english consonants - fall 2012

ENGLISHCONSONANTSFALL 2012

Copeland

It’s easyThere are 25

symbols for the consonants of

English – sixteen are identical to the

letters in the English alphabet!

CONSONANTS

It’s hardThese are funny words and you have to remember what they mean:

Bi-labial

Labio-dental

Dental

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottis

CONSONANTS

Quiz next class!

CONSONANTS DEFINED

A consonant is a speech sound that is formed when the articulators interrupt the flow of air through the vocal tract.

The place of articulation, the manner of articulation, and the voicing of a consonant determine its classification.

Well sung consonants are precise, quick, energetic, and provide definition of the vocal line.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS

1. Voicing: Are they voiced or unvoiced?

2. Place of Articulation

3. Manner of articulation

{Think of consonants as having three names – first, middle, last}

VOICED OR NOT?Either voiced or unvoiced – if it has pitch or not.

[feel your throat to know the difference]

[z] vs. [s]

[b] vs. [p]

[d] vs. [t]

[g] vs. [k]

[v] vs. [f]

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

Bi-labial: Lips [p] [b] [m]

Labio-dental: top teeth touching bottom lip [f] [v]

Dental: teeth [θ]   [ð]

Alveolar: gum ridge [t] [d] [s] [z] [n]

Palatal: hard palate [ʃ]  [ʒ]  [tʃ]  [dʒ]

Velar: soft palate [k] [g] [ŋ]

Glottis: space between vocal folds [h]

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Manner of articulation – what happens to the structures that are involved.

STOP-PLOSIVES

FRICATIVES

AFFRICATIVES

NASALS

LATERALS (LIQUIDS)

GLIDES

See text book on page 130

STOP-PLOSIVES

The airflow is prevented from passing through the mouth or nose and is suddenly released.

Pairs of stop-plosive consonants differentiated by their voicing:

[p] and [b]

[t] and [d]

[k] and [g]

PLOSIVES

[p] and [b]

ARTICULATED WHERE?????

[t] and [d]

ARTICULATED WHERE?????

[k] and [g]

ARTICULATED WHERE?????

PLOSIVES

[p] and [b]

BI-LABIAL

[t] and [d]

ALVEOLAR

[k] and [g]

VELAR

[p]

Sound in context: push, depend, stop

Spellings: pest

1. The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace

2. Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

3. Perky Patty picks pretty pink posies

[b]

Sound in context: back, about, web

Spellings: best

1. But who may abide the day of his coming

2. We are climbing Jacob’s ladder

3. Brett burned Brian’s buttered breakfast biscuits

[d]

Sound in context: deaf, widow, sad

Spellings: done

1. And the ears of the deaf unstopped

2. O Sacred Head, now wounded

3. Doleful David disavows dapper Dan’s disclaimer

[t]

Sound in context: took, seated, bright

Spellings: ton, kissed

1. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion

2. Comfort, comfort ye my people

3. Tiny tots attain terribly tattered mittens

[g]

Sound in context: give, begun, big

Spellings: ghost, got

1. Glory to God in the highest

2. God of grace and God of glory

3. Good girls get great gag gifts

Common problem: substitution of unvoiced [k] for voiced [g], particularly when it is in the final position.

“vigor” should not sound like “vicar”

[k]

Sound in context: cost, become, walk

Spellings: cot, chorus, sick, keep, unique

1. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her

2. Come, all Christians, be committed

3. Ken’s calm cow comforted Kathie’s kicking, crying calves

NASALS

A nasal consonant is one in which the oral passageway is blocked at some point and the soft palate is lowered to allow the air to flow through the nasal passageway.

Three nasal consonants: [m] [n] [ŋ]

[m]

Voiced or Unvoiced?:

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation:

[m]

Voiced or Unvoiced?: Voiced

Place of articulation: Bilabial

Manner of articulation: Nasal

Common Problems: Insufficient nasal resonance. The [m] sound should be well hummed up through the nose in speech and singing. Also – inadequate duration or muffledness.

[n]

Voiced or Unvoiced?:

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation:

[n]

Voiced or Unvoiced?: unvoiced

Place of articulation: alveolar

Manner of articulation: nasal

Common problems: insufficient nasal resonance; inadequate duration.

[ŋ]

Voiced or Unvoiced?:

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation:

[ŋ]

Voiced or Unvoiced?: voiced

Place of articulation: velar

Manner of articulation: nasal

Common problems: insufficient nasal resonance; inadequate duration; substitution of [n] for [ŋ]

Words with [ŋ]

Hanging [hæŋ ɪŋ]

Singing [sɪŋ ɪŋ]

Long [lɔŋ]

Finger [fɪŋ ɡər]

Single [sɪŋ ɡəl]

Bank [bæŋk]

Drunk [drʌŋk]

FRICATIVES (WALL, 161)

A fricative consonant is one in which the air flow is partially interrupted as it passes through the vocal tract, thus producing a noisy sound. Because they can be sustained, they are called continuants. There are four pairs of cognates plus [h].

[v] vs. [f]

[ð] vs [ɵ]

[z] vs [s]

[ʒ] vs [ʃ]

[h]

REMEMBERING THE MIDDLE NAME

[v] vs. [f] voiced or unvoiced labio-dental fricative

[ð] vs [ɵ] voiced or unvoiced dental fricative

[z] vs [s] voiced or unvoiced alveolar ridge fricative

[ʒ] vs [ʃ] voiced or unvoiced palatal fricative

[h]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation

[h]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation: ɡlottis

Manner of articulation: fricative

Common problems: over aspiration; pushing too much air through the glottis, resulting in breathiness.

AFFRICATIVES: COMBINATION CONSONANTS

Defined: Consonants that combine the articulation of two consonant sounds into a single speech unit.

“A composite speech sound consisting of a stop and a fricative articulated at the same point (as “ch” in chair and “j” in joy)

AFFRICATIVES

In English, there are four combination consonants or two pairs of cognates:

[tʃ]

[dʒ]

[ts]

[dz]

AFFRICATIVES

[tʃ]

Chill, nature, much, ancient, choice, question

1. For unto us a child is born

2. When the church of Jesus

3. But they still got an itch for heavenly graces

AFFRICATIVES

[dʒ]

Context: jaw, region, age

Spellings: budge, soldier, gentle, joy

1. Behold a virgin shall conceive.

2. Jesus loves me

3. I shall imagine life.

AFFRICATIVES

[ts]

Context: ______, _______, sits

Spellings: eats, waltz, lets

1. The lord of hosts.

2. Christian hearts in love united.

3. My papa’s waltz.

AFFRICATIVES

[dz]

Context: _______, ______, weds

Spellings: sends, God’s, solitudes

There were shepherds abiding in the field.

SPELLINGS FOR ‘QU’ AND ‘X’

Qu

Two possible sounds in English:

[k] quiche, conquer, baroque

[kw] quite, require

SPELLINGS FOR ‘QU’ AND ‘X’

x

In initial position, like “xylophone”

[z]

In medial position, like the word “excuse”

[ks]

IN EXCELSIS DEO

How do you say it?

IN EXCELSIS DEO

Correct:

[in ɛkʃɛlsis dɛɔ]

PRACTICE!

Chose

Jam

China

Bridge

Match

Breech

PRACTICE!

Chose [tʃ]

Jam [dʒ]

China [tʃ]

Bridge [dʒ]

Match [tʃ]

Breech [tʃ]

PRACTICE!

Share

Chair

Beige

Hedge

Ship

Chip

Match

Breech

PRACTICE!

Share [ʃ]

Chair [tʃ]

Beige [ʒ]

Hedge [dʒ]

Ship [ʃ]

Chip [tʃ]

Match [tʃ]

Breech [tʃ]

TRANSCRIBE

In the scented bud of the morning – O

When the windy grass went rippling far,

I saw my dear one walking slow

In the field where the daisies are.

[ɪn ðə sɛntəd bʌd əv ðə mɔ3nɪŋ oʊ

hwɛn ðə wɪndɪ ɡræs wɛnt rɪplɪŋ fa3

ɑɪ sɔ mɑɪ dɪ3 wʌn wɔkɪŋ sloʊ

ɪn ðə fild hwɛ3 ðə dɛɪzɪz ɑ3]

We did not lauɡh and we did not speak

As we wandered happily to and fro;

I kissed mydear on either cheek,

In the bud of the morning – O.