Chapter 2

Chapter 3The Consonants of English

What are the three dimensions for describing a consonant? 1. Place of articulation: Where the obstruction is made in the vocal tract.2. Manner of articulation: The kind of obstruction in the vocal tract.3. Voicing: Vocal folds close and vibrating (voiced/weak) or apart (voiceless/strong).II. Manner of articulation (The kind of obstruction in the vocal tract)The degree and kind of constriction in the vocal tract. E.g. two consonants such as s and t can have the same place and voicing but sound different. Explain why.31. Stops Breath is completely stopped at some point in the mouth, then released with a slight explosion. /p t k/ voiceless/b d g/ voiced

Another name is plosives (explosion)4Voiced stops vs. voiceless stops A puff of air is produced with voiceless stops at the beginning of syllables, known as aspiration. It is indicated with a superscript [ph th kh].This separates voiceless stops from voiced ones.

When does aspiration disappear?

When the stop is preceded by another consonant or is between two vowels aspiration is less noticeable and maybe lost altogether. 52. Fricatives These are made with a narrow opening so that air escapes with friction./s f / voiceless/z v / voiced /h/ voiceless

Combinations of different fricatives can be tongue twisters, e.g. top of page 34 (the sixth sense, sixth throne). Notice we can make a long continuous /s/ but not /t/, therefore fricatives are continuants and stops are not.6 3.Affricates These are stops + fricative, but function as a single unit./t / voiceless: usually spelt as ch or tch /d/ voiced: usually spelt as j, g or dg

What problems do Arab speakers face with these sounds?

The book classifies them as stops but I prefer to use the term affricates. Dont confuse // with /j/.Replacing affricates with just fricatives (by removing the stop). Minimal pairs p. 48. 7

What two different PLACES of articulation are concerned here?8

4. Nasals Air is pushed out of the nose. The soft palate is lowered to block air passage through the oral cavity. English nasals:/m n /Nasals affect neighboring vowels by making them nasalized , e.g., /kn/. All nasals in English are voiced.

Which of the above nasals is likely to cause a problem for Arab speakers of English? Why?

Dont pronounce // as /ng/. No Arabic counterpart. Minimal pairs p. 53. 9

5. Lateral Breath passes from the sides of the tongue instead of the centre of the mouth where the obstruction occurs. English has one lateral consonant /l/.There are two /l/ sounds in English:Clear [l] with the back of tongue low in mouth. It occurs before vowels, e.g. [let].Dark [] with the back of tongue raised. It occurs , before consonants [bet] and in final position [be] .

Some languages have no /l/ such as Japanese.Using clear /l/ where the dark one should be used is foreign-sounding (Egyptian English). Practice p. 55. Notice square brackets for more phonetic details [narrow transcription] as opposed to slashes /broad transcription/. 106. Gliding consonants (glides) These are made with a larger opening than fricatives so that there is no friction./r//w/ /j/ All glides are voiced.

To glide is to move smoothly. They are so called because the tongue glides from a vowel position to another. Glides are moving vowels. Also known as approximants.

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/j/It is a quick glide from the position of the vowel /i:/ or //.

/j/ is sometimes dropped by American speakers after /t, d, n, l, s, /, e.g.:/tu:n/ instead of /tju:n//nu:/ instead of /nju:/

12/w/It is a quick glide from the vowel /u:/ or //. Made with lips rounded firmly. /w/ can be difficult for speakers of German and Dutch who tend to replace it by /v/. American, Scottish and Irish speakers sometimes pronounce it as /hw/ (voiceless). Its place is bilabial or labia-velar since the velum is raised. It has a double place of articulation. Minimal pairs and examples on p. 59. 13

/r/Tongue tip is curved back behind alveolar ridge. Lips are usually rounded. Foreign speakers tend to replace it by the nearest sound in their language(see p. 60). In RP /r/ only occurs before vowels, never before consonants, e.g. p. 61. Linking /r/ is inserted when the following word begins with a vowel, e.g., /nev/ but / nevr gen/./r/ is sometimes inserted where it never existed, e.g. Africa /r/ and Asia, Linda /r/ Ann, Law /r/ and order.Tongue tap or trill for Italians and Arabs. Uvular tap or fricative for Germans and French. Notice Indian /r/ too. The last sound a child masters. Some people are never able to produce it, replacing it with a /w/ or /R/ (lisp). 14Summary of English consonants

Summary of English consonants