TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MANABÍ

Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Educational Sciences

Department of Pedagogy of National and Foreign Languages

Project Work

Subject: Morphology & Phonetics

Topic:
Consonants

Students:
Saltos Vélez Katty Katherine

Group:
“B”

Professor: BA Jesús R. Fernández Leyva, Ph. D.

Academic period: May 8th-Sept. 2nd, 2023 (Second midterm)

Date:
07-08-2023
 Consonants
Consonants are letters that stand for a type of sound we use in speech. These sounds involve a partial or
complete closure of the vocal tract: for example, placing the tongue behind the front teeth, as with the
consonants t and d; or closing your lips, as with the consonants b, m, and p. The opposite of consonants
are vowels, which do not involve closing the vocal tract. In a syllable, consonants are the letters in
lateral position.

English consonants
/p/

/d/

/f/
 Definition: The /f/ is a sound called the ‘Voiceless labiodental fricative’.
To produce the sound rest your top teeth on you bottom lip and force air out between your teeth
 Spelling:
The /f/ phoneme is normally spelled with the letter ‘f’ as in the words:
father /ˈfɑðər/
often /ˈɔfn/
But can also be spelt with the letters ‘ph’ as in the word:
phone /fəʊn/
Or the letters ‘gh’ as in the word:
enough /ɪˈnʌf/
 Place of occurrence (I-M-F): phone /fəʊn/ often /ˈɒfən/ enough /ɪˈnʌf/
 Area (place, point) of Articulation: Labiodental (you create friction between the bottom lip and
top teeth)
 Manner of Articulation: Fricative (it is a sound that is produced by high-pressure air flow
between a narrow space in the mouth. In this case, it is between the bottom lip and the teeth)
 Voicing: Voiceless (the vocal chords do not vibrate to make the sound)
 Tension: Fortis
 Soft palate position: Oral
 Examples:
/h/
 Definition: The /h/ is a sound called the “Voiceless glottal fricative”, which means that the sound is
made with the motion of your vocal chords but is not voiced.
 Spelling:
The /h/ sound is spelled with the letter ‘h’:
help /help/
behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/
However, in a few words it is spelled ‘wh’ as in:
whole /həʊl/
who /huː/
 Place of occurrence (I-M-F): help /help/ behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/ Words do not normally end with /h/
 Area (place, point) of Articulation: Glotal (it is produced when the vocal chords rapidly close)
 Manner of Articulation: Fricative (it is produced when air is forced through a narrow passage in
your mouth. In this case, the vocal chords)
 Voicing: Voiceless (the vocal chords are not vibrating)
 Tension: Fortis
 Soft palate position: Oral
 Examples:

/m/
 Definition: The /m/ sound is called the “Voiced bilabial nasal,” which means that you use both of
your lips and the air comes out your nose.
 Spelling:
The m sound is spelled with the letter ‘m’:
some /sʌm/
Sometimes with a double ‘m’ as in:
summer /ˈsʌmər/
 Place of occurrence (I-M-F): some /sʌm/ summer /ˈsʌmər/ mom /mɑm/
 Area (place, point) of Articulation: Bilabial (sounds occur at the very front of your mouth. This
means that the sound is produced by putting your lips together)
 Manner of Articulation: Nasal (it is formed by releasing the air through the nose instead of the
mouth)
 Voicing: Voiced (the vocal chords are vibrating)
 Tension: Lenis
 Soft palate position: Nasal
 Point out possible allophonic variants depending on position: Devoicing
 Examples:

Spanish consonants
/b/

/t/

/s/

/n/

/l/

Bibliography
English language club. (2021). f Sound: How to pronounce the f sound (/f/ Phoneme).
https://www.englishlanguageclub.co.uk/f-sound/
English language club. (2021). h sound: How to pronounce the h Sound (/h/ Phoneme).
https://www.englishlanguageclub.co.uk/h-sound/
English language club. (2021). m Sound: How to pronounce the m Sound (/m/ Phoneme).
https://www.englishlanguageclub.co.uk/m-sound/