CHAPTER 1:

ENGLISH PHONETICS

Unit 3:
CONSONANTS &
THEIR CLASSIFICATION
• DEFINITION
• CLASSIFICATION
• PRACTICE
 DEFINITIONS
 “ Consonants are sounds produced by partially or
completely blocking air in its passage from the
lungs through the vocal tract.” (Finegan, 1994,
p.34)

 “ Every language of the world contains two basic

classes of sounds often referred to by the covered
terms consonants (C) and vowels (V). In the
production of consonants the flow of air is
obstructed as it travels through the mouth. Vowels
are produced with no oral obstruction whatever.
Oral and nasal stops, fricatives, affricatives,
laterals and glides all have some degree of
obstruction and are therefore consonants.”
(Fromkin and Rodman, 1993, p.43)
 CLASSIFICATION

 1. PLACES OF ARTICULATION
  Where is the airflow blocked?

 2. MANNERS OF ARTICULATION

  How is the airflow blocked?

 3. VOICING

  Do the vocal folds/ vocal cords

vibrate?
 1. Places of Articulation
 (1) Bilabial (/p/, /m/, /b/, (/w/))
 Made with two lips (upper & lower lips)
 (2) Labiodental (/v/, /f/)
 Articulated by the lower lip against
upper front teeth
 (3) Dental (/ð/, /θ/)
 Articulated by the tip of the tongue
against the teeth ridge (interdental)
 (4) Alveolar (/t/, /d/, /l/, /n/, /s/, z/,/r/)
 Articulated by the tip of the tongue
against the alveolar ridge
 1. Places of Articulation
 (5) Alveo-palatal (/∫/, /ʒ/, /t∫/, /dʒ/)
 Articulated by the front of the tongue against the
alveolar ridge with raising the blade/middle of the
tongue towards the hard palate
 (6) Palatal (/j/)
 Articulated by the middle part of the tongue (tongue
blade) against the hard palate
 (7) Velar (/g/, /k/, /ŋ/, (w).)
 Articulated by the back of the tongue against the
soft palate/velum.
 (8) Glottal (/h/, / ʔ/)
 Articulated in the glottis
  (1) /s/ - /l/
Exercise 1  (2) /k/ - /ŋ/
 (3) /p/ - /g/
 (4) /l/ - /r/
For each of the following pairs  (5) /m/ - /n/
of sounds, state whether they  (6) / ʤ/ - /ʃ/
have the same or different  (7) /f/ - /h/
place of articulation.  (8) /w/ - /j/
Then identify the place of  (9) /b/ - /f/
articulation of each sound.
 (10) /ʧ/ - / ʤ/
 (11) /s/ - /v/
 (12) /θ/- /t/
 2. Manner of Articulation
 (1) Plosives/stops (/p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/)
 Formed by complete closure of air passage during a short
time. The air is compressed and then released suddenly,
making a plosion.
 (2) Fricatives (/ð/, /θ/ , /f/, /v/, /z/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/)
 Two articulators are brought near each other so that the flow
of air is impeded but not completely blocked. The air flow
through the narrow opening creates friction.
 (3) Affricates (/tʃ/ ,/dʒ/)
 Formed as plosive consonants, but with slower separation of
the articulating organs so that the corresponding fricative is
audible as the separation takes place.
 2. Manner of Articulation
(4) Nasals (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/)
 Formed by a complete closure in the mouth, the soft palate
is lowered so that the air is free to pass through the nose.
 (5) Lateral (/l/)
 Formed by placing an obstacle in the centre of the air-
stream but leaving a free passage for the air on one or both
sides of the obstacle
 (6) Approximants (/r/, /j/, /w/)
 Formed when an articulator approaches a certain place
of articulation as for fricatives but the articulator does not
come close enough to the roof of the mouth to cause
audible friction.
 Exercise 2  (1) /s/ - / θ /
 (2) /k/ - /g/
 (3) /w/ - /j/
 (4) /f/ - / ʃ /
For each of the following pairs  (5) /l/ - /t/
of sounds, state whether they
 (6) /ð/ - /v/
have the same or different
 (7) /ʧ/ - /s/
manner of articulation.
Then identify the manner of  (8) /m/ - / ŋ/
articulation of each sound.  (9) /r/ - /w/
 (10) /ʧ/ - / ʤ/
 (11) /h/ - /ʔ/
 (12) /z/- /Ʒ/
 THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS
Sound Articulators E.g.
Passive Active
Bilabial upper lip lower lip [p, b, m, w]

Dental teeth tongue tip [ð, θ,]

Labiodental upper teeth lower lip [f, v]
Alveolar alveolar ridge Tongue tip [t ,d ,n ,s, z, l, r ]

Palatal hard palate Front [j]

Alveo- Palatal behind alveolar tongue blade [∫, ʒ, t∫, d ʒ]

Velar soft palate Tongue back [k, g, ŋ, (w) ]

Glottal vocal cords [h , ʔ]

 Main constriction degrees

Sound class Movement of Sound

articulators
Stop/ Plosives complete stop of air,
then rapid separation [p, t, k, b, d, g]
Affricates stop of air, then slow
separation [ tʃ , dʒ ]
Fricatives Narrowing, causing
audible friction [ð,θ , f, v, z, s, ʃ, ʒ, h ]
Nasals lowering of velum, air [m, n, ŋ ]
escapes through nose
Lateral air escapes down [l]
side of tongue
Approximants slight narrowing, not [w, j, r]
enough for friction
  Voicing
What are the vocal folds doing?
The states of glottis will cause the state of voicing.

 (1) Voiced sounds:

+ vibration during the articulation of the
consonant,
e.g. [b, d, g, v, ð, z, Ʒ, ʤ, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j]
 (2) Voiceless sounds:
- no vibration during the articulation of the
consonant,
e.g. [p, t, k, ʔ, f, θ, s, ʃ, h, ʧ]
  (1) though
 (2) thought
Exercise 3  (3) form
 (4) view
 (5) zoom
Pronounce the following  (6) silk
words  (7) pan
Is the first sound in each word  (8) boat
voiced or voiceless?  (9) huge
 (10) choose
 (11) judge
 (12) buns
 (13) when
 (14) ghetto
 (15) pneumatic
 (16) winced
 Classification of English consonants
Place bilabi dental Labio alveol palato Palat velar glottal
al dental ar alveolar al
Manner
Stop – p
+ b
Affricate
-
+

Fricative
-
+
Nasal +
Lateral +
Appro-
ximant +
 Describe the consonants in these
words, using the chart below. Fill in
all four columns, and put parentheses
around the terms that may be left out
1. Thoroughly
Sou 1 2 3 4
-nd 2. Pen-friend
Voiced or Place of Manner of (Oral or 3. Skinflint
voiceless articulation articulation nasal)
4. Chairperson
5. Singer
6. Pneumonia
7. Quite
8. Psychology
9. University
 Thoroughly /ˈθʌrəlɪ/
 / θ/, /r/, /l/
Sound 1 2 3 4

Voiced or Place of Manner of Oral or

voiceless articulation articulation nasal
/θ/ voiceless dental fricative (Oral)
/r/ voiced alveolar approxima (Oral)
nt
/l/ voiced alveolar lateral (Oral)

Thoroughly Pen-friend Skinflint

Chairperson Singer Pneumonia
Quite Psychology University