CONSONANTS

[h]
Speakers should try to make a sound similar to the expulsion of air through the mouth in a strong breath.

Common spellings
“h” him [hɪm] “wh” who [hu:]

[h] in possessive pronouns and adjectives

The [h] is dropped in these sentences:
Tell her/him [ˈtel ə] [ˈtel ɪm]
Ask her/his sister [ˈɑːsk ə ˈsɪstə] [ˈɑːsk ɪz ˈsɪstə]
The [h] is not dropped at the beginning of the sentence: His sister [hɪz ˈsɪstə]

[p t k]
English and Spanish [p t k] differ in an important aspect, that is, the presence in English of aspiration.
These sounds are aspired, that is, they are produced with a strong expulsion of air which makes the
following vowels partially voiceless (as if they were produced with an initial whisper). Aspiration is
marked with the symbol [h].
Aspiration takes place in stressed syllables which start with [p], [t] or [k].
paper [ˈpheɪpə]
The presence of [s] before [p], [t] and [k] blocks aspiration:
pain [pheɪn] Spain [speɪn]
In final position, aspiration is optional:
put [phʊt] or [phʊth]
* Any time that [p], [t] or [k] appear in a stress syllable which is not preceded by [s] it should be
aspirated.

Common spellings:
[p] --> “p” pen [phen] “pe” slope [sləʊph] “pp” happy [ˈhæpi]
[t] --> “t” ten [then] “te” late [leɪth] “tt” better [ˈbetə] “th” Thomas [ˈthɒməs]
[k] --> “k” kin [khɪn] “c” come [khʌm] “ke” lake [leɪkh] “ck” sack [sækh]
“cc” occur [əˈkhɜ:] “ch” school [sku:l] “q” quite [k waɪt ]
h h

In RP English it is common to replace the [t] by a glottal stop [ʔ] in certain contexts. The glottal
stop is produced by a complete closure of the vocal folds and the sound that emerges is similar to
a gentle cough.
In RP, the replacement of [t] by a glottal stop is only produced when the [t] appears at the end of
a syllable (and usually preceded by a vowel, [n] or [m]) and when the following syllable starts
with a consonant.
When the following syllable starts with a vowel, the [t] cannot be replaced by a glottal stop.
Glottal stop No glottal stop
not many [nɒʔ ˈmeni] not again [nɒt əˈgen]
it was me [ɪʔ wəz ˈmi:] put it [ˈpʊt ɪt]

[b d g] (initial position)
The main difference between Spanish and English [b d g] in word initial position is that in
English these sounds are devoiced (produced with no vibration of the vocal folds). The lack of
voicing is indicated by the [ˌ] symbol.
[b d g] lose their voice in word initial position.
[b] sounds similar to [p], [d] to [t] and [g] to [k], English speakers distinguish between pin and
bin, die and tie or goat and coat with the presence or absence of aspiration.
“Voiceless” and “devoiced” mean lack of vocal fold vibration, the difference is that devoiced
sound is originally voiced and becomes voiceless (or devoiced) in certain contexts.
[ph] (voiceless, aspiration) pin [phɪn]
 [b] (devoiced, no aspiration) bin [bɪn]

Common spellings:
[b] --> “b” bay [beɪ]
[d] --> “d” day [deɪ] “dh” dhal [dɑ:l]
[g] --> “g” gay [geɪ] “gh” ghost [gəʊst] “gu” guest [gest]

(final position)
English [b d g] are also devoiced in final position.
In this case, the presence or absence of aspiration is not a decisive cue since [p t k] can or cannot
be aspired in final position. The main cue to difference between rope and robe, rode and wrote,
and rug and ruck is vowel duration. When a word is followed by a voiceless sound such as [p t k]
the preceding vowel is shorter than when it’s a devoiced sound [b d g].

Common spellings:
[b] --> “b” sob [sɒb] “be” bribe [braɪb]
[d] --> “d” road [rəʊd] “de” rode [rəʊd]
[g] --> “g” leg [leg] “gue” vague [veɪg] “gg” egg [eg]

(medial position)
This is the only place where [b d g] are fully voiced when they are surrounded by voiced sounds,
such as vowels.
Spanish speakers should try to produce English intervocalic [b d g] as the Spanish sounds at the
beginning of the words bota, dota and gota.
In connected speech, [b d g] in initial position may become fully voiced if they are preceded by a
voiced sound. Example: the [b] in boy is devoiced when it is uttered in isolation but is fully
voiced if the speakers says a boy.
boy [bɔɪ] a boy [ə ˈbɔɪ]

Common spellings:
[b] --> “b” cabin [ˈkæbɪn] “bb” rabbit [ˈræbɪt]
[d] --> “d” rider [ˈraɪdə] “dd” redish [ˈrediʃ]
[g] --> “g” slogan [ˈsləʊgən] “gg” trigger [ˈtrɪgə]
Double consonants
Despite the presence of two consonant letters in the spelling, the pronunciation only involves one
sound: rabbit [ˈræbɪt], trigger [ˈtrɪgə]
The only time when double letters are produced as double sounds is when the two letters belong
to two different morphemes. Most of the times, a double sound is pronounced like a single
sound, except that it lasts longer:
(Prefix+word) midday [ˌmɪd.deɪ]
(Compound) part-time [ˌpɑ:t.ˈtaɪm]
Sometimes the occurrence of double sounds may be the consequence of an assimilation process,
where the final sound of a word becomes the same as the first sound of the following word:
ten minutes [ˈtem ˈmɪnɪts]
The only sounds which are produced twice when they are in contact are [tʃ] and [dʒ]:
rich chocolate [ˈrɪtʃ ˈtʃɒklet] orange juice [ˈɒrɪndʒ dʒuːs]
[ʃ] [ʒ]
[ʃ] --> is very close to the sound we make when we want someone to shut up (sshhh).
Extra help: it’s used in Galician in words such as laxa or xantar.
[ʒ] --> is the sound produced in the middle of words such as pleasure or vision. This sound does
not appear in word initial position in English, we only find it in medial and final positions.
Extra help: [ʒ] is used by some Argentinian speakers in words such as llover and callar.

Common spellings:
[ʃ] --> “sh” shine [ʃaɪn] “s” sure [ʃɔ:] “ss” assure [əˈʃɔ:]
“t” station [ˈsteɪʃən] “ch” brochure [ˈbrəʊʃə] “c” ocean [ˈəʊʃən]
[ʒ] --> “s” pleasure [ˈpleʒə] “ge” menage [məˈnɑ:ʒ]

[tʃ] [dʒ]
[tʃ] --> is the sound produced at the beginning of English words chop, check and children.

[dʒ] --> is the sound produced at the beginning of the words James, George and John.

Common spellings:
[tʃ] --> “ch” church [tʃɜ:tʃ] “tch” match [mætʃ] “t” nature [ˈneɪtʃə]
[dʒ] --> “j” Jim [dʒɪm] “g” gym [dʒɪm] “ge” George [dʒɔ:dʒ]
“d” soldier [ˈsəʊldʒə] “dg” lodger [ˈlɒdʒə]

[j]
It’s the sound that appears at the beginning of yellow and yes.
[j] can occur at the beginning or in the middle of words. It can never occur at the end. It is also
common as part of the sequences [ju:] in music [mju:zɪk] or [juə] in bureau [ˈbjʊərəʊ].

Common spellings:
[j] --> “y” yes [jes]
[ju:] [juə] --> “eu” Europe [juərəp] “ew” new [nju:] “ue” due [dju:]
“u” dune [dju:n] “ui” nuisance [ˈnju:səns]

[s] [z]
[s] is the sound produced at the beginning of the words Sue and sip.

[z] occurs at the beginning of the words zoo and zip and is the voiced counterpart of [s]. To
pronounce [z], Spanish speakers should make a long [s] and start singing in the middle of the
sound.
In word final position [z] is devoiced ([z]). This means that it sounds similar to [s]. Words such
as bus and buzz are not distinguished by the presence or absence of voicing but by the duration
of the vowel, which is longer when the last sound is devoiced (buzz [bʌz]) and shorter when the
last sound is originally voiceless (bus [bʌs]).

Common spellings:
[s] --> “s” sister [ˈsɪstə] “c” cider [ˈsaɪdə] “ss” glass [glɑ:s]
[z] --> “z” zone [zəʊn] “se” rose [rəʊz̩] “zz” buzzing [ˈbʌzɪŋ]
“x” xylophone [ˈzaɪləfəʊn]

[θ] [ð]
[θ] is the sound produced at the beginning of English words such as think, thief and thousand.
It’s produced with the tip of the tongue between the teeth.

[ð] is the sound at the beginning of that, them and the. [ð] is produced the same way as [θ] but
with voicing. Spanish speakers should utter a long [θ] and then start singing in the middle.
Note that the sound [ð] is mostly used for determiners and pronouns: the, this, these, that, they,
their, etc.
In final position [ð] is devoiced ([ð̩]) and thus its pronunciation is close to [θ]. The vowels before
voiceless sounds are shorter than the vowels before devoiced sounds: teeth [ti:θ] and teethe [ti:ð̩]
are distinguished by vowel duration.

Common spellings:
[θ] --> “th” path [pɑːθ]
[ð] --> “th” the [ðe] “the” breathe [bri:ð̩]

[v] [f]
[f] is the sound produced at the beginning of the words ferry, fine and four.

[v] is the voiced counterpart of [f] and it is found in word like very, visit and voice. To produce it
speakers should utter a long [f] and then start singing.
In word final position [v] is devoiced ([v̩]), that is, it’s produced with no vocal fold vibration,
which means that it sounds similar to [f]. [f] and [v] are distinguished in final position by the
duration of the preceding vowel, which is shorter before [f] and longer before [v].

Common spellings:
[f] --> “f” find [faɪnd] “ff” offer [ˈɒfə] “gh” laugh [lɑ:f]
[v] --> “v” never [ˈnevə] “ve” live [lɪv̩]

[m] [n] [ŋ]

English has three nasal sounds: [m] [n] [ŋ]. [m] as in mother [ˈmʌðə], [n] as in night [naɪt] and
[ŋ] as in ring [rɪŋ]. This last one is pronounced as in Spanish when [n] is followed by [k] or [g]:
tengo. [ŋ] never appears in word initial position and is always followed by “g” or “k” in the
spelling.

Common spelling:
[m] --> “m” milk [mɪlk] “mm” hammer [ˈhæmə] “mb” lamb [læm]
[n] --> “n” not [nɒt] “ne” alone [əˈləʊn] “nn” funny [ˈfʌni]
“kn” know [nəʊ] “gn” sign [saɪn]
[ŋ] --> “ng” sing [sɪŋ] “n” bank [bæŋk]

[w]
It’s found at the beginning of words such as what and wait. It has a similar quality to the vowel
[u]. In GA, Scottish and Irish, words starting with “wh” are usually produced as [hw]: when
[hwen].

Common spellings:
[w] --> “w” way [weɪ] “wh” why [waɪ] “u” quite [kwaɪt]

[l]
English [l] is similar to Spanish [l] when the following sound is a vowel o [j]. However, when
the English [l] is followed by a consonant (as in milk) or appears in word final position before a
pause (as in mill), the [l] becomes a “dark” [l]: [ɫ].

Common spellings:
[l] --> “l” learn [lɜ:n] “ll” yellow [ˈjeləʊ]
[r]
English [r] as in right, red and arrow, is produced with a curved tip of the tongue which is not in
contact with the palate. The lips are a bit rounded.
In RP, the [r] is only produced when it is followed by a vowel (as in red [red]) but not when it is
followed by a consonant (as in farm [fɑ:m]) or a pause (as in far [fɑ:]). This accent is called non-
rhotic.
However, if the word (the ones that end in pause) is followed by a word beginning with a vowel
in connected speech, the [r] is pronounced. This phenomenon is called linking [r].
far away [ˈfɑ:r əˈweɪ]
near it [ˈnɪər ɪt]
Sir Andrew [sər ˈændru:]
The insertion of [r] before a vowel is frequent in non-rhotic accents even in cases when there is
no [r] in the spelling. This is known as intrusive and it mainly occurs in words ending with [ə],
[ɔ:] and [ɑ:] when the following word begins with a vowel:
the idea of it [ði aɪˈdɪər əv ɪt]
the Shah of Persia [ðe ˈʃɑ:r əv ˈpɛ:ʃə]

Common spellings:
[r] --> “r” red [red] “rr” carrot [ˈkærət] “wr” write [rait]

CONSONANTS: A THEORETICAL APPROACH

Parameters to describe consonants

Consonants are described according to three parameters:

1. Vocal fold position

For the production of consonants, the vocal folds can have two positions:
1. open (the air that comes from the lungs escapes freely and there is no vibration. This position
is used to produce voiceless sounds). --> [s], [t], [ʃ], etc.
2. nearly together (the air that comes from the lungs has to go through them causing vibration.
This position is used to produce voiced sounds). --> [m], [n], [d], etc.

2. Place of articulation
The place of articulation of a sound describes where this sound is produced and which
articulators are used. For example, a bilabial consonant is produced with an obstruction of the air
in the lips. Here is a list of all the possible places of articulation found in the languages of the
world and the articulators involved in their production:
Articulators can be of two kinds: active and passive. Active articulators are those that move, such
as the lips or the tongue. Passive articulators, on the other hand, are fixed, such as the palate.
Consonants tend to be produced with an active articulator approaching a passive articulator. For
example, in alveolar sounds, the tip of the tongue (active articulator) raises against the alveolar
ridge (passive articulator).
Sounds produced with the same place of articulation are called homorganic. For example, [b]
and [m] are homorganic because both of them are produced in the same place (bilabial).

3. Manner of articulation
The manner of articulation is the degree of constriction used to produce a given sound. The air
coming from the lungs may be obstructed in the following ways:
1. A complete closure of the articulators (as in plosives [p b], [t d], [k g] or nasals [m], [n], [ŋ]).
The production of plosives involves the following steps or phases: 1) approximation of the
articulators to produce a complete closure (closing phase), 2) holding of the closure for a little
while so that the air does not escape (holding phase) and 3) opening of the closure and release of
the air producing a burst (opening phase).
Nasals (such as [m], [n], [ŋ]) are also produced with a complete closure of the articulators in the
oral cavity, similar to that of plosives. However, in nasals the air coming from the lungs is not
released through the mouth but through the nose. Plosives and nasals are sometimes known as
stops indicating that both types of sounds are produced with a total blockage of the air in the oral
cavity, even though the way this air is released is different (orally in plosives and nasally in
nasals).
2. A close narrowing of the articulators (as in fricatives [s], [f], [ʒ]). In this case, the articulators
show a narrow approximation (without closure) which causes friction of the outgoing airstream.
3. A partial closure (as in laterals [l]). This involves a closure of the tip of the tongue against the
alveolar ridge but with the sides of the tongue lowered. That is, the sides of the tongue do not
touch the upper teeth and therefore the air escapes through the lateral passages. In order to
understand the production of a lateral, you can produce an [l] and then breath in. You will feel
that the sides of the mouth get cold since they are not in contact with the upper teeth.
4. An intermittent closure (as in trills [r] or taps [r]). A tap is produced with a quick closure of
the articulators and a trill involves a series of quick closures. A clear example of the distinction
between taps and trills can be found in the Spanish minimal pair pero (produced with a tap
[‘pero]) and perro (produced with a trill [‘peɾõ ]). No taps or trills are found in RP English. In
American English taps are used as realizations of /t/ or /d/, as in butter [‘bʌɾəɾ].
5. An open approximation of the articulators (as in approximants [j], [w]). For the production of
approximants, the approximation between the two articulators is so wide that the air coming
from the lungs escapes freely without causing friction. The articulatory characteristics of
approximants are very similar to those of vowels where the tongue approximates towards some
part of the palate but no friction is caused.
6. Finally, it is possible to combine two types of constriction in the production of one sound, as
in the case of affricates ([tʃ] and [dʒ]), which are produced with a complete closure (as in
plosives) followed by a fricative release.
The following chart includes a classification of all RP English consonants in terms of place of
articulation (horizontal axis), manner of articulation (vertical axis) and voicing. In the boxes
containing two sounds, the one on the left is voiceless (as for example [p]) and the one on the
right is voiced ([b]). In the boxes with only one sound, this is always voiced ([m]).

Types of articulations

1. Single and double articulations

Consonants are usually produced with a single place of articulation, that is, with some kind of
constriction in a particular location of the oral cavity (for example, alveolar, bilabial, velar,
palatal, etc.). Sometimes, though, it is possible to produce sounds with a double articulation,
which involves two simultaneous constrictions at two different places of the oral cavity. The
most important characteristic of double articulations is that the two constrictions have to be of
equal rank, that is, they have to have the same degree of approximation or manner of articulation.
An example of a double articulation in English is the sound [w]. This consonant is produced with
two simultaneous constrictions, one at the lips (bilabial) and the other one at the velum (velar).
For both places of articulation, the degree of constriction is that of an open approximation. Thus,
this sound it described as a labiovelar, approximant.

2. Primary and secondary articulations

A primary articulation is the most important (and often the only) articulation of a consonant. For
example, [t] has an alveolar primary articulation and [k] has a velar primary articulation. In some
cases, primary articulations can be accompanied by a secondary articulation, which involves a
simultaneous constriction to the primary one but of lower rank. This means that the manner of
articulation of the second constriction has to be more open than that of the primary one. For
example, the voiceless, alveolar, plosive [t] can sometimes be labialized, that is, it can be
produced with an open approximation of the lips (lip rounding). This occurs when the sound that
follows [t] is rounded, as in two [tu:]. The lip rounding for the vowel is anticipated during the
production of the consonant and thus [t] becomes labialized. The symbol to indicate labialization
is [ʷ] ([tʷu:]). In this case, the [tʷ] is produced with two simultaneous constrictions: a primary
alveolar constriction (produced with a complete closure) and a secondary labial constriction
(produced with an open approximation).
Finally, it is important to remember that the main difference between a double articulation and a
secondary articulation lies on the degree of constriction (same degree in double articulations and
lower degree in secondary articulations).
Types of consonants

1. Obstruents vs. sonorants

Sometimes consonants can be classified into further groups according to shared articulatory
characteristics. For example, obstruents are sounds produced with a blockage of the airflow in
the oral cavity that causes noise. Obstruents include plosives, fricatives and affricates. Sonorants,
on the other hand, are sounds produced with a free escaping of the airflow that causes no noise.
Sonorant sounds are approximants, laterals, nasals and vowels. Note that nasals are produced
with a complete closure in the oral cavity (as for plosives) but the air escapes freely through the
nose and therefore there is no actual obstruction of the outgoing airflow.

2. Fortis vs. lenis

Another possible classification of sounds has to do with the amount of muscular effort used in
their production. Sounds produced with more muscular effort are known as fortis whereas
sounds produced with less muscular effort are known as lenis. Fortis sounds are voiceless and
lenis sounds are voiced or devoiced.

Allophonic variation in English consonants

The phonemes of a language can have different realizations depending on the contexts they
appear. The voiceless, alveolar, plosive /t/ was produced with labialization or lip rounding ([tʷ])
when followed by a rounded vowel as in two [tʷu:]. This indicates that the English alveolar /t/
has a labialized allophone [tʷ] which occurs in certain environments, namely, before sounds
produced with lip rounding. There are lots of other instances of allophonic variation in English
consonants:

1. Aspiration
English voiceless plosives [p], [t] and [k] are aspirated ([ph], [th] and [kh]) in certain
environments. Aspiration means that there is a delay in the onset of vocal fold vibration for the
vowel after the release of the plosive. Thus, the vowel is partially devoiced. Aspiration in
English takes place when [p], [t] or [k] are located at the beginning of a stressed syllable. For
example, in the word paper the first [p] is aspirated because it belongs to a stressed syllable but
the second one is not because it belongs to an unstressed syllable ([‘pheɪpə]).
Aspiration is also blocked (does not take place) when [p], [t] and [k] are preceded by [s]. Thus,
the [p] in spy [spaɪ] is not, even though the syllable is stressed.

2. Devoicing
Devoicing is a phenomenon which involves the partial or total loss of voicing of originally
voiced sounds in certain contexts. There are several cases of devoicing in English. In this course
we will examine two devoicing processes: 1) the devoicing of voiced obstruents and 2) the
devoicing of voiced approximants and laterals.
English voiced obstruents (plosives, fricatives and affricates) are devoiced when the originally
voiced sound is located before or after a pause or is in contact with a voiceless sound. When the
voiced obstruent is next to a voiced sound (including vowels) devoicing does not apply and the
obstruent is fully voiced. The following examples show the contexts in which the voiced,
alveolar, plosive ([d]) is devoiced and the contexts in which it is fully voiced. The symbol #
indicates the presence of pause.
Since devoicing involves the total or partial loss of the voiced condition of sounds, devoiced
consonants are produced in a similar way to voiceless consonants, that is, with no vocal fold
vibration. When devoicing takes places, minimal pairs such as goat and coat are no longer
distinguished by means of the voiced/voiceless condition of [g] and [k] since in this position both
sounds show no vocal fold vibration ([g̩] and [k]). The cue used to distinguish between [g̩] and
[k] in the goat and coat minimal pair is aspiration. Thus, coat will be produced with a voiceless,
aspirated [kh].
Finally, when devoicing takes place at the end of a word, the cue that distinguishes a word
ending with a devoiced sound, such as sag [sæg̩], from a word ending with an originally
voiceless sound, such as sack [sæk], is the duration of the preceding vowel, which is shorter in
sack than in sag. The shortening of a vowel before a voiceless sound is known as pre-fortis
clipping.
Apart from voiced obstruents, the other group of sounds that also undergoes a devoicing process
in English is that of approximants and laterals. English approximants [j], [w] and [r] and lateral
[l] are devoiced when they are preceded by [p], [t] or [k] at the beginning of a stressed syllable.
The phonetic characteristics of the devoicing of [j], [w], [r] and [l] after [p], [t] or [k] in stressed
syllables in English are the same as those of aspiration. That is, the onset of vocal fold vibration
for [j], [w], [r] and [l] after the release of voiceless plosives is delayed. As in the case of
aspiration, when [p], [t] and [k] are preceded by [s] there is no devoicing of [j], [w], [r] and [l].
Thus, for example, the [r] in pray is devoiced ([pr̩eɪ]) and the [r] in spray is not ([spreɪ]).

3. Velarization
In British English the voiced, alveolar, lateral [l] is sometimes velarized ([ɫ]), that is, it is
produced with an open approximation of the back of the tongue towards the velum. Velarization
is a secondary articulation which takes places simultaneously to the primary (alveolar) one. The
following graph shows the two types of articulatory trajectories.
The realization of British English [l] as alveolar (clear [l]) or as a velarized alveolar (dark [ɫ])
depends on the phonetic context in which this sound occurs. Clear [l] only appears before vowels
and [j] and dark [ɫ] only before consonants (except for [j]) or before a pause: