Consonants & classification

Fortis - Lenis
What is a consonant?
A consonant is a sound in
the production of which
an obstruction is formed
in the mouth by the active
organs of speech.
CONSONANTS
Consonants classification

Organs of Manner of
Voicing
articulation articulation
Organs of articulation
Sound
/p/ /b/ /w//m/

/f//v/
/θ/ /ð/

/t/ /d/ /n/ /l/ /s/ /z/

/t∫/ /dz/ /∫/ /r/

/j/
/k/ /g/ /ŋ/

/h/
 Organ of articulation
Places Articulators Sounds

Bilabial Upper lip + lower lip /b, p, m, w/

Labio-dental Lower lip + upper teeth /f, v/

Dental Teeth + tongue /8, ð/

Alveolar Alveolar ridge + tongue /t, d, s, z, n, l, r/

Palato-alveolar Join of hard palate & /ê, ë, tê, dë /

alveolar ridge + tongue
Palatal Hard palate + tongue /j /

Velar Soft palate + tongue /k, g, 7 /

 Manner of articulation
1. Plosives (stop sounds / explosive) Sound
The air stream is completely stopped for /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/,
a moment, after which it is allowed to /k/, /g/
rush out of the mouth with an explosive
sound.
2. An affricative (affricate) /dë/, /t∫/
It is a combination of a plosive consonant
with an immediately following fricative.
3. Nasal
It is the sound in the production of which
all the air from the lungs escapes down /m/, /n/, /ŋ/
the nose and not through the mouth.
 Manner of articulation
4. A lateral
Sound
5. RolledIt is the sound formed by the tip of the tongue /l/
firmly pressed against the teeth-ridge or so that the air can
escape at one or both sides of the tongue.
/r/
It is the sound in the production of which the tip of the
tongue vibrates in the stream of air.
6. Fricatives
It is the sound formed by a narrowing of the air passage at /f/, /v/,
some point so that the air in escaping makes a kind of /s/, /z/,
hissing. /ê/, /ë /
7. Semi-vowel /8/, /ð/, /h/
It is a gliding sound in which the speech organs start at or
near a close vowel and immediately move away to some
other vowels. /w/, /j/
 Voicing (Fortis – Lenis)
• In some language (include
English), there are pairs of
consonants whose members  Voiceless consonants
can be distinguished from are called FORTIS
each other in terms of (strong).
whether: strong (fortis) or  Voiced consonants are
weak (lenis). called LENIS (weak).
• These terms refer to the
amount of energy used in
their production.
 Voiced: /b/, /d/, /g/,
/j/, /k/,
/w/,/v/,/z/,/l/, /m/,
/n/, /ŋ/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/
nis
Le
Voicing
Fo
r tis
Voiceless: /p/
/f/,/s/,/k/ /h/ , /ʃ/,
/t/, /tʃ/, /θ/
Describe these following consonants

1. /p/ Voiceless, bilabial, plosive sound.

2. /b/ Voiced, bilabial, plosive sound.
3. /s/ Voiceless, alveolar, fricative sound.
4. /z/ Voiced, alveolar, fricative sound.
5. /f/ Voiceless, labio-dental, fricative sound.
6. /v/ Voiced, labio-dental, fricative sound.
7. /k/ Voiceless, velar, plosive sound.
8. /g/ Voiced, velar, plosive sound.
Thanks for your attention!