Phonetics of English

1. Chapter – 5
Classification of Consonants according
to Manner of articulation & Place of
articulation

2. DESCRIPTION OF A CONSONANT
i. the state of the glottis
ii.the nature of the air-stream mechanism
iii. the position of the velum or soft palate
iv. the articulators involved
v. the nature of the stricture.

3. • For the production of English sounds we use
an egressive pulmonic air-stream, that is, the
air is pushed out of the lungs.
• Consonants can be voiceless or voiced,
depending upon whether the vocal cords are
held wide apart or in vibration.
• There are the oral and nasal sounds.

6. • Dental - The tip of the tongue is the active
articulator and the upper front teeth are the
passive articulators.[θ] as in think, [ð]as in
then
• Alveolar - The tip or the blade of the tongue is
the active articulator and the teeth-ridge is
the passive articulator.
/t/ as in stick ,/d/as in day /l/as in lid /n/ as in
nose, /s /as in sun /z/ as in zip

7. Post-alveolar. The tip of the tongue is the active
articulator and the back of the teeth-ridge is
the passive articulator. / r / as in red
Palato-alveolar. The tip, blade, and front of the
tongue are the active articulators and the
teeth-ridge and hard palate are the passive
articulators. /ʃ/ as in shame /3/ as in pleasure
/tʃ ] as in chin /dʒ/ as in jam

8. • Palatal. The front of the tongue is the active
articulator and the hard palate is the passive
articulator. / j / as in yellow
• Velar. The back of the tongue is the active
articulator and the soft palate is the passive
articulator. /k / as in skull /g/ as in girl /ŋ / as
in sing
• Glottal. Produced at the glottis. / h / as in hat.

11. Affricate
• If the stop is not held for any appreciable time
and released slowly, we get an affricate
instead of a plosive.
e.g /tʃ / as in chin
/dʒ/ as in jam

13. Trill
• A trill is a consonant in the production of
which the active articulator taps several
times against the passive articulator. The
stricture involved can be called a stricture of
intermittent closure.
e.g Scottish / r / in which the tip of the longue
strikes against the teeth-ridge a number of
times. An example is the Telugu word [
gurramu ] for 'horse'.

14. Flap
• For a flap the active articulator strikes against
the passive articulator once only.
e.g for / r / in the word very the tip of the
tongue strikes, against the teeth-ridge once.

15. Lateral
• A lateral consonant is produced by a stricture
of closure in the centre of the vocal tract, but
the air has a free passage on the sides.
e.g. / l / as in life.

16. Fricative
• In the production of a fricative consonant the stricture is
one of close approximation. The active articulator is
brought so close to the passive articulator that the passage
between them is very narrow and the air passes through it
with audible friction.
• /f / as in fill
• / v/ as in van
• /θ / as in three
• /ð /as in these
• / s /as in sit
• / z / as in zoo
• /ʃ/ as in shoe
• / 3 / as in leisure
• /h/as in has

17. Frictionless continuant
• A frictionless continuant is produced with an
open approximation of the articulators, so
that there is no audible friction.
e.g /r/ as in red

18. Semi-vowel
• A semi-vowel is a vowel glide functioning as a
consonant.
Semivowels are vowel-like
consonants like the w of wet or the y of yard.
The airflow doesn't stop like with a 'p' or 'b'.
e.g / j / as in yet
/w/ as in water

19. Place Manner
Bilabial
Labio-Dental
Dental
Alveolar
Post Alveolar
Palato Alveolar
Palatal
Plosive
/P, b/
/t , d/
/k ,g/
pin bin
tin
kin give
dig
Velar
Glottal
/ tʃ , d3/
Affricate
Chin, jam
Fricative
/f,v/
Fan, van
/Ө , ð/
thin this
/s , z/
/ ʃ , 3/
sick zip
ship pleasure
/h/
hour
/m/
/n/
/ŋ/
man
Nasal
nib
hang
Lateral
/l/
live
Frictionless
/r/
Continuant
rat
Semi-vowel
(w)
/j/
/w/
yellow
wine