4. CONSONANTS
a consonant is a speech sound used with a vowel or
diphthong to constitute a syllable
CONSONANT SOUND PRODUCTION
Voiced sounds are pronounced with the vibration of the vocal cords
Voiceless sounds pronounced without the vibration of the vocal cords
5.
6. POINT OF ARTICULATION – refers to the upper parts of the mouth which the
lowers parts (articulators) come in contact with the production of the consonant
sound
BILABIAL – when the lower lip touches the upper lip to produce the consonant
Sound /p/, /b/, /m/ & /w/
LABIO-DENTAL – when the lower lip comes in contact with the upper front teeth
/f/ & /v/
DENTAL – when the lower teeth approach the upper teeth /θ/ & /ð/
ALVEOLAR – when the tip of the tongue is raised close to the toothridge or the
back of the upper front teeth /t/ & /d/
POST ALVEOLAR – when the tip of the tongue is articulated against the back part
of the alveolar ridge /r/
7. PALATAL – when the tongue is arched towards the hard palate /∫/
VELARS – when the back of the tongue closes against the velum or soft palate /k/
GLOTTAL – when friction is produced by the air passing through the glottis /h/
8. 1. STOPS – are produced by stopping the passage of the
breath stream with a build up of pressure behind the
closure before releasing the breath
vl vd
Bilabial stops /p/ & /b/
Alveolar stops /t/ & /d/
Velar stops /k/ & /g/
9. 2. FRICATIVES – are continuants produced when the air stream is
not completely stopped but passes through with friction or a hissing
sound
vl vd
Labiodental fricatives /f/ & /v/
Dental fricatives /θ/ & /ð/
Alveolar fricatives /s/ & /z/
Post alveolar fricatives /r/
Palatal fricatives /∫/ & /dz/
Glottal fricatives /h/
10. 3. AFFRICATES – are produced when a stop combines with a fricative. Like
fricatives, they are also continuants. They may be prolonged as long as the speaker
wishes.
Alveolar affricates /t∫/ & /dz/
4. NASALS – are produced with the air stream passing through the nose rather
than the mouth
Bilabial nasal /m/
Alveolar nasal /n/
Velar nasal /ŋ /
11. 5. LATERAL – is produced when the air stream is stopped in the center by the tip of
the tongue against the alveolar ridge, while the air passes along one or both sides of
the tongue
Alveolar lateral /l/
6. SEMI-VOWELS – in their production, there is lack of friction and the sounds are
vowel-like in their voicing but they function as consonants
Bilabial /w/ - wear, win
/wh/ - why
Palatal /y/ - new, view
12.
13.
14. THE ENGLISH VOWELS
Vowels are sounds which are produced with the vibration of air in the oral cavity
All vowel sounds are voiced oral sounds
The relationship of the vowels to one another is shown by the device known as the
Vietor Triangle
15. VIETOR TRIANGLE
– is a vowel triangle which shows the differences among the vowel sounds in
English and their relative positions on the tongue
-Contains two axes:
a. horizontal axis – from front to back of the mouth (front, center,
back)
b. vertical axis – from the floor to the roof of the mouth (high, mid,
low)
16. Lips loosely spread. Tongue lax with less tension than / i: / Example : Bid
Lips loosely spread and slighly wider apart than / ɪ / Example : Head
Open lip-rounding, wide open jaws, back of tongue low.Example : Hot
Lips neutrally open and slightly wider apart than / e / Example : Lamb
Lips neutrally open. Open jaws. Centralized quality. Example : Love
Lips loose, but closely rounded. Tongue not as tense as in / u: /. Example :
Good
Lips in neutral position. Centralized. Tongue slightly higher than in /ʌ /.
Example : about
Lips spread. Tongue tense (front raised) with sides touching upper molars.
Example : Seat
Lips neutrally open and jaws far apart. Centre to
back of tongue fully open.Example : Heart
17. Medium lip rounding. Tongue drawn back making no contact with upper
molars. Example : Four
Lips neutrally spread. Tongue slightly higher than /ə / (no firm contact
with upper molars). Example : girl
Lips closely rounded. Back of tongue high. Tense compared with /ʊ /.
Example : Shoe
18. THE FIRST THREE DIPHTHONGS have the vowel sound
in "pit" or "if" as the FINISHING POSITION. To make this sound, your tongue has to be high
and towards the front of your mouth and your lips kept relaxed.
as in day, pay, say, lay. The starting position is /e/ with tongue in mid position at
front of mouth as in "egg", "bed" or "Ted". Therefore you move the tongue up
to make the diphthong.
as in sky, buy, cry, tie. The starting position is /a/ , the same sound as in "car" or
the noise "ah" which you make when you open your mouth at the dentist's. To
make the diphthong you need a big jaw movement, less opening as you move
the tongue up and front.
starting pas in boy, toy, coy or the first syllable of soya. The osition is
the sound in "door" or "or". Your tongue needs to be low, but you need to pull
it back and make your mouth round. To make the diphthong, you relax the lip
rounding and move your tongue forward and up.
19. THE NEXT THREE DIPHTHONGS have the neutral "shwa" vowel sound
which occurs in grunting noises and the weak forms of "the" and "a", as the FINISHING
POSITION. To make the neutral vowel sound keep your tongue fixed in the centre of your
mouth, lips fairly relaxed and just grunt!
as in beer (the drink), pier, hear. The starting position is
as in "if" or "pit" with tongue front and high and lips relaxed.
as in bear (the animal), pair and hair. The starting position is
as in "egg" or "bed" with tongue in mid position at front of mouth. To make the diphthong,
using a small controlled movement, pull your tongue slighty back from mid front to the mid
central position in your mouth.
as in "tour", "poor" (talking posh!) or the first syllable of "tourist". The starting
position is with tongue pulled back but small mouth aperture as
in "hook", "book" or "look".To make the diphthong, this time the small controlled tongue
movement goes from the back postion to the mid central position, losing the lip rounding and
relaxing your mouth from the tight starting position.
20. THE LAST TWO DIPHTHONGS have the back vowel
(tongue pulled back but small tight mouth aperture as in "hook", "book" or "look") as the
FINISHING POSITION.
as in "oh", "no", "so" or "phone". The starting position is the neutral vowel
sound, also known as "shwa“
which sounds like a grunt, as in the
weak form of "the" or "a". To start in this way, the tongue should be fixed in mid central
position in your mouth with lips relaxed. To make the diphthong, it is a short controlled
movement in the opposite direction of 5) above: from the centre to the back moving your
relaxed lips into a tighter small round aperture. Your cheeks should move in a bit!
as in all the words of "How now brown cow!". The starting position is the vowel
sound as in "at" "bad" or "rat" with tongue front but also low
(i.e. mouth open). To make the diphthong the journey for your tongue from front low (mouth
very open) to back high (small tight mouth aperture) is a very long excursion. Your jaw will
move a lot too.
21. A consonant cluster is a group or sequence of consonants that appear together in a syllable
without a vowel between them, such as the /sp/ combination in speak, spot, or the /skr/
combination in scrape, scream.
Consonant Cluster : 1) s+ (initial) p,t,k,f,m,n,w,l,y,r / s:pre-initial/others :initial
2) s+other consonant s+ (post-initials) l,r,w,j =pre-initial+initial+post-initials
The consonant clusters which constutute the coda are also not arbitrarily formed, they can
be described as:
”any consonant except for h,r,w,j may be final consonant. There may be 2 kinds of Final
Cluster : pre-final+final/final+post final, Pre-finals(m,n,nasal,l,s : bump,belt) / Post-finals (s, z,
t, d, /q/ : bets,beds)”
23. Stress is defined as using more more muscular energy while articulating the words. When
a word or a syllable in word is produced louder, more lenghty, with higher pitch or with
more quality, it will be perceived as stressed. The prominence makes some syllables be
perceived as stressed. Words including long vowels and diphthongs or ending with more
than 1 consonant are stronger, heavier and stressed.
Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two
stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can
be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the
main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put
the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is
better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
24. 1. Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE,
Most 2-syllable verbs
to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a
change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the
first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the
second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import,
contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the
first or second syllable.
25. 3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For
example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is:
CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy,
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy
geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
26. 5 Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the
BLACKbird, GREENhouse
first part
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the
bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
second part
For compound verbs, the stress is on the
to underSTAND, to overFLOW
second part