Segmentals
4 Consonants
Agata Guskaroska
- To define consonants and their characteristics
- To explore innovative ways to teach consonant pronunciation to students
- To introduce teachers to minimal pairs and ways to use them in the classroom
- To provide exercises for most commonly mispronounced vowels
4.1 What are consonants?
Consonants are sounds that are produced with narrowing in the mouth, which causes some obstruction of air stream. They differ from each other based on place and manner of articulation and voicing. Figure 4.1 below illustrates this classification of the consonants in GA English.
| MANNER | VOICING | Bilabial | Labiodental | Interdental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | Voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |||
| Stop | Voiced | b | d | g | ||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f | θ | s | ʃ | h | ||
| Fricative | Voiced | v | ð | z | ʒ | |||
| Affricate | Voiceless | tʃ | ||||||
| Affricate | Voiced | dʒ | ||||||
| Nasal | Voiced | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Lateral (Liquid) |
Voiced | l | ||||||
| Rhotic (Liquid) |
Voiced | r (ɹ] | ||||||
| Glide | Voiced | w | j | (w) |
Place of articulation
Place of articulation refers to the position in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed. The various places of articulation are labeled in the mouth diagram below (Figure 4.2). There are seven classifications of consonants according to place of articulation:
- Bilabial (sounds made with the lips). These include sounds like /p/ (as in “pen”), /b/ (as in “bat” );
- Labiodental (sounds made with the lips and the teeth). These include sounds like /f/ (as in “fan” ), /v/ (as in “van” )
- Interdental (sounds made with the tongue between the teeth). These include sounds like /θ/ (as in “think” ), /ð/ (as in “this” );
- Alveolar (sounds made with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge). These include sounds like /t/ (as in “top” ), /d/ (as in “dog” );
- Palatal (sounds made with the blade of the tongue approaching the hard palate). These include sounds like /ʃ/ (as in “shoe” ), /ʒ/ (as in “measure” );
- Velar (sounds made with the back part of the tongue rising to touch the velum). These include sounds like /k/ (as in “cat” ), /g/ (as in “go” );
- Glottal (sounds produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis). These include sounds like /h/ (as in “hat” )
Manner of articulation
Manner of articulation means how we make sounds by blocking the air in different ways. There are several different ways that the air can be obstructed:
- Stops (sounds where you fully block the air). These include sounds like /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.
- Fricatives (sounds with a partial blockage or friction of air). These include sounds like /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and /ʒ/.
- Affricates (a mix of stops and fricatives). This category includes sounds like /ʧ/ (as in “ch” in “chat” ) and /ʤ/ (as in “j” in “jump” ).
- Nasals (sounds produced through the nose): These include sounds like /m/, /n/, a