LINGUISTICS I

CONSONANTS:

Mrs. QORCHI

Consonants are produced as a result of a temporary restriction of the

airstream. They are analysed according to 3 parameters: 1) place of

articulation, 2) manner of articulation, 3) voicing.

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Place of articulation: to find out the place of articulation of a specific

consonant, we have to locate the place where the contact between

the two organs of speech takes place: is it at the level of the lips or

the alveolar ridge or the hard palate or the velum,etc..?

The following is a classification of consonants in terms of their place of

articulation:

1) Bilabial consonants: They are produced with the lips brought

together, e.g. p,b,m,w.

2) Labio-dental consonants: The lower lip comes in contact with the

upper front teeth,e.g. f,v.

3) Dental consonants: The tip of the tongue touches the upper front

teeth: 0,j.

4) Alveolar consonants: the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge:

s,z,t,d,l,r,n.

5) Palatal consonants: the blade of the tongue touches the hard palate:

6) Velar consonants: They are produced by raising the back of the

tongue to the velum: k,g,n.

7) Uvular consonants: the back of the tongue comes in contact with the

uvula: q in Arabic.

8) Pharyngeal consonants: the restriction of the airstream takes place at

the pharynx: [][]

9) Glottal consonants: are produced when the vocal cords are

temporarily held together then released as in the glottal stop [?]; its

voiceless counterpart is [h] as in who.

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Manner of articulation: How?

By manner of articulation we mean the way the airstream is affected

as it travels from the lungs up and out of the mouth and nose.

1) Stops and continuants: Once the airstream enters the oral cavity,

it may be stopped, it may be partially obstructed or it may flow out

of the mouth. Sounds that are stopped completely in the oral

cavity for a brief period are called stops. E.g. p,b,m,n,t,d,k,g,n. For

m,n,n , even if the air continues to escape through the nose, they

are considered as [+ continuant] because the feature [+

continuant] refers to the passage of the air through the mouth.

The oral stops are also called plosives because they are released

with a kind of explosion. P,b,m are bilabial stops with the air

stream stopped at the mouth by the complete closure of the lips;

t,d,n are alveolar stops because the airstream which is stopped by

the tongue is making a complete closure at the alveolar ridge;

k,g,n are velar stops because the closure is made with the back of

the tongue coming in contact with the velum; Arabic q is a uvular

stop because the back of the tongue stops the airstream at the

level of the uvula, and for glottal stops the air is stopped at the

glottis.

2) Aspirated and unaspirated sounds:

During the production of voiceless sounds the glottis opens and

the air passes freely. Voiceless sounds fall into two classes

depending on the timing of the vocal cords'closure. When we

pronounce the word pit, there is a period of voicelessness

immediately after the p sound is released; such sounds are

[+aspirated] because an extra puff of air is produced. But when

we pronounce the p sound in spit , the vocal cords start vibrating

as soon as the lips are opened. Such sounds are [- aspirated].

3) Fricatives: In the pronunciation of some sounds the airstream is

not completely stopped but is obstructed from flowing freely.

When producing s,z,f,v,0,j or , sounds,the passage in the mouth

through which the air must pass is narrow, causing friction;the air

particles are pushed against one another causing friction.Such

sounds are called fricatives or spirants from the Latin word

'spirare' which means blow.

For f and v, the friction is produced at the lips where a narrow

passage permits air to escape. For s and z (alveolar fricatives),
friction is created at the alveolar ridge. For θ and ð (the friction
occurs at the opening between the tongue and the teeth. As for ʃ
and ʒ (palatals), the friction occurs at the narrow opening between
the front of the tongue and the hard palate.
4) Affricates: some sounds are produced with a stop closure followed
immediately by a slow release of the closure characteristic of a
fricative (a sequence of a stop + a fricative). They are considered [-
continuant].
5) Sibilants: the friction created in the production of fricatives and
affricates causes a hissing sound. They are classed as sibilants.In
the pronunciation of sibilants and labiodentals, there is more noise
or stridency than is produced by interdental fricatives. Sibilants
and labiodentals are [+ strident).
6) Obstruents and sonorants: the non-nasal stops, fricatives and
affricates form a major class of sounds. Because the airstream
cannot escape through the nose, it is either fully obstructed as in
oral stops and affricates or is partially obstructed as in fricatives.
These are called obstruents and are distinguished from sonorants
(for example nasal stops) because for them the air continues to
escape through the nose even though it is blocked in the mouth.
Fricatives are continuant obstruents; the air is not completely
stopped, but it is obstructed causing friction. Oral stops and
affricates are [-continuant obstruents); there is a complete
blockage of the air. Obstruents are [- sonorant].
The sounds l and r are called liquids; they are sonorant sounds
because the air resonates through the sides of the tongue. L is a
lateral sound. The tongue is raised to the alveolar ridge, but the
sides of the tongue are down permitting air to escape laterally
over the sides of the tongue. The sound r is produced in a variety
of ways. English speakers produce r by curling the tip of the tongue
behind the alveolar ridge. Such sounds are called retroflex sounds.
In Spanish, r is pronounced by the tip of the tongue vibrating
against the roof of the mouth;we call that a trill.r in Spanish is an alveolar trill, but in French it
is a uvular trill because it is produced

by vibrating the uvula. In English, l and r are voiced; but when they

follow voiceless sounds they may be devoiced.

7)Glides: the sounds y and w are produced with little or no

obstruction. In words, they may be either preceded or followed by

a vowel. In articulating w or y, the tongue moves rapidly in gliding

fashion either toward or away from a neighbouring vowel. Glides

are sometimes called semi-vowels. They may be specified by the

features [-consonantal + sonorant]. They differ from vowels in that

they do not form the peak of a syllable. Y is a palatal glide; the

blade of the tongue is raised toward the hard palate. W is

produced by raising the back of the tongue toward the velum and

rounding the lips; it is a labio-velar glide. The h sound (as in house)

is also a glide. The glottis is open. It is classified as a voiceless glottal

fricative. The tongue and lips are usually in position for producing

the following word. It differs from consonants in that there is no

obstruction in the oral cavity. It also differs from vowels which are

articulated by moving the tongue. When it is both preceded and

followed by a vowel, it is often voiced, as in ahead, cohabit. The

voiced counterpart of h is the glottal stop ? where the air is

stopped completely at the glottis by closed vocal cords.

Glides are [-consonantal] because they form a subclass with

vowels even if they are produced with some small oral obstruction

or no obstruction (as in h). They do not constitute syllable peaks

as do vowels which usually constitute the main core or nucleus of

a syllable.

Syllabic sounds: liquids and nasals can be syllabic; they may

constitute separate syllables as in medal /'medəl/, mutton /'mʌtən/,

rhythm /'rɪðəm/ or they may be non-syllabic as in lead, mean, dear,

read.

Liquids and nasals are specified as either [+syllabic] or [-syllabic].