/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ Phonetics & Phonology

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MODULE 3
English consonants

Instructor: Lam Hoang Phuc

3.1. Respiration and the larynx

▪ Normally, speech sounds are produced through egressive

pulmonic airstream, which is the air that is made to move
out of the lungs.
▪ This air flow is normally obstructed in some way to make
speech sounds. The obstructions in the vocal tract are
called strictures.
▪ One place where we can make a stricture is in the larynx.
3.1. Respiration and the larynx

▪ Inside the larynx, there are two thick flaps of muscle which
are rather like a pair of lips. These are called vocal folds
(vocal cords).
▪ The vocal folds can be moved apart or together. The word
glottis is used to refer to the opening between the folds.
▪ The vocal folds have four easily recognisable states. Refer
to pages 22-24, Fig. 10, Fig. 11, Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 for more
information.
▪ The pressure of the air below the vocal folds (subglottal
pressure) can be varied in terms of intensity, frequency
and quality. For more information, refer to page 25.
3.2. Voicing and other variables in the
production of consonants
1. Voicing:
o Voiceless: The vocal folds are spread apart and the air
passes between them unimpeded.
o Voiced: The vocal folds are drawn together and the air
repeatedly pushes them apart as they passes through,
which cause vibration.
▪ Alternatively, some phoneticians classify consonants
through force of articulation and call voiceless sounds
fortis (meaning ‘strong’) and voiced sounds lenis (meaning
‘weak’).
▪ However, this approach to classifying consonants has not
really been proved as force of articulation is very difficult
to define and measure.
3.2. Voicing and other variables in the
production of consonants
2. Place of articulation: the place where the airflow is
obstructed.
🡪 Bilabial / Labiodental / Dental / Alveolar / Post-alveolar /
Palatal / Velar / Glottal
3. Manner of articulation: the way in which the airflow is
obstructed.
🡪 Plosive / Fricative / Affricate / Nasal / Lateral
approximant / Approximant
▪ Refer to Table 1 on page 52 for the complete chart of
English consonants.
3.3. Plosives

▪ The articulation of plosive sounds consists of four phases:

i. Closing phase: the articulators move to form a stricture.
The stricture is total (allowing no air to escape).
ii. Compression phase: the air is compressed as it is stopped
from escaping.
iii. Release phase: the articulators move to allow the air to
escape. If the air behind the stricture is still under
pressure when the plosive is released, a loud noise (called
plosion) will probably be produced.
iv. Post-release phase: what happens immediately after (iii).
▪ There may be voicing during part or all of the plosive
articulation.
3.3. Plosives

❖ English plosives 🡪 refer to table on page 29

Bilabial: p, b 🡪 the lips are pressed together (fig. 15).
Alveolar: t, d 🡪 the tongue blade is pressed against the
alveolar ridge ( Fig. 16).
Velar: k, ɡ 🡪 the back of the tongue is pressed against the
area where the hard palate ends and the soft palate (velum)
begins (Fig. 17).
▪ p, t, k (fortis) aspiration sẽ xảy ra are always voiceless; the
voicing of b, d, ɡ (lenis) varies depending on the places
they occur:
o At the beginning of a word (initial position)
o Between other sounds (medial position)
o At the end of a word (final position)
3.3. Plosives

❖ English plosives 🡪 refer to table on page 29

▪ Initial position (CV):
o During the compression phase, there is normally very
little voicing in the slow and careful pronunciation of b,
d, ɡ and may be no voicing at all in rapid speech.
o The plosion of p, t, k is audible and in the post-release
phase, the air escapes through the vocal folds, making a
sound like h that creates a delay between the plosion
and the onset of voicing. This is called aspiration.
o The plosion of b, d, ɡ is weak and there is no aspiration
afterwards.
🡪 p, t, k is distinguished from b, d, ɡ by aspiration, not
voicing.
3.3. Plosives

❖ English plosives 🡪 refer to table on page 29

▪ Initial position (CV):
o b, d, ɡ cannot be preceded by any consonant.
o p, t, k can be preceded by s. In this case, p, t, k are
unaspirated and have the sound quality that is
extremely similar to b, d, ɡ.
3.3. Plosives

❖ English plosives 🡪 refer to table on page 29

▪ Medial position (VCV): may have the characteristics either
of final or of initial plosives, depending on contexts (mainly
whether the preceding and following vowels are stressed).
▪ Final position (VC):
o b, d, ɡ normally have little voicing at the beginning of
the compression phase.
o The plosion of p, t, k and b, d, ɡ is very weak and often
not audible.
o The vowels preceding p, t, k are much shorter than
those preceding b, d, ɡ. This effect is called pre-fortis
clipping and is most noticeable when the vowels are
long vowels or diphthongs.
3.4. Fricatives

▪ Fricative sounds are made when air escapes through a

narrow passage, producing a hissing sound.
▪ Fricatives are continuant sounds as we can continue
making them without interruption as long as we have
enough air in our lungs.
▪ Fortis fricatives produce louder friction noise than lenis
fricatives.
▪ Lenis fricatives have very little or no voicing in initial and
final positions, but may be voiced when they occur
between voiced sounds.
▪ Fortis fricatives shorten preceding vowels in the same way
as fortis plosives.
3.4. Fricatives

❖ English fricatives: 🡪 refer to table on page 40

Labiodental: f, v 🡪 the lower lip is in contact with the upper
teeth (Fig. 18). The fricative noise is normally weak and is
scarcely audible in the case of v.
Dental: θ, ð 🡪 the tongue is placed behind the teeth with the
tip touching the inner side of the lower teeth ( Fig. 19). The
fricative noise is weak.
Alveolar: s, z 🡪 same place as t, d; the air escapes along the
centre of the tongue. The fricative noise is generally intense.
Post-alveolar: ʃ, ʒ 🡪 the tongue is in contact with an area
slightly further back than s, z. (Fig. 20). The air passage is a
little wider than s, z. Lips are rounded. The fricative noise is
generally intense.
3.4. Fricatives

❖ English fricatives: 🡪 refer to table on page 40

▪ f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ can be found in initial, medial and final
positions; for ʒ, initial and final positions are rare.
Glottal: h 🡪 the narrowing that produces the friction noise is
between the vocal folds (glottis).
o h always has the quality of the vowel it precedes, thus h
can be considered a voiceless vowel with the quality of
the voiced vowel that follows it.
o h usually occurs in initial and medial positions. In the
latter case, it is voiced, and the result is a slightly
fricative sound called breathy voice.
o h can be omitted in normal speech.
3.5. Affricates

▪ Affricate begin as plosives and end as fricatives. The

plosive is followed immediately by fricative noise.
▪ The plosive and the following fricative must be made with
the same articulators, i.e. they must be homorganic.
▪ This still leaves the possibility of quite a large number of
affricates. However, we only count tʃ, dʒ as affricates of
English.
▪ Although tʃ, dʒ can be said to be composed of a plosive
and a fricative, they are normally regarded as being single,
independent phonemes of English.
3.5. Affricates

❖ English affricates
▪ The place of articulation of tʃ, dʒ is post-alveolar, same as ʃ,
ʒ. Thus, the t and d components of tʃ, dʒ have a place of
articulation rather further back in the mouth than t and d
plosives.
▪ tʃ is slightly aspirated in the positions where p, t, k are
aspirated, and in final position tʃ also shortens a preceding
vowel.
▪ tʃ, dʒ often have rounded lips.
3.6. Notes on fortis consonants

▪ Like vowels, consonants l, m, n, ŋ are also considerably

shortened when they precede a fortis consonant.
▪ Fortis consonants are usually articulated with open glottis.
▪ However, with plosives p, t, k and tʃ (whose beginning
component is also a plosive), it is also possible to produce
these sounds with completely closed glottis. This type of
plosive articulation is called glottalisation (symbol: ʔ)
▪ The most widespread glottalisation is that of tʃ at the end
of a stressed syllable.
3.7. Nasals

▪ In the articulation of vowels and other consonants, the soft

palate is raised and air cannot pass through the nose.
▪ In nasal consonants, the soft palate is lowered to allow the
air to escape through the nose; however, the air does not
pass through the mouth as it is prevented by a complete
closure in the mouth at some point.
▪ All nasals are voiced (lenis).
3.7. Nasals

❖ English nasals
▪ There are three types of closure in English nasals:
Bilabial: m 🡪 same as p, b.
Alveolar: n 🡪 same as t, d.
Velar: ŋ 🡪 same as k, ɡ.
▪ The distribution of m, n are similar to plosives, i.e. they can
occur at initial, medial and final positions.
3.7. Nasals

❖ English nasals
▪ The distribution of ŋ is more unusual:
o ŋ is the only English consonant that does not occur
initially (with the possible exception of ʒ).
o In a medial position, if ŋ is found in the letters “nk”, a k
will always be pronounced.
o However, in the letters “ng”, ɡ is only pronounced if ŋ
occurs at the middle of a morpheme; it is not
pronounced if ŋ occurs at the end of a morpheme. But
this rule is not applied to comparative and superlative
forms of adjective, i.e. these forms are to be treated as
single-morpheme words.
o Only short vowels are regularly found preceding ŋ.
3.8. Lateral approximants

▪ In the articulation of lateral approximant sounds, there is a

complete closure between the centre of the tongue and
the part of the roof of the mouth where contact is to be
made.
🡪 The air can only escape along the sides of the tongue
instead of the centre like other sounds.
▪ All lateral approximants are voiced (lenis) and continuant.
3.8. Lateral approximants

❖ English lateral approximant

▪ l, whose place of articulation is alveolar, is the only lateral
approximant in English.
▪ l can occur initially, medially and finally.
▪ The realisation of l varies depending on different contexts:
o Before vowels: l resembles an [i] with the front of the
tongue raised (a “clear l”).
o Before consonants or a pause: l resembles an [u] with
the back of the tongue raised (a “dark l”).
o l is devoiced and pronounced as a fricative when it
follows p, k at the beginning of a stressed syllable
(aspiration).
3.9. Approximants

▪ An approximant can be described as an articulation in

which the articulators approach each other but do not get
sufficiently close to produce a “complete” consonant such
as a plosive, nasal or fricative.
▪ In theory, any vowel articulation could also be classed as
an approximant, but this term is usually used only for
consonants.
▪ All approximants are voiced (lenis) and continuant.
3.9. Approximants

❖ English approximants - r
▪ In the articulation of r, the tongue tip approaches the
alveolar area in a way quite similar to t, d but does not
make contact with the roof of the mouth. The tongue is
then slightly curled backwards with the tip raised
(consonants with this tongue shape are usually called
retroflex). This movement carries the tongue tip to a
position slightly further back than that for alveolar
consonants. 🡪 r is post-alveolar.
▪ The lips are usually slightly rounded. But r will sound too
much like w if the lip-rounding is too strong.
▪ In the “r-sounds” of many other languages, some kind of
tongue-palate contact is made.
3.9. Approximants

❖ English approximants - r
▪ Regarding the distribution in BBC accent, r only occurs
before vowels.
🡪 non-rhotic accent
▪ Many other accents of English do pronounce r in final
position and before a consonant.
🡪 rhotic accent
3.9. Approximants

❖ English approximants – j and w

▪ Phonetically, these two sounds are like vowels:
o The articulation of j is practically the same as a front
close vowel such as [i] but is very short.
o In the same way, w is closely similar to [u].
▪ Despite this, j and w are used like consonants, and the
places of articulation of them are normally palatal and
bilabial respectively.
▪ In earlier works on phonology, j and w are called
semivowels.
▪ When p, t, k are followed by l, r, j, w, these voiced
continuant consonants lose their voicing and become
fricative (aspiration).
REFERENCES

Roach, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology – A

practical course (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.