Consonant Sounds

Consonant Sounds

Sounds

 English has fewer consonant letters than spoken. English has 24 consonant sounds when in there are 21 consonant letters, so some letters represent more than one consonant sound, those are the ones that are combined. 

Consonants are easier than vowels referring to spelling. Most of the time a consonant sound is represented by the same consonant letter in writing: bed [bed], pin [pin], kind [kaind], take [teik], mark [ma:rk], false [fo:ls].

But there are several consonant sounds that are represented by different consonant letters or letter combinations in writing, for example, [k], [s], [g], [j], [f], [sh]. There are also consonant letters and letter combinations that have several variants of pronunciation. Find more information about this in the next webpage. http://usefulenglish.ru/writing/spelling-patterns-for-consonant-sounds http://usefulenglish.ru/phonetics/english-consonant-sounds True consonants or obstruents can then be classified taking into account manner of articulation features. Consonants have already been defined as sounds produced by obstructing the vocal tract while expelling the airstream from the lungs. The way in which this obstruction is achieved can be of different kinds. PLACE OF ARTICULATION  The gap between the vocal cords is used to make audible friction, e.g. /h/ Glottal The back of the tongue is used against the soft palate, e.g. /k/- / ŋ/ Velar The front of the tongue is raised close to the palate, e.g. /j/ Palatal The blade ( or tip) of the tongue is used just behind the alveolar ridge, e.g. / ʧ/-/ʤ/ Palato-alveolar The blade of the tongue is used close to the alveolar ridge, e.g. /t/- /s/. Alveolar The tongue tip is used either between the teeth or close to the upper teeth, e.g. / θ / ð/ Dental Using the lower lip and the upper teeth, e.g. /f/- /v/ Labio-dental Using closing movement of both lips, e.g. /p/ - /b/ Bilabial MANNER OF ARTICULATION  Vocal organs come near to each other, but no so close as to cause audible friction, e.g. /r/- /w/ APPROXIMANT A partial closure is made by the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. Air is able to flow around the sides of the tongue, e.g. /l/ LATERAL A closure is made by the lips, or by the tongue against the palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air escapes through the nose, e.g. /m/- /n/ NASAL When two vocal organs come close enough together for the movement of air between them to be heard, e.g. /f/- /v/ FRICATIVE A complete closure is made in the mouth and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure increases behind the closure, and is released more slowly than the plosive, e.g. / tʃ/- /ʤ/ AFFRICATIVE A complete closure is made in the vocal tract and the soft palate is also raised. Air pressure increases behind the closure and is then released explosively, e.g. /p/ and /b/ PLOSIVE

Reflection: I really liked to learn about this, because in that way I realized that I was making many mistakes at the time of pronouncing some sounds such as: /d/ and /ð/ because I was used to pronounce them in the same way and I used to pronounce them as I do in Spanish because I didn't know about the differences. Finally I am paying attention to these sounds because sometimes I still make mistakes with them.