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Consonants

Consonants are made with air stream that meets an obstruction in the mouth or nasal cavities. That is why in the production of consonant sounds there is a certain degree of noise.

On the articulatory level the consonants change:

1. In the degree of noise
2. In the manner of articulation
3. In the place of articulation

 

1. The degree of noise

According to the degree of noise English consonants are subdivided into two big classes: noise consonants and sonorants.

In the production of noise consonants there is a noise component characteristic. Noise consonant sounds vary:

• In the work of the vocal cords
• In the degree of force of articulation

According to the work of the vocal cords they may be:

• Voiceless
• Voiced

When the vocal cords are brought together and vibrate we hear voice (voiced consonants are produced)

If the vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate we hear only noise and the consonants are voiceless.

Voiced consonants are not fully voiced in all the positions (in word final position they are partly devoiced, but not replaced by their corresponding voiceless sounds).

 

 

The degree of noise may vary because of the force of articulation. Strong noise consonants are produced with more muscular energy and stronger breath effort. Weak noise consonants are produced with a relatively weak breath effort. In phonetics strong consonants are called fortis and weak – lenis.

All voiced consonants are lenis, all voiceless consonants are fortis.

Sonorants (sonorous consonants) are made with tone prevailing over noise because of the rather wide air passage [m, n, ŋ, l, w, r, j].

2. The manner of articulation

The manner of articulation of consonants is determined by the type of obstruction. The obstruction may be complete and incomplete. When the obstruction is complete the organs of speech are in contact and the air stream meets a closure in the mouth or nasal cavities. In case of an incomplete obstruction the active organ of speech moves towards the point of articulation and the air stream goes through the narrowing between them.

According to the manner of articulation consonants may be of 4 groups:

1. Occlusive
2. Constrictive
3. Occlusive-constrictive (affricates)
4. Rolled 

1. Occlusive consonants are sounds in the production of which the air stream meets a complete obstruction in mouth. Occlusive noise consonants are called stops because the breath is completely stopped at some point articulation and then it is released with a slight explosion, that is why they are also called plosives. According to the work of the vocal cords sops may be voiced and voiceless.

Occlusive voiced consonants are: [b d ɡ].

Occlusive voiceless consonants are: [p t k].

According to the force of articulation voiced stops are weak (lenis), voiceless are strong (fortis).

The particular quality of a sonorant depends on the position of the soft palate. Occlusive sonorants are also made with a complete obstruction but the soft palate is lowered and the air stream escapes through the nose, so they are nasal. The occlusive nasal sonorants are: [m n ŋ].

 

2. Constrictive consonants are those in the production of which the air stream meets an incomplete obstruction in the resonator, so the air passage is constricted. Both noise consonants and sonorants may be constrictive.

Constrictive noise consonants are called fricatives, i.e. the consonant sounds in the articulation of which the air passage is constricted and the air escapes through the narrowing with friction.

Fricatives may also differ:

• in the work of the vocal cords;
• in the degree of force of articulation.

According to the work of the vocal cords they may be voiced and voiceless. The English voiced fricatives are: [v, ð, z, ʒ].

The English voiceless fricatives are:

[f, s, θ, ʃ, h]

 

According to the force of articulation voiced consonants are weak (lenis), voiceless consonants are strong (fortis).

Constrictive sonorants are also made with an incomplete obstruction but with a rather wide air passage; so tone prevails over noise.

The English constrictive sonorants are:

[w, r, 1, j].

They are all oral because in their production the soft palate is raised.

 

3. Occlusive-constrictive consonants or affricates are noise consonant sounds produced with a complete obstruction which is slowly released and the air escapes from the mouth with some friction. There are only two occlusive-constrictives in English

ʧ ʤ

The English [ʧ] is voiceless and strong (fortis), [ʤ] is voiced and weak (lenis). 
Affricates are oral according to the position of the soft palate.

 

4. Rolled consonants are sounds pronounced with periodical momentary obstructions when the tip of the tongue taps quickly several times against the teeth ridge and vibrates in the air stream. They are the Russian [p. p"j.

 

4. The place of articulation

The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of articulation. There may be one place of articulation or focus, or two places of articulation or foci when active organs of speech contact with two points of articulation. In the first case consonants are called unicentral, in the second they are bicentral.

 

The English fricatives [ʃ, ʒ] and affricates [ʧ, ʤ] are bicentral, being articulated with the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate. This secondary focus is front (the primary focus is formed by the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge).

The English bicentral sonorants [w] and the dark [l] have the back secondary focus because the back part of the tongue is slightly raised towards the soft palate.

According to the position of the active organ of speech against the point of articulation (i.e. the place ofarticulation) consonants may be:

1. Labial.
2. Lingual,
3. Gfottal. 

 

1.Labial consonants are made by the lips. They may be bilabial and labio-dental. 
Bilabial consonants are produced when both lips are active. They are: [p, b, m, w].

Labio-dental consonants are articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth. They are: [f, v].

 

2.Lingual consonants are classified into forelingual, mediolingual and backlingnal. 
Forelingual consonants are articulated with the tip or the blade of the tongue. They differ in the position of the tip of the tongue. According to its work they may be:

apical, if the tip of the tongue is active as in the case of the English [t, d, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, θ, ð]

dorsal, if the blade of the tongue takes part in the articulation, the tip being passive and lowered as in the case of the Russian [т, д, н, с, з, ч, ц]; in English there are no dorsal consonants;

 cacuminal, if the tip of the tongue is at the back part of the teeth ridge, but a depression is formed in the blade of the tongue as in the case of the English [r].

According to the place of obstruction forelingual consonants may be:

 

interdental;

dental;

alveolar;

post-alveolar;

palato-alveolar.

Interdental consonants or interdentals are made with the tip of the tongue projected between the teeth: the English [θ, ð].

Dental consonants or dentals are produced with the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth: the Russian [т, д, с. з, ц, л].

Alveolar consonants or alveolars are articulated with the tip against the upper teeth ridge: the English [t, d, s, z, n, l].

Post-alveolar consonants or post-alveolars are made when the tip or the blade of the tongue is against the back part of the teeth ridge or just behind it: the English [r]. 
Palato-alveolar consonants or palato-alveolars are made with the tip or the blade of the tongue against the teeth ridge and the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate, thus having two places of articulation or foci (front secondan focus): both narrowings are flat [ʒ, ʃ, ʤ, ʧ]

 Mediolingual consonants are produces with the front part of the tongue. They are always palatal. Palatal consonants or palatals are made with the front part of the tongue raised high to the hard palate: the English [j].

Backlingual consonants are also called velar because they are produced with the back part of the tongue raised towards the soft palate.  They are: [k, ɡ, ŋ].

 

3. The glottal consonant [h] is articulated in the glottis. It has no articulation of its own. It occurs only before vowels.