The manner of articulation is the way the airstream is affected as it flows
from the lungs and out the nose and mouth.
On this page I will cover six different manners of articulation in English that will
distinguish one consonant sound from the next. There is a lot of information
on this page, so don’t worry if you can’t remember everything now. You can
always bookmark this page and refer back to it.
Looking at these sounds from a different perspective will help you develop
your physical awareness of them. Make sure to try these movements out
loud to yourself to really feel them.
Nasal
Nasal consonants are created when you completely block air flow through
your mouth and let the air pass through your nose.
There are three nasal consonants in English.
/m/ – “mad” and “clam” – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips
(bilabial).
/n/ – “no” and “man‘ – oral passage is blocked by pressing tongue tip
against the alveolar ridge (alveolar).
/ŋ/ – “going” and “funk” – Oral passage is blocked by pressing the the
back of your tongue against the soft palate (velar).
Stop
Like nasal consonants, stop consonants occur when the vocal tract is closed
completely. But for stops the airflow is NOT redirected through the nose.
Instead, the air quickly builds up pressure behind the articulators and then
releases in a burst.
English contains the following stop consonants.
/p/ – purse and rap – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips (bilabial).
/b/ – “back” and “cab” – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips
(bilabial).
/t/ – “tab” and “rat” – oral passage is blocked by pressing the tongue tip
against the alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/d/ – “dip” and “bad” – oral passage is blocked by pressing the tongue tip
against the alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/k/ – “kite” and “back” – block airflow with the back of the tongue against
the soft palate (velar).
/g/ – “good” and “bug” – block airflow with the back of the tongue against
the soft palate (velar).
Fricative
While nasal and stop consonants involve a complete blockage of the vocal
tract, fricative sounds involve only a partial blockage of the vocal tract so
that air has to be forced through a narrow channel.
For example, you create a /t/ stop consonant when you block airflow
completely with your tongue against the alveolar ridge. But if you let up with
the tongue a bit and let the air seep through, you make an
/s/ fricative consonant.
The English fricative sounds are as follows:
/f/ – “fro” and “calf“- air is forced through the upper teeth and lower lip
(labiodental)
/v/ – “vine” and “have” – air is forced through the upper teeth and lower lip
(labiodental)
/θ/ – “thick” and “bath” – air is forced through upper teeth and tongue
(dental)
/ð/ – “the” and “rather” – air is forced through upper teeth and tongue
(dental)
/s/ – “suit” and “bus” – air is forced through tongue and alveolar ridge
(alveolar)
/z/ – “zit” and “jazz” – air is forced through tongue and alveolar ridge
(alveolar)
/ʃ/ – “shot” and “brash” – air is forced through the tongue and point just
beyond alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)
/ʒ/ – “vision” and “measure” – air is forced through the tongue and point just
beyond alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)
/h/ – “happy” and “hope” – actually /h/ isn’t a fricative. It’s technically not
even a real consonant sound since there’s no constriction/obstruction of
airflow.
Affricate
When stop consonants mix with fricative consonants, the result is
an affricate consonant. Affricate consonants start as stop sounds with air
building up behind an articulator which then releases through a narrow
channel as a fricative (instead of a clean burst as stops do).
The English affricate sounds are:
/tʃ/ – “chick” and “match” – air is blocked with tongue just beyond the
alveolar ridge (post-alveolar), then released as a fricative.
/dʒ/ – “jam” and “badge” – air is blocked with tongue just beyond the
alveolar ridge (post-alveolar), then released as a fricative.
Approximant
Approximants are when two articulators come close together but not
quite close enough to create air turbulence.
The resulting sound is more like a fast vowel than anything else. For example,
the /w/ approximant is like a fast /u/ sound (say /u/ + /aɪ/ really fast and you
get the word “why”). Notice how your tongue never actually comes in contact
with the top of your mouth.
There are three English approximants:
/w/ – “wet” and “howard” – back of tongue raises to velum (but not too
close!) and lips are rounded (velar)
/j/ – “yes” and “bayou” – tongue raises to hard palate (but not too close!)
(palatal)
/ɹ/ – “right” and “roar” – tongue raises to hard palate (but not too close)
(alveolar/post-alveolar)
Lateral
Lateral consonants are when the tongue blocks the the middle of your mouth
so that air has to pass around the sides. You create this when you
There is one lateral consonant in English
/l/ – “luck”- place the tip of the tongue at the alveolar ridge (alveolar)
