TOPIC 8: ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM II. CONSONANTS. PHONETIC SYMBOLS. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS WITH THE SPANISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM.

INTRODUCTION: I will start telling you about the justification of this topic. According to our current b) Organs involved in the production of speech sound. Speech organs can be classified
legislation based on LOMLOE from 2020, the teaching of a foreign language must be based on the according to whether they are movable or fixed. While the vocal cords, the soft palate, the tongue
communicative approach and communication must be the essential part of a language learning and the lips are movable, the other organs of speech are fixed. The movable organs of speech can
process, in this way the methodology used for the teaching of aforeign language must be based on this act independently of each other and their movements can be combined in different ways. For that,
communicative approach to make our students not only knowing about language but knowing how to it is possible to make a very large number of different speech sounds. In any language, however, the
use it. For this reason, this topic is very important to make our students able to produce the correct number of combinations is not very large. Each organ of speech contributes to the formation of
sound and pronunciation when they use the English language. Once the justification is done, we are speech sounds:
ready to start… - The lungs: their function is to set the air inside in motion. Most speech sounds are produced
when we breath out.
1. THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM - The larynx: it’s above the trachea, and it is the place where the vocal cords are located. Inside
The English phonological system is rather complex because it entails many different aspects, in the the larynx we can find the vocal cords, which can be brought together and place edge to edge in the
same way, it differs from the Spanish language to a large extent. For this reason, we will try to be dealt middle of the air passage, or be drawn apart leaving a wide opening between them. This opening
with it deeply. is termed the glottis.
First of all, we are going to make some distinctions between concepts we are going to use through the - Vocal cords: they may be open or closed and this will produce a very different type of sound. If
topic: they are open, they do not vibrate and the resulting sound is called voiceless sound. If they are
- Phonemes: any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one close, the air stream passing through them makes them vibrate and producing voiced sounds.
word from another. They are finite number of sounds selected from all the possible sounds a human - Cavities: above the pharynx we find 3 cavities which amplify the sound and may change the
being articulate. quality: The Pharynx; the oral cavity: the mouth; The nasal cavity: the nose.
- Phonetics: it is the study of speech sounds. It is the science that includes the perception, - Articulators: these are the organs which are directly responsible for the articulatory
transmission and reception of those sounds excluding linguistics considerations. It provides different characteristics of speech sounds.
ways to describe the sounds. The IPA is an international phonetic association whose aim is to create a - Tongue: is capable of making many movements, and modifying the breath stream in numerous
set of symbols that represent each sound of all languages.
ways. It plays the chief part in the formation of vowel sounds, when its different positions alter the
- Phonology: it’s the branch of linguistics that deals with the systems of sounds, including or shape of the resonating chamber of the mouth and give rise to vowel sounds of various acoustic
excluding phonetics, within a language or between different languages. Its aim is to discover the rules qualities.
which organise sounds into a language system. It studies the way in which a particular language
- Lips: can articulate sounds themselves, and their movement can be combined with that of
organizes speech sounds into a system.
other organs of speech in the formation of both consonants and vowels.
- Palate: it is the roof of the mouth and separates the mouth cavity from the nasal one. The soft
1.1. ARTICULATION OF SPEECH SOUND palate is the only part used in the production of vowels.
How are speech sounds made? We use our tongue and lips, however, much we may change the position
and shape of our tongue, lips, that is not in itself sufficient to produce any audible sound. Clearly,
1.2. CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS
something else is needed. What happens in most cases when we speak is that a stream of air is
Speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants, the main difference being one of sonority;
breathed out from the lungs, and this stream of air, when passing through the narrow spaces in the
vowels are those sounds which have most carrying power.
human throat and mouth, makes a sound. Now the noise of the wind is not always the same, by
Vowel is a voiced sound in the pronunciation of which the air passes through the mouth in a
modifying the shape of the passage through which the air passes when we speak, we can make a number
of different sounds. Together, the organs situated at these points constitute the speech organs. continuous stream, there being no obstruction and no narrowing such as would produce
audible friction.
a) Types of phonetics description. This process whereby speech sounds are produced can be divided
Consonant is a sound accompanied or unaccompanied by voice, in which there is either a
into three different
complete or a partial obstruction, which prevents the air from issuing freely from the mouth.
phonetic description of sounds:
- Articulatory description: It provides information about the organs involved in theproduction
of sounds.
- Acoustic description: It gives information about the characteristics of the sound waves
that are created in the production of speech sounds.
- Auditory description: it provides information about the way speech sounds are perceives
by the listener.
2. THE ENGLISH CONSONANT SYSTEM. 2.3. VOICING.
There are 24 consonant sounds in most English accents, conveyed by 21 letters Voicing is also primary characteristic of each consonant as it states whether or not the vocal cords
of the regular English alphabet. The twenty-four distinct consonant phonemes can be are vibrating when the airflow moves from the lungs to the oral or nasal passages.
distinguished along three main dimensions: place of articulation (where the sound is made), and Voiced consonants: /b, d, g, d3, v, ð, z, 3, m, n, ŋ, w, j, r, l/.
manner of articulation (how the airflow is affected), voicing (whether the vocal cords are Voiceless consonants: /p, t, k, tʃ, f, Ø, s, ʃ, h/.
vibrating) Therefore, in phonetic terms, it is more accurate to use the terms lenis and fortis rather than the
2.1. PLACE OF ARTICULATION. terms voiced and voiceless in order to categorize the two sets of voicing. Thus, it may be important
Consonants can be classified according to their place of articulation, considering the place where to define /s/, for instance as fortis, and /z/ as lenis.
the tongue lies in order to produce sound:
• Bilabial, articulated by the two lips: /p, b, m, w/. 3. ENGLISH VS. SPANISH CONSONANT SYSTEMS: MAIN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES.
• Labiodental, articulated by the lower lip against the upper teeth: /f, v/. We find important differences and some similarities. Thus, regarding quantity, the English
consonant system counts on 24 consonants whereas Spanish counts on just 19. Regarding the
• Dental, articulated by the tip and rims of the tongue against the upper teeth: /Ø, ð/.
place of articulation, physically, the speech organs are equally distributed in both systems.
• Alveolar, articulated by the blade, or tip and blade of the tongue against the alveolarridge: /t,
However, regarding manner of articulation, there are relevant contrasts in the way consonant
d, n, l, s, z/.
• Post-alveolar, articulated by the tip and rims of the tongue against the back part of the alveolar sounds are produced in both systems. Regarding voicing, we must note the distinction between
voiced and voiceless consonants is a primary characteristic of English consonants, not being the
ridge: /r/.
case for Spanish (except for dialectical variations). This is also the case of aspiration, which is
• Palato-alveolar, articulated by the blade, or the tip and blade of the tongue against the primarily characteristic of the English phonological system.
alveolar ridge and there is at the same time a raising of the front of the tongue towards the hard Another feature that helps contrast English and Spanish is positional restrictions, by which all
palate: /ʃ, 3, tʃ, dʒ/. the English consonants, except for /h/, may be in final syllable position whereas for Spanish only
• Palatal, articulated by the front of the tongue against the hard palate: /j/. 7 consonants may appear in this position.
• Velar, articulated by the back of the tongue against the central and forward part of the soft Therefore, the most frequent consonants in Spanish are respectively /s, n, r, d, t, l/, and in
palate: /k, g, ŋ/. English, they are /d, l, n, r, s, t/. Besides, consonants /d/ and /h/ are quite frequent in English due
• Glottal, articulated in the glottis: /h/. to its realizations in the indefinite article the, and the demonstrative adjectives this, that, these,
2.2. MANNER OF ARTICULATION. those.
Consonants can be classified taking into account the state of the air-passage at the place of As for the vowels, Spanish has a smaller range of vowels phonetically speaking (5 vowels, whereas
articulation. The obstruction made by the organs may be total, intermittent, partial, or may English has 12). Moreover, there are no half-close / open vowels. But, most important of all, Spanish
merely constitute a narrowing sufficient to cause friction. vowels lack quantity; there are no long or short vowels in our language. Regarding diphthongs, one
Complete closure major difference has already been put forward: Spanish diphthongs can be falling or rising, and the
• Plosive. They are formed by a complete closure of the air-passage at some point of thevocal tract; glide is completed. On the contrary, English diphthongs are falling and the glide is not completed.
the air is compressed and on release of the closure it issues suddenly, making an explosive sound or From a prosodic point of view, the major difference lies in the fact that English is a stress-timed
“plosion”: /p, b, t, d, k, g/. language, whereas Spanish is a syllable-timed language.
• Affricate. They are formed as plosive consonants but followed by a friction made at the same place
of articulation: /tʃ, dʒ/. CONCLUSION: In dealing with the consonants our students must first learn how each one is
• Nasal. A complete closure in the mouth, the soft palate being lowered so that the air is free to mainly distinguished from the others, the features which it must have so that it will not be
pass out through the nose: /m,n, ŋ /. mistaken for any other consonant. This is a very complex field for Spanish students since they have
Intermittent closure to recognize and master a number of sounds, which are strange to them. Many and varied activities
• Roll. A series of rapid intermittent closures or taps made by a flexible organ on a firmer surface. The can be exploited in the second language lesson, which range from recognizing individual sounds
tongue tip taps against the alveolar ridge as in red, or the uvula taps against the back of the tongue as to working with songs.
in car. /r/
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Partial closure
• Lateral. A partial closure is made at some point in the mouth, the air stream being allowed to • Rogers, H. The Sounds of Language. An Introduction toPhonetics. London:
escape on one or both sides of the contact: /l/. Longman, 2000.
Narrowing • www.englishpronunciationmadrid.com
• Fricative. Two organs approximate to such a extent that the air-stream passes betweenthem with
friction: /f, v, Ø, ð, s, z, ʃ, 3, h/. • https://dictionary.cambridge.org
Semi-vowels
• Semi-vowel. A voiced gliding sound in which the speech organs start by producing a weakly
articulated vowel followed by another sound: /j, w/. Despite the fact that semi- vowels are in
phonetic terms generally vocalic, they are treated within the consonant class mainly because their
function is consonantal rather than vowel-like.