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!

Week 2: Point of Articulation Exercise (1)

What Kind of Sound is Being Described?

Read each of the description in the chart carefully. If needed, go back to the “speech apparatus” picture as reference. Then, match one of the places of articulation with one of the following descriptions below.

?	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.

Week 2: Consonant Features (2)

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.