Chapter – 5

Classification of Consonants according to Manner of articulation & Place of

articulation

DESCRIPTION OF A CONSONANT

i. the state of the glottisii.the nature of the air-stream mechanismiii. the position of the velum or soft palateiv. the articulators involvedv.the nature of the stricture.

• 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.

• 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

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

• 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.

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

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'.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Place Manner Bilabial Labio-Dental Dental Alveolar Post Alveolar Palato Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive /P, b/

pin bin

/t , d/

tin dig

/k ,g/kin give

Affricate / tʃ , d3/

Chin, jam

Fricative /f,v/

Fan, van/Ө , ð/thin this

/s , z/

sick zip

/ ʃ , 3/ship pleasure

/h/

hour

Nasal /m/

man

/n/

nib

/ŋ/

hang

Lateral /l/

live

Frictionless

Continuant

/r/

rat

Semi-vowel (w) /j/

yellow

/w/

wine