Elements of English Consonants (Lecture)

Elements of
English Consonants

By KHO CHUNG WEI

In this lecture, you will:

• Describe and produce English consonants

  • Stop consonants

  • Nasals

  • Fricatives

  • Approximants

TSLB3523

English Phonetics and Phonology

Multiple Choice

Consonants can be defined as

• letters in the alphabet excluding a, e, i, o, u

• sounds made by blocking the flow of air coming out from the lungs

Articulation of Consonants

Manner of Articulation

• ​how the sound is produced

• the interaction between the various articulators and the airstream

• ​listed on the vertical axis of a consonant grid​

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Place of Articulation

• where the sound is produced

• ​listed on the horizontal axis of a consonant grid

Force / Energy of Articulation

• ​can be strong (fortis) or weak (lenis)

• fortis preceded lenis in each pair in a consonant grid

English consonant grid

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Multiple Select

Which of the following are places of articulation?

• nasal

• bilabial

• alveolar

• approximant

• fortis

Multiple Select

Which of the following are manner of articulation?

• dental

• approximant

• palatal

• lenis

• plosive

Multiple Select

Which of the following are articulated with more force (fortis)?

• /p/

• /b/

• /k/

• /g/

• /h/

Manner of Articulation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

• Stricture = narrawing of the vocal tract which affects the airstream

Complete closure

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Stops

1. ​Velum is raised to block the airstream so that there's no escape of air through the nose.

2. The compressed air is released by parting the articulators:

   1. ​quickly, releasing the air with explosive force (plosion) - plosives

   2. relatively slowly, producing friction at the same point of articulation (homorganic friction) - affricates

[t]

[ʤ] & [ʧ]

Stops

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetic affricates (affrication)

= Resulting from a sequence of two homorganic consonants:

1. /tr/ try

2. /dr/ dry

3. /ts/ cats

4. /dz/ lads

5. /pf/ helpful

6. /bv/ obvious

Stops

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Aspiration

• Aspiration [^h] occurs when /p t k/ are initial in a stressed syllable, and takes the form of a delay in the onset of voicing, an effect often compared to a little puff of air

• In com'petitor [kəmˈp^het.ɪ.tə] aspiration is heard on the /p/, but much less so on the unstressed /k/ or the two /t/; compare 'competent [ˈk^hɒm.pɪ.tənt]

Stops

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Pre-glottalisation (glottal reinforcement)

• English syllable-final fortis stops are accompanied by a reinforcing glottal stop at or before the hold stage

• Regularly glottalised before another

  consonant, e.g. watchdog [ˈwɒ^ʔtʃ.dɒɡ]

• Most frequently glottalised consonant

  is /t/, e.g. it, bit, get, let, at, that, got, lot, not (and contracted

  forms: don’t, can’t, aren’t, isn’t, etc.), what, put, but, might, right, quite,

  out, about

​laptop

Complete closure

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Nasals​

1. ​Complete closure in the oral cavity

2. The velum is lowered allowing airstream to escape through the nose.

​Trills

• Active articulator strikes the passive articulator with a rapid beating (percussive) action.

Taps

• ​A single rapid percussive movement, i.e. one beat of a trill

​

​

Close approximation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Fricatives

1. ​Articulators are close to each other but don't make a complete closure.

2. The airstream passes through a narrowing.

3. It produces audible hiss-like friction.​

[s]

Open approximation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

(Central) Approximants

• ​The space between the articulators is wide enough to allow the airstream through with no audible friction

• Also known as semi-vowel​

​

​Say /iː/ quickly followed directly by /es/ in this way: /iː es/. Which English word does it sound like?

Now, say a rapid /uː​/ followed by /et/. Which English word does it sound like?

[ɹ] /r/

Open approximation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Lateral (Approximants)

• ​Centre of the tongue is raised to form a closure with the roof of the mouth but the sides of the tongue are lowered (pulled in and down)

​

​

Manner of Articulation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

​Obstruents = denote the obstruction of airflow

Sonorants = denote a continuous unobstructed airflow in the vocal tract

Place of Articulation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

• Active articulator = the organ that moves

• Passive articulator = target of the articulation​

• Double articulation = 2 places of articulation​, e.g. labial-velar /w/

Force / Energy of Articulation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Lenis consonants (stops and fricatives) are potentially voiced.

• Medial: full voicing

• Initial: some voicing is lost

• Final: typically almost totally devoiced

Force / Energy of Articulation

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Name of the English Consonants

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English Phonetics and Phonology

• Consonants are usually named according to:

  • voiced / voiceless or force/energy of articulation (when there is a pair)

  • place of articulation

  • manner of articulation

• Example:

  • /p/ = voiceless bilabial plosive / fortis bilabial plosive

  • ​/ŋ/ = velar nasal

  • /z/ = voiced alveolar fricative / lenis alveolar fricative

Symbols for Transcribing Consonants

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Description & Production of English Consonants

English Phonetics and Phonology TSLB3523

Describing and Producing Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Respiratory System

1. The rib cage is lifted upwards and outwards. There is more space in the chest. The lungs expand and take in more air.

2. The rib cage is allowed to return to its rest position slowly. Some of the air is expelled and used to produce speech sounds.

3. To make the egressive pulmonic airstream continue without breathing in again (e.g. saying a long sentence), rib cage is pressed down on the lungs so that more air is expelled.​

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Describing and Producing Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Phonatory System

The egressive pulmonic airstream is obstructed in the larynx by moving the vocal folds into different positions (glottal settings):

• ​Wide apart. The vocal folds are wide apart for normal breathing and during voiceless consonant.

• Narrow glottis.​ The glottis is narrowed and air passes through, resulting in a voiceless glottal fricative sound.

TSLB3523

English Phonetics and Phonology

Describing and Producing Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Phonatory System

The egressive pulmonic airstream is obstructed in the larynx by moving the vocal folds into different positions (glottal settings):​

• Vocal fold vibration.​ The edges of the vocal folds touch or nearly touch each other. The egressive pulmonic airstream pushes the vocal folds apart so that a little air escapes. As the air flows quickly past the edges of the vocal folds, the folds are brought together again. This opening and closing happens very rapidly and is repeated regularly (about 200-300 times per second in women's voice and 100-150 times per second in men's)

• Vocal folds tightly closed.​ The vocal folds are firmly pressed together so that air cannot pass between them, resulting in a glottal plossive.

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English Phonetics and Phonology

Describing and Producing Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Phonatory System

Variation in voicing (phonation)

• ​Variations in intensity: High intensity for shouting, low intensity for speaking quietly

• ​Variations in frequency: When vocal folds vibrate more rapidly, voicing is at higher frequency.

• ​​Variations in quality: Different-sounding voice qualities, e.g. harsh, breathy, murmured, creaky

TSLB3523

English Phonetics and Phonology

Multiple Choice

Which of the following will produce a voiced consonant?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following will produce a voiceless consonant?