ENGLISH PLOSIVES

Group 2:
Phạm Thị Hiền
Trần Thị Minh Ngọc
Dương Thị Phương Thảo
Đoàn Thị Anh Thư
Đặng Tuyết Trinh
 DEFINITION

 A plosive is a consonant  sound

produced by stopping the airflow in the
vocal tract.
 There are 6 plosive consonants in
English: p, t, k, b, d, g and 1 glottal
plosive ? that is less important.
 The Plosive consonant sounds are
generally described on three bases.
 BASE NO.1
Manner of articulation
In the articulation of the plosive sounds, four phases can be distinguished:
(i) Closing phase: In this stage the two organs move very close to one another and
create a complete closure or blockade.
(ii) Hold/occlusion/compression phase: In this stage the air is held behind the
closure.
(iii) Release or burst: The two organs move away from one another (closure is
opened) and the air goes out and the released airflow produces a sudden impulse
causing an audible sound (hence the name plosive).
(iv) Post Release phase: The articulators are now further apart, and the air pressure
at the site of the obstruction has fallen so that the speech sound is no longer a
burst with energy in all frequencies, but bands of aspiration which are more
narrowly concentrated and which move toward the formant values in the next
phoneme.
 BASE NO.2

Places of articulation:
According to different places of articulation, plosives are divided into
3 types

p, b t, d k, g
 BASE NO.3

Voicing:
Voicing refers to whether or not the vocal cords are
vibrating. 
- The plosives p, t, k are always voiceless
- The plosives b, d,g are sometimes fully voiced,
sometimes partly voiced, and sometimes voiceless
 PLOSIVE POSITIONS

3 positions :
Initial position, Medial position and Final
position
- Initial:plosives are  at the beginning of the
word ( called CV)
- Medial: between other sounds ( called VCV)
- Final: at the end of the word ( called VC)
 Initial position (CV)

- The closing phase for /p/, /t/, /k/ and /b/d/g/ takes place silently.
- During the hold phase of there is no voicing in /p/, /t/, /k/.
- However, in  /b/d/g/, we normally very little voicing. 
- The release phase of /p/t/k/ is followed by an audible plosion →  a
burst of noise. There is then, in the post-release phase, a period
during which air escapes through the vocal folds, making a sound like
“h”. This is called aspiration. 
For example: pin, tin, kin. 
- The release of /b/d/g/, on the other hand, is followed by weak
plosion.
For example: bin, dog, gun
 Medial position (CV)

A medial plosive may have the characteristics of final

or initial plosives.

The pronunciation of p,t,k and b,d,g in medial position

depends to some extent on whether the syllables preceding
and following the plosives are stressed.
=> A medial plosive may have the characteristics of final or
initial plosives
 Final position (VC)

- Final b,d,g: normally have little voicing

EX: dad /ˈdæd/
- Final p,t,k: are always voiceless
EX: cap /ˈkæp/
- The position following their release is very weak and often not
audible
EX: Give me a coke.
- The vowels preceding p,t,k are much shorter.
- Pre-fortis clipping
The opposition among English plosives can be illustrated as follow:

Bilabial Alveolar Velar

Initial position pole, bowl toll, dole coal, goal

(CV)
Medial (VCV) ripper, rubber cater, rudder locking, logging

Final (VC) rip, rid writ, rid rick, rig

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