Week 10: The Glides or Semiconsonants

The Glides or Semiconsonants

A glide is a consonant characterized by a continued gliding motion of the articulators into a sort of vowel-producing position. They are also known as semiconsonants or semivowels.

A glide is characterized by having consonant features as well as vowel characteristics. That is, at the beginning of a syllable, they behave as consonants. But immediately after a vowel, they behave as vowels forming dipththongs.

Sound	English	Spanish
/y/	Voiced Palatal Glide	1. Spanish speakers in general have a voiced palatal glide, but 2. Costa Rican Spanish speakers do not have a /y/-semiconsonant sound. This is usually confused with a /dʒ/-sound.
/w/	Voiced Bilabial Glide	1. Spanish speakers do have /w/ in words such as hueso. 2. It is very common to find speakers who include a /g/ right before a /w/ = /gw/. Ex: /gwɪ:n/

As you have noticed Spanish speakers do have trouble pronouncing these sounds. However, extra work on these semiconsonants is necessary to reduce your accent.

/y/	yell = /yɛ:ǝl/
	yard = /ya:rd/
	young = /yʌ:ŋ/
	youth = /yuwϴ/
	year = /yɪ:ǝr/
	yellow = /’yɛǝlow/
	yolk = /yowk/
	mayor = /’mɛyǝr/

Chart 1

/w/	wood = /wʊ:d/
	women = /’wɪmɪn/
	word = /wʌ:rd/
	wait = /weyt/
	wine = /way:n/
	wig = /wɪ:g/
	well = /wɛ:ǝl/
	witch = /wɪtʃ/

Chart 2

Week 5: The Fricative Sounds

The Fricative Sounds

Fricatives in English are the most important group of consonants since we have 9 members in this group. These consonant phonemes are characterized by the friction they produce when the airstream is coming out of the mouth. It is the tongue and its several positions the one responsible in the production of all these sounds.

How can fricatives be described or defined? They are consonants produced by forcing the breath stream through a constriction by articulators in the vocal tract.

Fricatives are divided into 5 different sub-categories:

1. labiodental fricatives,

2. interdental fricatives,

3. alveolar fricatives,

4. palatal fricatives, and

5. a glottal fricative.

As can be noticed in the chart below, we have sister sounds, except for the glottal phoneme, which happens to be by itself.

This chart can also help us see the similarities and differences across the two languages we get to use at the university.

Phoneme	Spanish	English
/f/	voiceless-labiodental	voiceless-labiodental
/v/	(It doesn’t exist.)	voiced-labiodental
/ϴ/	(It doesn’t exist.)	voiceless-interdental
/ð/	(It is an allophone.)	voiced-interdental
/s/	voiceless-alveolar	voiceless-alveolar
/z/	(It doesn’t exist.)	voiced-alveolar
/ʃ/	(It doesn’t exist.)	voiceless-palatal
/ʒ/	(It doesn’t exist.)	voiced-palatal
/h/	voiceless-glottal	voiceless-glottal

As you may have noticed five of the fricative phonemes in English do not exist in Spanish spoken in the Americas. The other one exists in Spanish, but it is an allophonic difference for another phoneme.

Week 3: Manner of Articulation (3)

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/

Get the answers here! or here!

Week 3: Manner of articulation (2)

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

See a copy of the exercise here!

Get a copy of the exercise here!

Week 3: Manner of Articulation (1)

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.

Week 2: Point of Articulation Exercise (2)

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!