VI.

CONSONANTS

6.1. Phonemes

A phoneme of a language or dialect is an abstraction of a speech

sound or of a group of different sounds which are all perceived to
have the same function by speakers of that language or dialect.
For example, the English word "through" consists of three
phonemes: the initial "th" sound, the "r" sound, and an "oo" vowel
sound.

Notice that the phonemes in this and many other English words do
not always correspond directly to the letters used to spell them
(English orthography is not as strongly phonemic as that of certain
other languages).

The phonemes of English and their number vary from dialect to

dialect, and also depend on the interpretation of the individual
researcher. The number of consonant phonemes is generally put
at 24 (or slightly more). The number of vowels is subject to greater
variation; in the system presented on this page there are 20 vowel
phonemes in Received Pronunciation, 14–16 in General American
and 20–21 in Australian English.

The pronunciation keys used in dictionaries generally contain a

slightly greater number of symbols than this, to take account of
certain sounds used in foreign words and certain noticeable
distinctions that may not be - strictly speaking - phonemic.

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6.2. Consonants

6.2.1.Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

When pronouncing voiced consonants, your throat should vibrate

and you can feel the vibration by placing your fingers around your
throat. Compare between voiced and voiceless consonants inside
the table below. For a list of all consonants, study further down the
page.

Observe the following picture and try to do the same thing. Feel
whether there is or there is not a vibration.

Voiced Voiceless
/d/ /t/
/b/ /p/
/v/ /f/
/z/ /s/
/g/ /k/
/ʒ/ /ʃ/
/dʒ/ /tʃ/
/ð/ /θ/

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6.2.2. The English Consonants and Their Spelling

Below are the examples of English consonants and its phonetic

transcription (IPA) in order to help you for identifying the kind
of the consonants

IPA The English Consonants & Their Spellings

/p/ wrap, pay, puppy

/b/ grab, bat, Bobby

/m/ dream, meet, summer, climb, calm, autumn

/f/ laugh, phone, fat, stuff

/v/ live, visit, of, Stephen

/θ/ thin, both, ether

/ð/ bathe, there

/t/ talked, tent

/t̬/ City, letter, ladder, interested in

/d/ hugged, mad, add

kiss, sick, rice, cycle, science, psychology, listen,

/s/
box

/z/ lose, zero, buzz, has, scissors, xylophone

/n/ listen, nut, sunny, know, gnat, pneumonia

/l/ sell, land

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 reach, chocolate, watch, future, question,
/ʧ/
righteous

/ʤ/ manage, jam, bridge, suggest, soldier

cash, ship, special, station, tension, machine,

/∫/
ocean, conscience, sure, issue

/ʒ/ leisure, garage, decision, azure

/r/ run, care, carry, wrong, rhythm

/j/-/ju/ Year-queue, beautiful, few, view, use, cue, feud

/k/ lick, coat, kill, technology, folks, acquire, liquor

/g/ beg, get, bigger, ghost, colleague

/ŋ/ sing, song

/w/ would, white, quick, choir

/h/ hot, who

That is referred to as the glottal stop, often used to

/ʔ/
pronounce [t]

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6.2.3.Mouth Positions-Consonants

1 /dʒ/ in aging

2 /ʒ/is Asian

3 /b/ in Bali

4 /v/ in Volley

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5 /ð/in Bathe

6 /z/ in Bays

7 /b/ in Beach

/ k/ and /g/ in
8
…

Consonants | 53
 /m/ in Cam
9

10 /n/ in Can

11 /l/ in Color

12 /t/ in Cutter

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13 /f/ in Fan

14 /p/ in Pan

15 /f/ in first

16 /θ/ in Thirst

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17 /dʒ/ in Gel

18 /j/ in Yell

19 / g/ in Good

20 /w/ in Would

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21 /dʒ/ in Jello

22 /t/ in Ladder

23 /ð/ in Lather

24 /n/ in Lawn

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25 /ŋ/ in Long

26 /l/ in Lice

27 /r/ in Rice

28 /l/ in Light

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29 /n/ in Night

0 /s/ in Mouse

31 /θ/ in Mouth

32 /h/ in Hair

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33 /t/ and d/ in ..

34 /s/ in Seat

35 /ʃ/ in Sheet

/t/ and /d/ in

36
…

Consonants | 60
37 /v/ in Vet

38 /w/ in Wet

39 /ʃ/ in Wash

40
/tʃ/ in
Watch

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41 /j/ in Year

42 /z/ in Zip

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The Figure of Vocal Fold

http://englishspeaklikenative.com/phonemes/consonants/

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