Phonetics

Chapter Two– Part 1

English Sounds - Consonants
Overview
In this lecture, I am going to discuss the
following subjects:
• Consonants
• Place of Articulation
• Manner of Articulation
 Consonants
• Definition: consonants are sounds that involve a
major obstruction or constriction of the vocal tract.
• However, vowels are made with a very open vocal
tract.

Example: ease vs. zeal

• the vowel ee /i/ and the consonant /z/
• ee /i/ the air flows out of the mouth fairly and freely.
• /z/ a partial closure causing hissing sound.
 Consonants
The dimensions of the Consonants:
There are three dimensions which are used to classify
consonants:
• Voicing
• Place of Articulation
• Manner of Articulation
 Consonants
• Voicing or Voice: A fundamental term used in the
phonetic classification of speech sounds, referring to
the auditory result of the vibration of the vocal folds;
also called voicing. Sounds produced while the vocal
folds are vibrating are voiced sounds, e.g. [b, z, a, i];
those produced with no such vibration are voiceless
or unvoiced, e.g. [p, s, h].
• Other examples:
/ f/ and /s/ are made with the vocal folds apart.
/v/ and /z/ are made with the vocal folds close together
and vibrating.
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
• Definition: It is the description of where the
obstruction occurs in the vocal tract.
• Description: The lower articulators articulate with
the upper articulators.
For example:
/d/ the tip of the tongue is against the alveolar ridge.
/g/ the back of the tongue is against the velum.
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Bilabial
• The lower lip articulates against the upper lip to
produce the English sounds /p/, /b/, and /m/.
• They are made by closing the lips completely.
Examples
Initial Medial Final
/p/ (Voiceless) pea creepy loop
/b/ (Voiced) bee lobby rub
/m/ (Voiced) moo summer loam
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Labiodental
• To produce these sounds, your lower lip articulates
against the upper teeth.
• The term labial is used to include both bilabial and
labiodental.
Examples: The labiodental sounds are /f/ and /v/
Initial Medial Final
/f/ (Voiceless) fun daffy laugh
/v/ (Voiced) veal movie glove
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Dental
• There are two dental sounds in English.
• Normally, they are written with the letters(th).
• /θ/ and /ð/ are produced when the tip of the tongue is
near or just barely touching the surface of the teeth.
Examples
Initial Medial Final
/θ/called (theta)(Voiceless) thin ether health
/ð/ called (eth)(Voiced) then either loathe
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Alveolar
• We can produce these sounds when the tip of the tongue hit the alveolar
ridge.
• These sounds are /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, and /l/.
Examples:
Initial Medial Final
/t/ (Voiceless) top return missed
/d/ (Voiced) done sudden loved
/s/ (Voiceless) see messy police
/z/ (Voiced) zap lousy please
/n/ (Voiced) gnaw any done
/l/ (Voiced) loaf relief dull
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Postalveolar
• It refers to the rear area of the alveolar ridge.
• The tongue is arched with the blade near the
postalveolar area. There is an obstruction in the
postalveolar region .
• It can produce four sounds: /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, and /dʒ/.
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Postalveolar
• With /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, the air directed more at the lower teeth.
• With /tʃ/, you can feel two separate sounds /t and /ʃ/.
• With /dʒ/, you can feel two separate sounds /d/ and /ʒ/.
Examples:
Initial Medial Final
/ʃ/ (Voiceless) shelf assure mesh
/ʒ/ (Voiced) treasure vision rouge
/tʃ/ (Voiceless) chin etching roach
/dʒ/ (Voiced) jam edgy ridge
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Retroflex
• Before talking about the retroflexed sounds, English /r/ is
classified as an alveolar sound. and it is pronounced and
written regularly as /r/
• However, it is pronounced as a retroflexed sound and it is
written upside down /ɹ/
• The retroflexed /ɹ/ is pronounced commonly in other dialects
and accents of English such as American English.
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Retroflex
• This name is used because many people produce it by curling
the tip of the tongue up and towards the rear edge of the
alveolar ridge.
• The tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar ridge.
• The articulation is between the rear portion of the blade and
the alveolar ridge.
• It can produces the bunched /ɹ/ (upside-down)
Examples:
Initial Medial Final
/ɹ/ (Voiced) run airy
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Palatals
• They are produced with the front of the tongue
articulating against the palate.
• The tip pf the tongue against the lower teeth.
• The only English palatal sound is /j/.
Examples:
Initial Medial Final
/j/ (Voiced) yell onion, fuse
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Velar (dorso-velar):
• The back of the tongue articulating against the
velum.
• The English velar sounds are /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/.
Examples:
Initial Medial Final
/k/ (Voiceless) kiss locker sock
/g/ (Voiced) gun rugger sag
/ŋ/ (Voiced) singer bang
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Glottal
• It is also called the glottal stop /ʔ/
• It is made in the larynx by holding the vocal folds
slightly together so that no air escapes.
• If you hold your breath with your mouth open, you
will make a glottal stop.
Examples:
/ʔ/ (Voiceless) uh-oh /ʔʌʔow /
 Consonants
Place of Articulation
Labial-velar
• One of its sounds is /w/
• This sound has a double place of articulation (both
labial and velar).
• It is labial; because of the lip-rounding.
• It is velar; because of the back of the tongue is
raised towards the velum.
Example: /w/ (voiced) (RP English) wet, anyway.
GA( American English) /ʍ/ it is voiceless.
whet, anywhere.
 Consonants
Manner of Articulation

Next week, we will talk about it in details.