English Consonants

Consonants. In phonetic materials, the noun "consonant" has the following meanings: a consonant sound; a letter representing a consonant sound in writing. Consonants are speech sounds produced by creating an obstruction (completely or partially) in the mouth for the air flow from the lungs, or the mouth passage is so narrow that the air is expelled with audible friction. There are 20 consonant letters in the English alphabet. They represent 24 consonant sounds.

Consonants are generally classified according to three basic dimensions:

1. The state of the glottis. This refers to whether or not the vocal cords vibrate in the production of the sound. If the vocal cords vibrate, the resulting sound will be voiced; if they don’t vibrate, the sound will be voiceless. All vowels of English are voiced.
2. The place of articulation. This refers to the place in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed in the production of the sound. There are different places of articulation:
   • Bilabial: with both lips: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/
   • Labiodental: between lower lip and upper teeth: /f/, /v/
   • Dental/Interdental: between the teeth
     
     
   • Alveolar: the ridge behind the upper front teeth: /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/
   • Post-alveolar: the area between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate: /r/,
     
     
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   • Palatal: hard palate, or 'roof' of the mouth: /j/
   • Velar: the consonants are produced with the back of the tongue towards the hard palate: /k/, /g/,
     
   • Glottal: produced at the glottis, the space between the vocal cords: /h/
3. The manner of articulation. This refers to the way in which the sound is articulated, that is, the type of obstruction involved in its production. There are different manners of articulation in RP English consonants:
   • Plosives: During production of these sounds, the airflow from the lungs is completely blocked at some point, then released. In English, they are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.
   • Fricatives: The flow of air is constricted, but not totally stopped or blocked. In English, these include /f/, /v/, / /, / /, /s/, /z/, / /, / /, and /h/.
   • Affricates: These sounds begin like stops, with a complete blockage of air/closure of the vocal tract, and end with a restricted flow of air like fricatives. English has two affricates - the / / sounds of "church" and the / / of "judge".
   • Nasals: Nasals are sounds made with air passing through the nose. In English, these are /m/, /n/, and / /.
   • Laterals: Lateral consonants allow the air to escape at the sides of the tongue. In English there is only one such sound - /l/.
   • Approximants: In the production of an approximant, one articulator is close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. In English, these are /j/, /w/ and /r/. Approximants /j/ and /w/ are also referred to as semi-vowels.