SOUND CLASSES The system of English consonants their

SOUND CLASSES The system of English consonants, their classification.

Consonants An indispensable constituent of a consonant is noise. The source of noise is an obstruction. There are the following types of obstruction in the production of consonants: 1) complete occlusion (closure), 2) constriction (narrowing) 3) occlusion-constriction (closure immediately followed by a constriction). The noise produced by the removal of a closure is that of a plosion, the noise resulting from the movement of the air stream in the narrowing is that of friction. The two effects are combined when closure is followed by a narrowing.

4 questions for consonants are: 1. Place 2. Closure 3. Larynx 4. Nose

Place Place- where the vocal tract is constricted and the sound is made. So, according to the place, where sound is made, consonants are classified in following way: 1)bilabial : a consonant made with both lips /m, p, b/; 2)dental: the tongue is moved toward the upper teeth /θ, ð/; 3)labio-dental: Sounds made with the lips and teeth. /f/ and /v/; 4)alveolar: the tip of the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge /t, d, s, z, n, r/; 5)palatal: the tip of the tongue is moved toward the hard palate/s, j, ʤ, ʧ, ʃ/; 6)velar: the body of the tongue is moved toward the soft palate /k, g, /; 7)glottal: the vocal cords are moved together with glottis clossed or narrowed /h/.

Closure Closure(constriction)- how the tongue, tips, etc. restrict the air passage to produce the sound. Consonants are classed into: 1)Stop: the mouth is closed completely. The consonants are called ‘stops’ because the airflow is stopped or ‘plosives’ because they are released with a burst of sound /p, b, t, d, k, g/; 2)Fricative: the mouth is nearly closed, so that the airflows turbulently through the channel and the sound arises from the friction /f, v, s, z, h, ð, θ, ∫, /;

3)Affricate: a stop followed by a fricative/ʧ, ʤ/; 4)Nasal: the mouth is blocked, the air is allowed to pass through the nose /m, n, η/; 5)Lateral: the tip of the tongue contacts the alveolar ridge, and the air escapes from the sides of the tongue /l/; 6)Approximants : the mouth is fairly open. Approximants do not impede the flow of air. Articulators approach each other but not enough to produce a ‘complete’ consonant. They counted as consonants chiefly because of how they function in syllables /w, r, j/.

Larynx Voiceless: the vocal cords are pulled apart, so that they do not vibrate. Voiced: the vocal cords are pressed lightly together, so that they vibrate. The obstruent sounds ( stops, affricates, fricatives) comes in voiced and voiceless varieties. The sonorant sounds(nasals and approximants) are normally voiced.

Nose According to the position of the soft palate, English consonants are subdivided into oral and nasal. The soft palate ( or velum)at the back of the throat can be moved like a valve to open or close the opening to the nose. Oral consonants: the velum is closed /b, d, k, g, l, s, z/; Nasal : the velum is open /n, m, η/.

Examples How we describe consonants: /p/- bilabial, plosive, voiceless and oral. /b/- bilabial, plosive, voiced and oral. /n/-alveolar, nasal, voiced. /ð/-dental, fricative, voiced and oral.