THE SOUNDS & SOUND TYPES OF ENGLISH
Classification of English Consonants
We classify consonants along three major dimensions:
1) place of articulation 2)manner of articulation 3)voicing
1.“The place of articulation”
The place of articulation (or POA) of a consonant specifies where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs. From front to back, the POAs that English uses are:
Bilabial.
In a bilabial consonant, the lower and upper lips approach or touch each other. English [p], [b], and [m] are bilabial stops.
Labiodental.
In a labiodental consonant, the lower lip approaches or touches the upper teeth. English [f] and [v] are bilabial fricatives.
Dental.
In a dental consonant, the tip or blade of the tongue approaches or touches the upper teeth. English [θ] and [ð] are dental fricatives. There are actually a couple of different ways of forming these sounds: The tongue tip can approach the back of the upper teeth, but not press against them so hard that the airflow is completely blocked. The blade of the tongue can touch the bottom of the upper teeth, with the tongue tip protruding between the teeth -- still leaving enough space for a turbulent airstream to escape. This kind of [θ] and [ð] is often called interdental. The diagram to the right shows a typical interdental [θ] or [ð].
Alveolar.
In an alveolar consonant, the tongue tip (or less often the tongue blade) approaches or touches the alveolar ridge, the ridge immediately behind the upper teeth.
Postalveolar.
In a postalveolar consonant, the constriction is made immediately behind the alveolar ridge. The constriction can be made with either the tip or the blade of the tongue. The English fricatives [ʃ] and [ʒ] are made at this POA, as are the corresponding affricates [tʃ] and [dʒ].
Retroflex.
In a retroflex consonant, the tongue tip is curled backward in the mouth. English [ɹ] is a retroflex approximant -the tongue tip is curled up toward the postalveolar region (the area immediately behind the alveolar ridge).
Palatal.
In a palatal consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the hard palate. English [j] is a palatal approximant -- the tongue body approaches the hard palate, but closely enough to create turbulence in the airstream.
Velar.
In a velar consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the soft palate, or velum. English [k], [ɡ], and [ŋ] are stops made at this POA.
Glottal.
The glottis is the opening between the vocal folds. In an [h], this opening is narrow enough to create some turbulence in the airstream flowing past the vocal folds. For this reason, [h] is often classified as a glottal fricative.
2. “The manner of articulation”
Speech sounds also vary in the way the airstreams is affected as it flow form the lungs up and out of the mouth and nose. It may be blocked or practically blocked; the vocal cords may vibrate or not vibrate. It refers to this as the manner of articulation. The process by which the moving column of air is shaped called the manner of articulation.
Stops
A stop consonant completely cuts off the airflow through the mouth. In the consonants [t], [d], and [n], the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge and cuts off the airflow at that point. In [t] and [d], this means that there is no airflow at all for the duration of the stop. In [n], there is no airflow through the mouth, but there is still airflow through the nose.
Nasal stops,
like [n], which involve airflow through the nose, and oral stops, like [t] and [d], which do not. Nasal stops are often simply called nasals. Oral stops are often called plosives. Oral stops can be either voiced or voiceless. Nasal stops are almost always voiced. (It is physically possible to produce a voiceless nasal stop, but English, like most languages, does not use such sounds.)
Fricatives.
In a fricative consonant, the articulators involved in the constriction approach get close enough to each other to create a turbluent airstream. The fricatives of English are [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], and [ʒ].
Approximants.
In an approximant, the articulators involved in the constriction are further apart still than they are for a fricative. The articulators are still closer to each other than when the vocal tract is in its neutral position, but they are not even close enough to cause the air passing between them to become turbulent. The approximants of English are [w], [j], [ɹ], and [l].
Affricates.
An affricate is a single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion. In English [tʃ], the airflow is first interuppted by a stop which is very similar to [t] (though made a bit further back). But instead of finishing the articulation quickly and moving directly into the next sound, the tongue pulls away from the stop slowly, so that there is a period of time immediately after the stop where the constriction is narrow enough to cause a turbulent airstream. In [tʃ], the period of turbulent airstream following the stop portion is the same as the fricative [ʃ]. English [dʒ] is an affricate like [tʃ], but voiced.
Laterals.
Sounds which involve airflow around the side of the tongue are called laterals. Sounds which are not lateral are called central. [l] is the only lateral in English. The other sounds of Englihs, like most of the sounds of the world's languages, are central. More specifically, [l] is a lateral approximant. The opening left at the side of the tongue is wide enough that the air flowing through does not become turbulent.
3. “Voicing”
The vocal folds may be held against each other at just the right tension so that the air flowing past them from the lungs will cause them to vibrate against each other. We call this process voicing. Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced. Sounds made without vocal fold vibration are said to be voiceless.