3/2/2017 Phonology: Consonants

PHONOLOGY: CONSONANTS

All consonants may be classified as either voiced or voiceless. In articulating a voiced consonant, the vocal
cords are vibrating. (The vibration may easily be felt by gripping the larynx­­the "Adam's apple"­­between the
fingers and the thumb while articulating the consonant.) In articulating an unvoiced consonant, the vocal cords
are not vibrating.

Present­Day English has several consonant pairs that are articulated alike except that one is voiced and the other
is unvoiced. Some examples are the phoneme spelled b in bat (voiced) and the phoneme spelled p in pat
(unvoiced); the phoneme spelled d in dab (voiced) and the phoneme spelled t in tab (unvoiced); the phoneme
spelled th in this (voiced) and the phoneme spelled th in thistle (unvoiced).

Consonants may also be classified according to the manner of articulation and the point of articulation: that
is, how and where the flow of air is stopped or impeded when the consonant is articulated. Thus, we get the
following systems of classification. Click on the terms for further information.

MANNER OF
ARTICULATION
Stop
Affricate
Fricative
Nasal
Lateral
Retroflex
Semivowel

POINT OF
ARTICULATION
Bilabial
Labiodental
Interdental
Alveolar
Alveopalatal
Velar

CLICK ON THE GREEN BUTTON FOR A TABLE SHOWING ALL OF THE CONSONANTS OF
PRESENT­DAY ENGLISH.

[Return to "Phonology"]

http://facweb.furman.edu/~wrogers/phonemes/phono/phcons.htm 1/2