What do the Following Groups of Sounds Have in Common?
Pronounce each set of sounds. Identify what it is that each group has in common.
| /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ | |
| /f/ /v/ /ϴ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ | |
| /tʃ/ /dʒ/ | |
| /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ | |
| /l/ /r/ | |
| /w/ /y/ | |
Which Group of Consonant Phonemes is Being Described?
Here you are provided with a brief description of the consonant sounds or phonemes. Read each description carefully and match each description with a group of consonants.
| 1. When these consonants are produced, the flow of air is blocked completely. | a) Nasal Sounds |
| 2. While the air is released, a sort of friction is created in various parts of the vocal tract. | b) Affricate Sounds |
| 3. This group of sounds is actually the combination of two different phonemes with a bit of friction. | c) The Lateral Sound |
| 4. The air comes out through your nostrils, not through your mouth, and they don’t produce friction. | d) Stop Consonants |
| 5. Although this group has only one member, this consonant distorts the flow of air with the tongue being a bit curled back. | e) The Glides of Semi-Consonants |
| 6. When this only sound is produced, the air comes out through the sides of the tongue when touching the alveolus. | f) Fricative Consonants |
| 7) These two sounds are not fully considered consonants per se. In one of the them the airflow is affected by the lips, and the other is affected by the tongue movements. | g) The Retroflex |
Manner of Articulation
Manner of articulation is the third consonant feature that needs to be used to fully describe a consonant phoneme. That is, that manner of articulation, in addition to voicing and point of articulation, are the characteristics that can tell apart any consonant in the language. Using this knowledge guarantees that you will be able to produce clearer and more accurate sounds in the target language.
Manner of articulation –in consonant production- refers to how the air comes out of your lungs. Does the air come out of your lungs through the mouth or nasal cavity? Do consonants produce friction while the air comes out, or do they suddenly block the flow of air? Are there sudden movements in your tongue when the air comes out? Does a sound begin in one point of articulation and then moves to another causing the air to come out differently? Answering these questions can allow us to classify consonants in this way.
In terms of manner of articulation, consonants can be classified as follows:
1. stops
2. fricatives
3. affricates
4. nasals
5. liquids
a. lateral
b. retroflex
6. glides
As we pointed out when talking about place of articulation, knowing how the air is released in consonant production can help you pronounce the phonemes accurately. As a teacher-to-be, you will be able to instruct students on how the air should come out to ensure accuracy in consonant production.
What do the Following Groups of Sounds Have in Common?
Pronounce each set of sounds. Identify what it is that each group has in common.
| Sounds | Place of Articulation |
| /p/ /b/ /m/ /w/ | |
| /f/ /v/ | |
| /ð/ /ϴ/ | |
| /t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /n/ /l/ /r/ | |
| /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /y/ | |
| /k/ /g/ /ŋ/ | |
| /h/ | |
Get the answers here!
? | Here both lips are important in consonant sound production. |
? | The roof of the mouth and the tongue interact in producing some consonants. |
? | Here, upper and lower teeth interact with the tip of the tongue to produce some sounds. |
? | This part is also known as soft palate and is located where the uvula is, and this part interacts with the back of the tongue to produce consonant sounds. |
? | Lower lip and upper teeth interact here to produce certain consonants. |
? | Only a single sound is produced here when the vocal cords open. |
? | The tip of the tongue is placed behind this part of the mouth to produce certain sounds. |
Place of Articulation
Not only voicing is used to classify consonants; place or point of articulation in another feature that is used as well. Place of articulation is directly linked with our speech apparatus because all of its parts play an important role in consonant sound production.
Based on where we place our tongues within our mouths or its interaction with other parts of the speech apparatus, we can classify sounds accordingly. There are seven different categories of sounds if classified with this second consonant feature:
1. Bilabial consonant sounds
2. Labio-dental consonant sounds
3. Interdental consonant sounds
4. Alveolar consonant sounds
5. Palatal consonant sounds
6. Velar consonant sounds
7. Glottal consonant sounds
Knowing the points of articulation of sounds has two advantages. On the one hand, you can self-correct your pronunciation and reduce your accent in English. On the other hand, having this knowledge accessible implies that you can correct your future students to avoid using Spanish sounds (or any other language sounds) to speak English.
Consonant Features
In terms of phonology, consonant features refer to the basic characteristics of each consonant, the way they are produced, and the place where they are pronounced. These characteristics are unique; that is, every single consonant in the language has distinctive features that make them different from the rest of the consonant sounds.
Consonant features are not only used to describe each consonant individually. They are also used group consonants, depending on the manner or place of articulation. In addition to these, they help us group consonants depending on their lack or presence of vibration in the vocal cords.
As a language student, the features are useful to help us find the right way to pronounce each sound. As a future teacher, this knowledge will allow you to instruct your students to place their speech apparatus in the right position to pronounce sounds clearly and smoothly. Knowing this will help you reduce your accent in English.
Now, you might be wondering how consonants are classified based on consonant features. There are three ways to classify consonants:
1. by their voicing quality (absence or presence of vibration),
2. by their place of articulation, and
3. by their manner of articulation.
In the following sessions we will classify consonants in various way, but on this session we will only work with voicing.
Let’s classify the following consonants based on voicing: voiced or voiceless.
VOICED = including vibration
VOICELESS = without any vibration
/b/ = voiced consonant
/f/ = voiceless consonant
| /d/ | /p/ | /ð/ |
| /g/ | /r/ | /ϴ/ |
| /h/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ |
| /k/ | /t/ | /ʒ/ |
| /l/ | /v/ | /tʃ/ |
| /m/ | /w/ | /dʒ/ |
| /n/ | /y/ | |
| /ŋ/ | /z/ | |
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