ENGLISH

PLOSIVES
Mr. Sutarno, M.Pd, as the Lecturer of Phonetic and Phonology

GROUP 2
1. Sellia Lestari (1805008)
2. Lu’lu Nazhiroh (18050023)
3. Dwi Cahya Harsani (18050043)
 Definition of English
Plosives
English plosives are the types of consonants produced by forming a complete
obstruction to the flow of air out of the mouth, increasing the air pressure in
the mouth, and then suddenly releasing the pressure.

Plosives are also called stops because the air coming

out of the mouth is stopped or blocked briefly by the
articulators.

There are three types of English plosives:

1. The Bilabial Plosives [p] and [b]
2. The Alveolar Plosives [t] and [d]
3. The Velar Plosives [k] and [g]
 The English
Bilabial Plosives
[p] and [b]
 The English
Bilabial Plosives

When producing the sound [p], the flow of air coming out of the lungs
is stopped or restricted by the two lips. The channel to the nasal cavity
is closed by the velum. Then, the pressure of air in the mouth is abruptly
released. The [p] sound is produced when the vocal folds do not vibrate

The sound [p] is called a voiceless bilabial plosive

/stop.
The term “voiceless” refers to the state of the
vocal folds.
“bilabial” indicates the point of articulation.
“plosive/stop” shows the manner of articulation.
 The English
Bilabial Plosives

In English, the Voiceless Bilabial Stop [p] is

distributed in all word positions. It can be Position
found in initial, middle, and final positions example

Initial Middle Final

pick captain stop
put option lamp
pull spilt keep
paint spell map
pack space nap
 The English
Bilabial Plosives

The next bilabial plosive is [b]. In order to produce

[b], the two lips form a complete obstruction to the
flow of air. The air pressure increases in the mouth,
and then the air is abruptly let out.

The only difference is the state of the vocal folds. When

producing [p], the vocal folds do not vibrate, whereas
the producing [b] requires the vocal folds to vibrate.

The sound [p] is called a voiceless bilabial plosive /stop

The sound [b] is called a voiced bilabial plosive/stop
 The English
Bilabial Plosives

The Voiced Bilabial Stop [b] is distributed in

all word positions. It can also be found in
Position
initial, middle, and final positions of words
example
and syllables.

Initial Middle Final

bank abroad grab
break about snob
born label flab
bad abuse rib
block table grab
 The English
Alveolar Plosives
[t] and [d]
 The English
Alveolar Plosives

The production of sound [t] involves the tip of the tongue touching the
alveolar ridge, which is the ridge just behind the upper front teeth. Thus,
the air that comes out from the lungs is completely blocked by the tip of
the tongue, which is in tight contact with the alveolar ridge. At the same
time, the velum closes the passage to the nasal cavity, stopping the air
flowing through the nose.

When sound [t] is produced, the vocal folds

vibrate. The name of sound [t] is a
Voiceless Alveolar Plosive/Stop.
 The English
Alveolar Plosives

The Voiceless Alveolar Stop [t] in English

can be found in all word positions. It is
Position
distributed in the initial, middle, and final
example
position of words and syllables.

Initial Middle Final

take potato put
taxi attack hat
tool dirty bet
ticket button thought
total disturb beat
 The English
Alveolar Plosives

The other alveolar stop is [d]. The production of sound

[d] is almost the same as the production of sound [t]. The
only difference is the state of the vocal folds. In order to
produce the [d] sound, the vocal folds need to vibrate.
Hence, sound [d] is called a Voiced Alveolar Stop.
 The English
Alveolar Plosives

The Voiced Alveolar Stop [d] is distributed in

all word positions. In English, it can be found Position
in the initial, middle, and final positions. example

Initial Middle Final

dumb redo dead
done body bride
die educate gold
dust lady guide
dinner undo lid
 The English
Velar Plosives
[k] and [g]
The English
Velar Plosives

In producing [k], the air that comes out from the lungs is
completely blocked by the back part of the tongue touching the
velum. At the same time, the velum closes the passage through
to the nasal cavity, preventing the air from flowing through the
nose. Then, the air is abruptly released. When sound [k] is
produced, the vocal folds do not vibrate. Therefore, the name of
sound [k] is a Voiceless Velar Plosive/Stop.
 The English
Velar Plosives

The Voiceless Velar Stop [k] can be

found in all word positions. It may
Position
occur in the initial, middle, and final example
positions.

Initial Middle Final

keep locker like
kind taken click
king parking tank
key circle pick
karate calculate prank
 The English
Velar Plosives

The Voiced Velar Stop [g] exists in all

word positions. It can be found in the Position
initial, middle, and final positions example

Initial Middle Final

good logo flog
grab struggle slug
great degree wag
gap regular egg
guest login flag
Thank you 