system of the english

language ii: consonants.

Phonetic symbols.
Comparison with the
language of your community
In this topic I am going to deal with the English consonant system. I will
establish four different sections. First, I will introduce some definitions of
concepts that are relevant to the topic being studied. In my second section
I will deal with the organs of speech and the production of sound. Then I
will move on to present the English consonant system, and how the
different consonants are classified. Finally, in my fourth section I will
establish a comparison between English and Spanish consonant systems
and have reflected on the importance of teaching pronunciation.

Before start dealing with the topic I would like to point out that the model
used when describing the phonological system of the English language is
the so called R.P. English or Received Pronunciation. In, England, this accent,
whose ancestral form developed in the late Middles Ages in London and
the South-East, has come to stand out above all others, conveying
associations of respectable social standing and good education. Hence, R.
P. English, also known as BBC English of Southern English, is the model most
commonly adopted when teaching pronunciation. The reasons for that are
obvious: Received Pronunciation is a standard; most teaching-learning
materials use R.P. English; it is widely intelligible and it does not have any
regional characteristics; and it enjoys social prestige being spoken by
upper-class and educated people.

In my first section I am going to define some concepts which aid

understanding of this topic. First, I would like to establish a difference
between phonetics and phonology. Phonetics is the discipline that deals
with the characteristics of sounds themselves, without any reference to
 e u c o . S ce ep o e cu s e sou d, o u a es e ods
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of description and classification of the sound types that occur in speech
(articulatory, auditory and acoustic; or stages of production). On the
contrary, phonology studies the sounds form the point of view of their
working in the language. It investigates the phonic differences with the
differences in meaning.

Another distinction I would like to point out is that between speech sounds
and phonemes. Phonetics deals with sounds. A speech sound is any
phonetically distinct unit of sound, that is, any unit of sound produced by
speech organs that can be distinguished by the phonetician from all other
units of sounds produced by the speech organs. On the contrary,
phonology deals with phonemes. A phoneme may be described as a
family of sounds consisting of one important sound of the language
(generally the most frequently used member of that family) together with
other related sounds, called allophones, which take its place in particular
sound sequences or under particular conditions of length, stress or
intonation.

In my next section I am going to provide an overview of speech production

and the organs involved in that process. In order to teach and learn a
correct pronunciation, and especially in the case of consonants, it is
essential for us, as second language teachers, to be able to know where
the speech organs are and how they work. In all languages we speak with
air from the lungs. The air-stream released by the lungs undergoes
important modifications in the upper stages of the respiratory tract before
it acquires the quality of speech sound. The air comes up through the
trachea or wind-pipe and then passes through the larynx, which is
commonly called the Adam’s apple. The larynx is formed of muscled and
cartilage, and housed within this structure from back to front are the vocal
cords, which are two small folds of ligament and elastic tissue. The cord
may be brought together or parted, by the rotation of the cartilages
through muscular action. The opening between the cords is known as the
glottis, through which the air can pass freely when we breathe quietly in
and out. When the vocal cords are brought together tightly, no air can
pass. The most important function of the vocal cords is the production of
voice. Voiced sounds are achieved when the vocal cords are vibrating
close together, whereas voiceless sounds are made when the vocal cords
are wide open, the air passes freely between them and there is no
vibration.

The air-stream undergoes further modification according to the shape

within the upper cavities of the pharynx, mouth and nasal cavities. The
pharyngeal cavity extends from the top of the larynx to the region in the
rear of the soft palate. We may find different positions of the soft palate. If
it is lowered, the air escapes through the nose and the mouth and we
obtained nasalized sounds; if it is held in its raised position, there is an oral
escape through the mouth.

The shape of the mouth determines finally the quality of the majority of
our speech sounds. The mouth is limited by the teeth at the front, the hard
palate in the upper part and the soft palate in the rear. The area of the
palate moving backwards from the teeth is known as alveolar ridge. The
remaining organs, lips, tongue and soft palate with its pendent uvula, are
movable. The teeth are used in English to some extent as passive
articulators in sounds such as /t/.

The tongue is the most important of the organs of speech because it has
the greatest variety of movement and flexibility so as to assume a variety
of positions in the articulation. The lips are particularly significant in the
formation of vowel quality and take up different positions. They can be
brought firmly together so that they completely block the mouth, or they
can be pushed forward to a greater or lesser extent.

After clarifying the concepts that are essential for the understanding of this
topic and dealing with the speech organs and the production of sound, I
am going to move to my third section, in which I will look at the English
consonant system. Consonant sounds, from a phonological point of view
are normally placed at the peripheral side of the syllable. Moreover,
consonants are sounds whose production takes place with an obstruction
of the passage of the air through the mouth in one or another place.
Consonants are also said to be less sonorous than vowel sounds.
On the whole, in English there are 24 consonant sounds, which are
represented in spelling by 21 letters. Consonants fall into several different
interesting categories depending on the voice, the manner of articulation
or the place of articulation. Thus, in the following lines, I shall describe
consonant sounds, first in terms of the use of voice and then considering
the manner of articulation as a basis and the place of articulation in a
related way.

· According to the use of the voice, English consonant sounds are grouped
into two categories. On the one hand, voiced consonants, whose
production takes place with a vibration of the vocal cords and examples of
them would be /b/ as in bad, /d/ as in do, /g/ as in girl, /v/ as in very, /z/ as
in zoo, / ζ / in words such as pleasure or measure, and so on. Voiced
consonants are / b, d, g, v, ∂, z, r, ζ , dζ, l, m, n, ŋ, ј, w /.

On the other hand voiceless consonants are those which are pronounced
without vibration of the vocal cords. This is the case of consonants such as
/p/ in paper, /t/ in tall, /k/ in key, /f/ in words such as fine , /Ө/ in think or
thorough, the consonant /s/ as in assess, etc. Voiceless consonants are /p,
t, k, f, Ө, s, h, ∫, t∫ /

· If we take into account the manner of articulation, that is to say, how a

consonant sound is produced, we may distinguish seven main classes in
the English language: plosives, affricate, nasal, lateral, rolled, fricative and
semivowels. From now on a detailed description of these seven groups will
be conveyed focusing at the same time on the place of articulation, which
will provide us with a complete and global picture of the English consonant
system.

v Plosive consonant sounds are formed by completely closing the air

passage and suddenly removing the obstacle so that the air escapes
making an explosive sound or plosion. In English there are six plosive
consonants. Some of them are bilabial, that is, the sound is produced with
the two lips. This is the case of /p/ in words like pupils and /b/ in those like
boat or Bible. Some of them are alveolar, that is, they are pronounced with
the tip of the tongue against the alveolar-ridge. It is the case of /t/ in task
or /d/ in difficult. There are also velar plosives in English, produced when
the back of the tongue is on or near the soft palate. For instance, the sound
/k/, whose most frequent spelling can be k as in king or c as in cat; and the
sound /g/, found in words such as good, gate or get.

v Fricative consonants are formed by a narrowing of the air passage at

some point to such an extent that the air escaping produces an audible
friction. There are ten fricative consonants in the English language. Some of
them are labiodentals. It is the case of the sound /f/ in words like fur, or
laugh, which is voiceless, and the sound /v/ found in words like save,
average or nephew, which is voiced.

Other fricative consonants are dental, that is, they are articulated by the
tip of the tongue against the upper teeth. This is the case of the voiceless
consonant sound /Ө/ found in words like think always spelt with the
consonant cluster th; and also with this spelling, the voiceless sound /∂/
found in words like rather.

Another group of fricative consonants are the alveolar fricatives, such as

the voiceless consonant /s/ as in so and the voiced one /z/ as in zoo.

Palato-alveolar fricative consonant sounds are those articulated by the

blade of the tongue against the alveolar-ridge. There are two palato-
alveolar consonants in English: one of them is the voiceless sound / ∫ /
which is normally represented in spelling by the consonant cluster sh, as in
she, the ending –ssion such as in passion, and with the spelling ch in words
like machine; and the sound / ζ / found in examples such as measure,
visual or seizure

Another sound /h/is a voiceless glottal fricative. The mouth is held in a

vowel position and the air is pushed quickly through the glottis. It is found
in words like help, whole,etc.

The last consonant that can be included within this group is the sound /r/
which is also rolled. This sound is articulated with the tip of the tongue
against the back part of the alveolar-ridge, then being post-alveolar. It is
graphically represented by the letters r or rr in words such as hurry or story.
However when the grapheme r appears at the end of a word, it is not
pronounced, unless it is followed by a vowel sound within speech. And so, if
the word car is not followed by a vowel, it is pronounced /ka:/ and not
/ka:r/.

v Affricate consonants are a combination of plosives and fricatives. Air

pressure is first built up, and it is released through a narrow passageway
like a fricative. There are two main affricate consonant sounds: the sound /
tζ /, found in words such as chain, furniture or question; and the sound / dζ
/, which appears in words with spelling j like James, others spelt with g like
giant or George and also the cluster dg in words like judgement.

v Nasal consonants are produced when the air passes through the nasal
cavity since the oral passage is closed. All nasal consonants are voiced.
There are three nasal sounds in the English consonant system: the bilabial
nasal /m/ in words like man; the alveolar /n/ found in words such as no or
onion; and the velar / ŋ /, which has a pronunciation similar to /m/ and /n/
and whose main spelling are the clusters ng in words like sing and the
consonant cluster nk as in sink.

v Lateral /l/ is produced when the air stream flows along the sides of the
tongue, while the front makes contact with the teeth. It is found in words
such as holly or lorry. Two varieties of /l/ can be distinguished: clear /l/,
which is characterised by having a relatively front vowel resonance and
occurs only before vowels and before the sound /j/ such as in ladder or
value; and dark /l/, which has a relatively back vowel resonance and is
used before all other consonants, in word such as bell or tell.

v The sound /r/, which appears in words like red, rat or arrive is classified
according to the manner of articulation as a rolled consonant. It is
produced by a rapid succession of taps of some elastic part of the speech
mechanism.

In order to end up with this classification of English consonants, I am going

to deal with the so-called semivowel sounds. English semivowels may be
defined as independent vowel glides in which the speech organs start by
forming a weakly articulated close vowel and immediately move to
another sound of equal or greater prominence. Despite the fact that
semivowels are, in phonetic terms, generally vocalic, they are treated
within the consonant class, mainly because their function is that of a
consonant sound being preceded by the indefinite article a, and the weak
form of the definite article /ə/, and they have a peripheral or marginal
situation within the syllable. There are three semivowels, or what is the
same, approximants, in English: the sounds /w/,/j/ and sometimes /r/.

The semivowel /w/ is represented in spelling by the letter w, when it occurs

in initial positions like in want, wine or watch; or when the spelling w is
preceded by a consonant as in twelve or twenty. This sound is also
represented by the consonant cluster u+q and u+g as it is seen in quick or
anguish.

The sound /j/ is normally represented in spelling as y in initial position,

found in words such as yea; it is also found in medial position in words like
tedious or companion, and sometimes this sound also appears before the
sound /u:/., for instance in the words like university. This semivowel is
usually called yot.

Finally, the sound /r/ is considered a semivowel especially when the

grapheme r is placed in unstressed position in words such as very or more.

After having conveyed a detailed classification of the English consonant

system, I am going to move to my fourth section and explore the main
differences between the English and the Spanish consonant system. The
differences between the English and the Spanish consonant system are
striking and they must be pointed out in order to help our students to
attain a better pronunciation of the foreign language.

As it was said at the very beginning, there are 27 consonants used in

spoken Spanish and 24 in spoken English. Among them, there are only 11
similar phonemes.

As far as the syllable structure is concerned, English consonants occur in

many positions not found in Spanish, especially in final position and
found in both languages, such it is the case of /pl/ in plan or plano.
Nevertheless, a lot of English consonant clusters never appear in Spanish
like /sm/ in words like small or smoke or / Ө /, in words like thread or throw.
These clusters present difficulties for Spanish learners of English, not only
as far as pronunciation is concerned, but also in terms of written spelling.
And so for instance we tend to add a vowel /e/ at the beginning of those
clusters beginning with /s/: instead of pronouncing street /stri:t/, we will
say /estri:t/. In addition, Spanish learners normally delete one of the two /s/
in the cluster /s/+consonant+/s/ as in the word crisps /krisps/. They also
delete the final consonant or insert a vowel in final clusters with t or d. This
is frequent in the pronunciation of the simple past of regular verbs, where
we tend to delete the /t/ in forms such as stopped; the /d/ in forms like
arrived or simply pronounced an /e/ sound.

Some clusters may be formed with the final elements of a word followed
by the initial elements of the next. For example ‘Next Sunday’ / kst s /. These
phonological characteristic of the English language poses many
difficulties for Spanish students of English.

Other frequent problems for Spanish learners regarding English

consonants are, for instance, the difficulty for us to aspirate the English
sounds / p, t, k /. It is also confusing the difference between /v/ and /b/
since it does not exist in Spanish. So, though we say in Spanish vena and
balon, both pronounced with the same consonant sound, we have to
pronounce in English vein /v/ and ball /b/.

The same case takes place with the difference between the English sounds
/s/ and /z/. We must say secret and zed, being voiceless in the first
example and voiced in the second. This is especially complicated when
these sounds are found in the last syllable of the word, for instance, in the
pronunciation of plurals or the third person singular of English verbs, since
Spanish learners tend to use the sound /s/ in all the occasions.

Another difference that must be enhanced by us, as teachers of English, is

that the sounds /t/ and /d/ are not similar in Spanish and in English. In fact,
they are dental in Spanish and alveolar in English. The best way to show
this to our students is by means of examples. They have to notice that the
/t/ in tea is quite different fro the /t/ in té; or the /d/ in day highly differs
from that of Spanish día.

Finally, the sound /l/ is always clear in Spanish. We notice that in words
such as lapiz or sal. However, in English the /l/ sound can be either clear as
in link or dark as in little.

These differences between both consonant systems cause problems to

Spanish learners of the English language. So these pronunciation
differences should be pointed during the class, what will result in a better
pronunciation competence on the part of pupils. In the English class
teachers should pay attention to pronunciation. It is not a question of
dramatising any minor error, but only those which affect understanding.
We must create a relaxing and motivating atmosphere which will
undermine our students’ feelings of shame and frustration when dealing
with a language different from their own one.

In An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English for TESOL, PARKER and

GRAHAM stated that “it is impossible for the foreigner to grasp the sound
system of English” basing on the principle that English is a phonetic
language. The view of Parker and Graham is too extreme, first of all
because, as it is stated by the General Law of Spanish Education, it is not of
the utmost importance to speak English with perfect R.P. English or another
native accent. What is crucial is that we can understand and be
understood. On the other hand, DAVID BRAZIL in his work Pronunciation for
Advanced Learners of English also affirms that “good pronunciation is
taken to be pronunciation which does not put a barrier between you and
your listener”.

Therefore, we, as English teachers, must be aware of the problems that our
pupils, as Spanish speakers, will encounter with the second language and
how they can be addressed. We know that our pupils automatically
impose their native sound system pronunciation, stress, intonation and so
on, on the new language. They are not aware of the differences until the
teachers point them out. The problem may increase when we are dealing
with students from Extremadura or other communities such as Andalucia,
where speakers tend to delete the final consonant of the majority of words
and so they do in English. This is the case of the final ‘s’ in people from
Extremadura.

To sum up, in this topic I have dealt with the English consonant system. I
have established four different sections. First, I introduced some definitions
of concepts that are relevant to the topic then I dealt with the organs of
speech and the production of sound. Then I moved on to present the
English consonant system, and how the different consonants are classified.
Finally, in my fourth section I established a comparison between the
English and Spanish consonant systems and have reflected on the
importance of teaching pronunciation.

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