Understanding Consonant Sounds: Articulation and Classification
Consonants
Producing a consonant involves some kind of constriction above the level of the glottis. Consonants are classified according to three parameters:
Voicing
When the vocal folds vibrate, we get a voiced sound (vowels and some consonants); if not, then the sound is called voiceless.
Voiced: /b, d, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, d͡ʒ, m, n, ŋ, l, r, j, w/
Voiceless: /p, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, t͡ʃ, h/
Place of Articulation
This specifies where the airstream is constricted. According to this parameter, we distinguish among: bilabials, labiodentals, dentals, alveolar, post-alveolar, velars, and glottal.
Bilabial
The lips constrain the airstream /p, b/
Alveolar
The constriction is produced by bringing the tip of the tongue into contact with the teeth ridge or alveolum /t, d, n/
Velar
The constriction involves the back of the tongue, which is brought into contact with the soft palate or velum /k, g/
Dental
The tongue touches the teeth, and thus, a constriction happens /θ, ð/
Labiodentals
The air is forced between the upper lip and the lower front teeth /f, v/
Post-alveolar
The constriction is produced by bringing the front or middle part of the tongue into contact with the palate after the alveolum /ʃ, ʒ/
Glottal
The voiceless, glottal, fricative /h/: the vocal folds constrict the airflow but are not close enough together to vibrate.
Other places of articulation (palatal, uvular, and pharyngeal) are also distinguished, but English has no sounds with this place of articulation.
Manner of Articulation
It refers to how the airstream is constricted. According to this parameter, we distinguish among: stop (plosives), fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals, and approximant.
Stops (Plosives, Occlusives)
Stops involve a complete blockage of the airstream, albeit one of very short duration /p, t, k, b, d, g/
Stops aspiration: Voiceless stops (p, t, k) are followed by a short aspiration or delayed vowel onset at the beginning of stressed syllables. Aspirated stops are indicated with a superscript (ʰ) [pʰ][tʰ][kʰ]. When preceded by (s) /sp/, /st/, /sk/, they remain unaspirated.
Fricatives
Consonants produced with partial obstruction of the airstream /s, z, f, v, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ/. Meanwhile, the stop involves a complete closure, the fricatives only a partial closure. Furthermore, one can prolong a fricative until one runs out of breath, whereas a stop is an instantaneous sound.
Affricates
These sounds consist of a stop immediately followed by a fricative with the same or similar point of articulation /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/
Nasals
During the articulation, the velum is lowered, allowing air to exit through the nose /m, n, ŋ/
Laterals (the L sounds)
The tongue is closed tightly against the alveolum, but the air leaves through the corners of the mouth. There are two variants of /l/:
- At the end of a word or before a consonant when the /l/ is pronounced, the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate (well, child): dark l.
- At the beginning of a word or after consonants, this does not happen (like, play): clear l.
Approximant (the R sounds)
The L and R sounds taken together are known as liquids. Dental or alveolar, front. In English, approximant: the tip of the tongue is close to the teeth ridge but not quite touching it. In RP, the R is only pronounced before vowels (red, rich); after vowels (car, bird), it is not pronounced (non-rhotic), unless a word beginning with a vowel follows (linking R): drive the r away. In American English, the R is always pronounced (rhotic). It also alternates the approximant with the flap, which replaces /t, d/ between vowels: city, dirty.
The IPA Chart
Now we can give a complete characterization of the sounds considered so far. This time, we specify:
- Voicing
- Place of articulation
- Manner of articulation
i.e.:
- [s] voiceless, alveolar, fricative
- [t] voiceless, alveolar, stop
- [b] voiced, bilabial, stop
Other Consonants (j, w)
They are usually called semi-vowels because they are articulated like vowels but positioned in words like consonants. They appear before vowels, are preceded by ‘a’ not ‘an’, and ‘the’ is pronounced as [ðə] not [ði]
- [w] voiced, bilabial, approximant: wet, similar to [u]
- [j] voiced, palatal, approximant: yet, similar to [i]