Consonants

The consonants
• The consonants are sounds produced with
obstruction of the air (totally or partially)
▫ E.g.: /p/; /s/
• We use three criteria to describe 24 consonants:
1. Manner of articulation: the kind of
obstruction made to the airflow
2. Place of articulation: the point where an
obstruction of the airflow occurs in the vocal tract
3. Phonation (voicing): whether the vocal folds
vibrate or not when producing the consonant
The consonants
1. Manner of articulation: the kind of obstruction
made to the airflow/ how to stop or release the air.
- Stops/Plosives: stop the air completely then release
with a plosion. 6: /p, b, t, d, k, g/
- Fricatives: stop the air partially and force it to escape
through a narrow passage with a friction noise
(continuant). 9: /f, v ,θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h /
- Affricatives: stop the air completely then have it
escape with a friction. (begin with a stop followed
by a fricative). 2: /tʃ, dʒ /
The consonants
1. Manner of articulation: the kind of obstruction
made to the airflow/ how to stop or release the air.
- Nasals: stop the air completely in the mouth; at the
same time, lower the velum to let it escape by the
nose. 3: /m, n, ŋ/
- Lateral: air is stopped in the middle & escape along
both sides of the tongue. /l/
- Approximant: one articulator approach a point of
articulation but does not touch it . 3: /r, w, j/
The consonants
1. Manner of articulation: the kind of
obstruction made to the airflow/ how to stop or
release the air.
- Semi-vowel: both similar to vowels and consonants
+ Manner of articulation: similar to vowels , no
obstruction of the air. /w~ u; j~ i/. 3: /h, w, j/.
+ Distribution: similar to consonants
E.g.: a hat- V C V C; a wet year- V C V C.
The consonants
2. Place of articulation: the point where an
obstruction of the airflow occurs in the vocal tract/
point of contact between an articulator and a point
of a articulation: Where the air is stopped.
- Bilabials: lower lip against upper lip. /p, b, m, w/
- Labio-dentals: lower lip+ upper teeth. /f, v/
- Dental (Interdental): tounge tip between lower &
upper teeth. /θ, ð /
- Alveolar (Apico-alveolar): tongue tip + alveolar
ridge. /t, d, n, s, z, l/
The consonants
2. Place of articulation: the point where an
obstruction of the airflow occurs in the vocal tract/
point of contact between an articulator and a point
of a articulation: Where the air is stopped.
- Alveolar-palatal (palato-alveolar, post-alveolar):
tongue front b/w alveolar ridge and hard palate. /ʃ,
ʒ , tʃ, dʒ, r/
- Palatal: tongue front at the palate. /j/
- Velars: tongue back + velum (soft palate). /k, g, ŋ/
- Glottal: in the narrow glottis /h/
The consonants
3. Phonation (voicing): whether the vocal folds
vibrate or not when producing the consonant/
Vibration of vocal bands.
- Voiced sounds: sounds produced with vibration
- Voiceless sounds: sounds produced without
vibration
- 9 voiceless sounds: /p, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, tʃ, h /.
-> See Chart of English consonant phonemes
(p. 52 on textbook)