CONSONANTS

LECTURE 2• How are consonants

described & classified in terms of:–Place of articulation–Manner of articulation–Voicing

ENGLISH CONSONANTS – CRITERIA IN DESCRIBING

• Do the vocal cords vibrate or not? – Voiced/Voiceless

• Is the soft palate raised or lowered? – Oral/Nasal

• At what point or points & between what speech organs does the closure or narrowing take place? – Place of articulation

• What is the type of closure or narrowing at the point of articulation? – Manner of articulation

Place of articulation the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract

Bilabial consonants

Labio-dental consonants

Dental consonants

Alveolar consonantsPost/palato

alveolar consonants

Palatal consonants

Velar consonants

Glottal consonants

Place of articulation the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract

Bilabial consonants

Labio-dental consonants

Dental consonants

Alveolar consonantsPost/palato

alveolar consonants

Palatal consonants

Velar consonants

Glottal consonants

Upper lipLower lip

Lower lipUpper teeth

Tongue tipUpper teeth

Tongue bladeAlveolar ridge

GlottisVocal cordsTongue blade

Back of alveolar ridge

Tongue frontHard palate

Tongue back Soft palate

Bilabial consonants

Upper lip + lower lip

/p//b//m/ /w/

Bilabial consonants

Bilabial consonants

Labio-dental consonants

/f/ /v/

Lower lip (active) + upper teeth (passive)

Labio-dental consonants

Dental consonants

Upper teeth (passive) + tongue tip (active)

/θ//δ/

Dental consonants

Alveolar consonants

Alveolar ridge (passive) + tongue blade (tip +blade) (active)

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

Alveolar consonants

Alveolar consonants

Alveolar consonants

/l/

Post/Palato-alveolar consonants

Tongue blade or tip & blade + back of alveolar ridge +raising of tongue front towards hard palate

/ʃ//ʒ//ʧ//ʤ//r/

Post/Palato-alveolar consonants

Post/Palato-alveolar consonants

Post/Palato-alveolar consonants

Palatal consonant

Hard palate + tongue front

/j/

Velar consonants

Soft palate + tongue back

/ŋ//k//g/

Velar consonants

Glottal consonant

the glottis, vocal cords

Name Articulators Examples

Bilabial Upper lip + lower lip

Labio-dental Lower lip + upper teeth

Dental Upper teeth + tongue tip

Alveolar Alveolar ridge + tongue blade (tip +blade)

Post/Palato-alveolar

Tongue blade or tip & blade + alveolar ridge +raising of tongue front towards hard palate

Palatal Hard palate + tongue front

Velar Soft palate + tongue back

Glottal Glottis, vocal cords

CONSONANT CLASSIFICATION: PLACE OF ARTICULATION

/p//b//m/ /w/

/f/ /v/

/θ//δ/

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

/ʃ//ʒ//ʧ//ʤ//r/

/j/

/ŋ//k//g/

/h/

MANNER OF ARTICULATIONTYPE OF CLOSURE MADE BY THE

ARTICULATORS

Nasal consonants

Plosives/stops

Fricatives

Affricates

Lateral consonant

Approximants

Nasal consonants

Nasal consonants are created when you completely block air flow through your mouth (by lowering the soft palate and let the air pass through your nose. + /m/ two lips (bilabial)+ /n/ tongue blade against the alveolar ridge (alveolar).+ /ŋ/ - the back of your tongue against the soft palate (velar).

Plosives/stop consonants• stop consonants occur when the vocal

tract is closed completely, the air quickly builds up pressure behind the articulators and then releases in a burst (plosion)

• /p/ /b/ oral passage is blocked by closing the lips

(bilabial).• /t/ /d/ - oral passage is blocked

by pressing the tongue blade against the alveolar ridge (alveolar)• /k/ /g/- block airflow with

the back of the tongue against the soft palate (velar).

4 phases of production of stops• Closure phase: the articulators move to form

the stricture (obstruction)• Hold phase: the compressed air is stopped

from escaping• release phase: the articulators are moved to

allow air to escape• Post-release phase

Fricative consonants

• fricative sounds involve only a partial blockage of the vocal tract so that air has to be forced through a narrow channel, making a hissing sound

• Fricatives are continuant consonants• /f/ /v/ - air is forced through

the upper teeth and lower lip (labiodental)• /θ/ /ð/ air is forced through

upper teeth and tongue (dental)• /s/ /z/ - air is forced through

tongue and alveolar ridge (alveolar)• /ʃ/ /ʒ/ - air is forced through

the tongue and point just beyond alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)• /h/ - air passes throughthe glottis (glottal), between the vocal cords

Affricates

• The Affricate consonants start as stops with air building up behind an articulator which then ends as an fricative.

• /tʃ/ /dʒ/ air is blocked with tongue just beyond the alveolar ridge (post-alveolar), then released as a fricative.

Stops Fricatives AFFRICATES

Approximant

• Approximants are created when two articulators come close together but not quite close enough to create air turbulence.

• /w/ - back of tongue raises to velum (but not too close!) and lips are rounded (bilabial) (labio-velar)

• /j/ - tongue front raises to hard palate (but not too close!) (palatal).

• /r/ - tongue blade raises to hard palate (post-alveolar)

Lateral

• Lateral consonants are created when the tongue blocks the middle of your mouth so that air has to pass around the sides. There is one lateral consonant in English - /l/ - which is created when you place the tongue at the alveolar ridge.

Manner of articulationTypes Features Symbols

Plosives (stop consonants)

Complete closure, air pressure -> explosion

Bilabial plosives: Alveolar plosives:

Velar plosives:

Fricatives(continuant consonants)

Air escapes thru’ a small passage=> hissing sound (friction)

Labio-dental fricatives:

Dental fricatives

Alveolar fricatives

Palato-alveolar fricatives

Glottalfricative

Nasals Air escapes thru’ the nose

Bilabial nasal Alveolar nasal Velar nasal

/p/ /b//t/ /d/

/k/ /g/

/f/ /v/ /θ/ /δ/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ//ʒ/

/h/

/m/ /n/ /ŋ/

Manner of articulationTypes Features Symbols

Affricates(Palato-alveolar affricates)

Closure between tip, blade, rims of tongue & upper alveolar ridge & side teeth.Front of tongue raised towards hard palate in readiness for fricative releaseFriction is shorter than in fricatives.

(Alveolar) Lateral

Tip of tongue makes contact with upper teeth ridge.Air escapes on both sides of tongue on upper side teeth

Approximants

Articulators approach each other but do not get sufficiently close to each other to produce a “complete” consonant such as plosive, nasal or fricative

Post-Alveolar approximant

Palatal approximant

bilabial approximant

/ʤ//ʧ/

/l/

/r/ /j/ /w/

ACCORDING TO VOICING1. Voiced consonants: are produced

when the vocal cords are vibrating.e.g.

2. Voiceless consonants: are produced when the vocal cords are not vibrating.e.g.

DESCRIBING ENGLISH CONSONANTS

• The description includes the following information:

a. Voicingb. Place of articulationc. Manner of articulation

e.g. /s/:/n/: /f/: /t/://:/j/:/g/:

IDENTIFYING ENGLISH CONSONANTS

• A description in given and you have to identify which sound is being described.

Voiced velar nasal:

Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative:

Voiced bilabial stop:

Voiced labio-dental fricative:

Voiced alveolar lateral:

Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate:

Voiced dental fricative:

Fortis and lenis consonants

plosives fricatives affricates

fortis

lenis

Fortis and lenis consonants

plosives fricatives affricates

fortis p t k f s ʃ θ tʃ

lenis b d g

v z ʒ ð dʒ

Fortis vs. lenis

Fortis consonants

• Voiceless

• Slightly longer than lenis

• shorten preceding vowelsEg. rɑɪs rɑɪt

• Stronger than lenis

Lenis consonants

• Often voiced (but not always)

• Slightly shorter than fortis

• lengthen preceding vowelsEg. rɑɪz rɑɪd

• Weaker than fortis

Fortis vs lenis plosives• Fortis plosives are strongly aspirated in initial (stressed)

positionsEg. [pʰen] [tʰʌn] [kʰæn] [pəˈtʰeɪtəʊ]• Fortis plosives are weakly aspirated in unstressed and final

position.Eg. [pʰɒt] [təˈmɒrəʊ]• /l, r, w, j/ are devoiced when following fortis plosivesEg. [plUeɪ] [krUɑɪ] [twUɪn]• Lenis plosives are voiced only when they are between voiced

soundsEg. [bUʊk] [dUɒ ] [ˈhɑːdə]g&

Fortis vs. lenis fricatives

• Friction noise of fortis fricatives is louder• Lenis fricatives are voiced between voiced

sounds Eg. [lɑɪvU] [briːðU] [zUuː] [ˈmeʒə]

Fortis vs. lenis affricates

• Lenis affricates are voiced between voiced sounds.

Eg. [lɑːd ] [lɑːdʒə] [d ɒbU]ʒ& ʒ&