The consonants of English

(part1)

Asst.lec. Rusul Al-Asadi

University of Kufa
29/3/2020
 Q//Why we stare with consonants rather
than vowels?
We start with consonants rather than vowels
for two reasons:
• The first is that the contribution of consonants
in making English understood is more vital than
that of vowels.
• The second reason is that consonants are
generally produced by interference of the
speech organs with the stream of air which has
made the description of these consonants
easier than vowels
 Q//What is meant by consonant?
• Consonants are defined as speech sounds that humans
create that involve airflow which is blocked partly or entirely
while being produced. They can be blocked by speech
organs like the vocal tract, as well as the teeth, tongue,
lips…etc. These speech sounds are represented by letters
that we know as consonants. There are 24 speech sounds
that form consonants in English.

• If you voice the letters A, E, I, O, and U, (the vowels) you’ll

notice that your mouth and vocal cords are open. Your teeth,
tongue, and lips are not touching. Now try a consonant like
T. To pronounce T, you have to use the front of your tongue
to interrupt the airflow and this is the di erence between
consonants and vowels.
Consonants sound are classified according to
three dimensions:

1.Voicing
2. Manner of articulation
3. Place of articulation
1.Voicing refers to the activity of the vocal
cords. When the vocal cords are wide apart ,
consonants are said to be voiceless, but when
they are closely together and vibrating ,
consonants are said to be voiced.(the
explanation of Voicing can be found in the
previous lecture)
2. Manner of articulation refers to the type of
closure made by the di erent organs of
speech, i.e., the way in which the air passes
through the vocal tract, while the sound is
produced. According to the manner of
articulation English consonants are grouped
as follows:

Friction, stop, nasal, lateral and gliding

consonants.

Each one will be explained next with reference

to the features of each sound.
 Friction consonants
• Friction consonants are consonants made by
narrowing the air passage at some point in our
mouth, and when the air escapes through this
narrowing it makes a hissing sound (friction).
Friction consonants are continuants , which means
that you can continue making them without
interruption as long as you have enough air in your
lungs.

• English has nine friction consonants. They are called

so because in their production there is friction which
is the most important feature of these consonants.
• They are [/f/, /v/, /Ɵ/ /ð/ , /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ ,/Ʒ/, /h/].
 /f/ and /v/ sounds
• For both these consonants, the soft palate is raised so that
no air can go through the nose and it is all forced to go
through the mouth.
• The lower lip is very close to the edge of the upper front
teeth. There is a narrowing between them – this is the place
where friction is produced. When the air passes through this
narrowing, it causes a slight friction.
•  The tongue is not directly concerned in making these sounds,
but it does not lie idle; it takes up the position necessary for
the following sound, so in /fi:/ it will be in the /i:/ position
whilst /f/ is being pronounced, and in /fri:/ it will be in the /r/
position and so on.
 
• The di erence between /f/ and /v/ is
mainly one of strength : /f/ is a strong
consonant, /v/ is a weak one. Also /f/ is
never voiced, but /v/ is voiced and /f/ is
longer than /v/.

Then, the features of these sounds are:

• /f/ :- fricative ,voiceless ,strong, long
consonant
• /v/:- fricative , voiced, weak, short
consonant.
Rule: When /f/ and /v/ occur at the end of words, after a
vowel, they have an e ect on the length of the vowel. The
strong consonant /f/ makes the vowel shorter; the weak
consonant /v/ makes the vowel longer.
In the words safe /sei/ and save /seiv/ the /f/ and /v/ have
the same features as before: /f/ is stronger and longer but
in safe /seif/ the vowel is quite short and in save  /seiv/  it is
really long.

Note: This is an important general rule which applies to the

all other pairs of consonants as well: strong consonants at
the end of words shorten the preceding vowel. Weak
consonant at the end of words lengthen the preceding
vowel.

 
 /Ɵ/ and /ð sounds
• For both these consonants, the soft plate is raised so
that all the breath is forced to go through the mouth.
• The tip of the tongue is close to the upper front teeth.
This is the narrowing where the friction is made.

• The features of these sounds are:

• /Ɵ/:-fricative, voiceless, strong, long consonant.
e.g.: think /Ɵɪŋk/, healthy /helƟɪ/, wealth /welƟ
• /ð/:- fricative, voiced, weak, short consonant.
e.g.: that /ðæt/, brother /brʌðə/, bathe /beɪð/
 /s/ and /z/ sounds
• For both these consonants, the soft plate is raised so that all the
breath is forced to go through the mouth.
• The tip and blade of the tongue are very close to the alveolar
ridge.
• The teeth are very close together.

The features of these sounds are:

• /s/:- fricative, voiceless, strong, long consonant.
e.g.: sea /si:/ , messy /mesɪ/ , bus /bʌs/.
• /z/:- fricative, voiced, weak, short consonant.
e.g.: zoo /zu:/ , buzzer /bʌzə/ , breeze /bri:z/.

Note: The friction for these sounds, especially for /s/, is much
greater than for /f,v,θ/ and /ð/.
/ʃ/ and / /Ʒ/ sounds
• For both these consonants the soft plate is raised so that all the
breath is forced to go through the mouth.
• There is a narrowing between the tip of the tongue and the
back of the alveolar ridge.
• The lips are very slightly rounded.
• The front of the tongue is higher than for /s/,/z/.

The features of these sounds are:

• /ʃ/:- fricative, voiceless, strong, long consonants.
• /ʒ/:- fricative, voiced, weak, short consonants .

Note: /ʒ/ does not occur in initial position in English words. It only
occurs in medial position in English origin words and in final
position in words which are not from English origin, mostly
French. e.g.: pleasure /pleʒə/ , rouge /ru:ʒ/
 /h/ sound
There are as many /h/-sounds in English as there are vowels
because /h/ always occurs before a vowel and consists of the
sound of breath passing between the half-open vocal cords
and out of the mouth which is already prepared for the
following vowel.

This consonant is glottal which means that the narrowing that

produces the friction noise is between the vocal cords. /h/
 does not make very much noise, but it must not be left out
when it should be sounded, for two reasons:

1. Many words are distinguished by the presence or absence of /

h/ (e.g. /hIq/ here and /Iq/ ear);
2. English speakers are very sensitive about pronunciation of
this sound and consider that the leaving out of /h/ is the mark
of an uncultivated speaker. Another error is to make /h/ too
noisy producing a scraping sound by pushing the air between
the back of the tongue and the soft palate.
 /h/ sound
The features of this consonants are:

/h/:- fricative, glottal, voiceless, strong, long consonant.

Note: There are three points concerning /h/ sound must be taking
into consideration:

1. /h/ does not occur in final position because it is not pronounced in

that position in English words.
2. There are also cases where (h) is not pronounced when it comes in
initial position in some words as (hour /aʊə/ , honour /ɒnə/ , honest
/ɒnəst/ , heir /eə/.
3. While in words like (high /haɪ/) only the first (h) is pronounced
 References:

• O’ Connor, J.D. (2003). Better English Pronounciation  ,

Cambridge University press.
• Ldefoged, p. and Johnson, k.(2011 ). A Course in Phonetics.
Rosenberg. U.S.A.