playa”: /plaʝa/ → [plaʝ ̞ a]. It is an allophone

of /j/
[ ɟ ] oclusiva palatal sonora (en inicio de palabra y antes de /n/). It is also an
allophone of /j/
“yo”: /ʝ o/ → [ɟo]
“inyecta”: /inʝekta/ → [inɟekta]
Unlike English, Spanish has only one voiced fricative or in Lluvia

VELAR FRICATIVE

It only occurs in Spanish. español: jamás /xaˈmas/. Es el sonido de la

/g/before back vowel, like joven /xoven/. Velar sound voiced.

[h] in Spanish, in initial position it is voiceless like in “hay”

between vowels it becomes voiced, like in “caja” in Colombian English and
“ajá” in other Spanish contexts. In Spanish it is the same with “ahead”

Affricates

English

POST ALVEOLAR: tip of tongue- back of the alveolar ridge / ʧ/ voiceless

/ʤ/voiced

Spanish

There is no difference between English and Spanish. As in “intrude”,”trama”

or “drastic” or “drama”. The ones at the left are voiceless. The ones at the right
are voiced.
NASALS

English

Bilabial: the two lips

 Alveolar: blade and alveolar ridge

Velar: back of tongue and velum

The three of them are voiced

Spanish

[ɱ]
nasal labiodental (antes de /f/).  énfasis (emphasis). It is an
allophonic variant of /n/

[ n̪ ]
nasal dental (antes de dental). It is an allophonic variant of /n/.  cantar. It
sounds very similar to alveolar n, but the tip of the tongue touches the back of
the front teeth, just like when pronouncing [t] or [d]. 

  [ŋ]
It is an allophone of /n/. It occurs before velars. –
manga (sleeve), ángel (angel).
 The others are phonemes, the same as in English.

LATERAL

English
The airflow comes out from the sides of the tongue. A partial closure is made by the
blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.
 Voiced /l/
Spanish

ALVEOLAR: blade of tongue- alveolar ridge. It is voiced

ALLOPHONES

[ l̪ ]
lateral dental (antes de dentales), like in “alto”

/ʎ/
spelt ‘ll’ as in calle. It only exists in Spanish. It is typical from the
litoral area in Argentina.
It’s very similar to the English y sound you hear in the word ‘million’, or even the
word ‘your’.  The only real difference between the Spanish double ‘ll’ [ʎ] and the
English ‘y’ [j] is in Spanish the tongue hits the roof of the mouth further
back in the mouth.

[ʎ]
caballo
[ka-βa-ʎo]
 million
similar [mɪljən] 

Additional examples of words like [ʎ] LL:

cabello, llover, llevar, llamo, ballena

[ɫ]
velarizada (en contacto con velar), as in “algo”

APPROXIMANTS (SEMIVOWELS+ R)
ENGLISH

SPANISH

Alófonos de / ʝ /

a) [ ɟ ] en inicio de palabra y antes de /n/)

“yo”: /ʝ o/ → [ɟo]
“inyecta”: /inʝekta/ → [inɟekta]
b) [ ʝ ̞ ] / ʝ /intervocalica
“playa”: /plaʝa/ → [plaʝ ̞ a]