CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS IN ENGLISH

By

         CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS IN ENGLISH

  



    Description of Consonants: The word ‘consonant’ has been derived from the Greek word ‘ consonautem’, which means the sound produced with the help of some other sound (vowel). A consonant is usually described, taking into account whether it is voiceless or voiced, its place of articulation and its manner of articulation. Manner of articulation refers to the stricture involved and plosive, affricate, nasal, fricative, etc; are labels given to consonants according to their manner of articulation. Place of articulation just means the two articulators involved in the production of a consonant. 

    Consonants can be described according to their places of articulation. The label used is normally an adjective derived from the name of the passive articulator. The places of articulation that we frequently come across are bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palato-alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, uvular and glottal. The classification of sounds into vowels and consonants is customary irrespective of phonetic, phonological, or orthographic references. The current classification following Pike divides the sounds into vocoids (vowel sounds), contoids (consonant sounds) and semi-vocoids or semi-contoids (for example; /w/ and /j/ in English). 

    The terms contoids and vocoids refer to phonetic form only, without any reference to phonological function. A vocoid, according to Pike, is a segment formed with an open approximation of the articulators, with or without a veil closure, and with a central passage or air stream. All other segments are contoids. In English, there can be syllabic vocoids, non-syllabic vocoids, syllabic contoids and non-syllabic contoids. 

    Syllabic vocoids are all vowel sounds; they function as syllable nuclei. Phonetically, the vocoids are vowels and their phonological function is that of a syllabic vocoid. Non-syllabic vocoids are the sounds which are phonetically vocoids but phonologically are contoids. Syllabic contoids are the sounds which are phonetically contoids but their phonological function is that of syllabic nucleus, that is, they represent the V element in the structure of a syllable. Non-syllabic contoids are the sounds that phonetically are contoids and phonologically represent the C element in the structure of a syllable.

     A description of consonantal sounds, according to A.C.Gimson, must provide answers to the following questions:-

  Is the air-stream set in motion by the lungs or by some other means (pulmonic or non-pulmonic)? 

 Is the air-stream forced outwards or sucked inwards (egressive or ingressive)? 

 Do the vocal cords vibrate or not (voiced or voiceless)? 

 Is the soft palate raised or lowered? Or, does the air pass through the oral cavity (mouth) or the nasal cavity (nose)?

  At what point or points and between what organs does the closure or narrowing take place (Place of articulation)?

  What is the type of closure or narrowing at the point of articulation (Manner of articulation)? Thus, the description of a consonant will include five kinds of information

: 1.) The nature of air-stream mechanism, 

2.) The state of the glottis, 

3.) The position of the soft palate, 

    The State of the Glottis: Speech sounds can be classified as voiceless or voiced, depending upon whether the vocal cords are wide apart and the glottis is wide open (voiceless) or the vocal cords are kept loosely together and they vibrate (voiced). The Position of the Soft Palate: Speech sounds can be classified as oral or nasal, depending upon whether the soft palate is raised so as to shut off the nasal passage of air (oral) or it is lowered to open the nasal passage of air simultaneously with an oral closure (nasal). Sounds can also be nasalised.

     The Articulators Involved-the Active and Passive Articulators: Of the various articulators described in the chapter, at least two are required for the production of any speech sound; some articulators move during the production of speech sounds. These are termed as active articulators. Certain other articulators remain passive and the active articulators move in the direction of these. These are termed as passive articulators. The Nature of Stricture Involved: The term ‘stricture’ refers to the way in which the passage of air is restricted by the various organs of speech. The stricture may be one of complete closure, that is, the active and passive articulators come into firm contact with each other, thus preventing the lung-air from escaping through the mouth. 

    Simultaneously, there is a valid closure, that is, the soft palate is raised, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. Thus, the lung-air is blocked in the mouth. When the oral closure is released, that is, when the active articulator is suddenly removed from the passive articulator, the air escapes with a small explosive noise. Sounds produced with a stricture of complete closure and sudden release are called plosives. If the active articulator is removed slowly from the passive articulator, instead of the explosive noise that is characteristic of plosive consonants, friction will be heard. Classification of Consonants

 1) Voiced and Voiceless Sound Components: The voiced sounds in English are L, b, d, g, v, z, d3, m, n, l, r, w. j/. All vocoids and semi-vowels are voiced sounds. In the case of consonants, some are voiced and some voiceless.

 2) Place of Articulation: The classification of English consonants according to the place of articulation are as follows:

 i) Bilabial Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the upper lip and the lower lip. Examples are /p, b, m, w/.

 ii) Dental Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the teeth and the tip of the tongue

. iii) Labio-Dental Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the lower lip and the upper teeth.

 iv) Alveolar Consonant: Whose place of articulation is between the alveolar (teeth) ridge and tip and blade of tongue. Examples of such consonants are /t, d, s, z, r, 1, n/.

 v) Post-Alveolar Consonant: Whose place of articulation is hard palate and tip of tongue. Example of such consonant is /r/. 

vi) Palato-Alveolar Consonant: Whose place of articulation is hard palate alveolar and tip, blade and front of tongue. Examples of such consonants are /f, 3, t, f, d3/. 

vii) Palatal Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the hard palate and front of tongue. Example of such consonant is /j/. 

viii) Velar Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the soft palate and back of tongue. Examples of such consonants are /K, g, n/. ix) Glottal Consonant: Whose place of articulation is the glottis or the vocal cords. Example of such consonant is /h/. 

3) Manner of Articulation: Consonants may be classified according to the manner of articulation as follows: 

i) Plosives: The sound is produce by some forms of complete stopping of air stream and the letting it goes by sudden force. Such consonants are known as plosives. Those sounds are divided in three categories – bilabial plosive, alveolar plosive and velar plosive. 

 Bilabial Plosives: For /p/, /b/, the air passage in mouth is closed by the two lips, and soft palate is raised to shut off nasal passage. 

 Alveolar Plosive: For the /t/, /d/, the air passage in the mouth is closed by the tip of the tongue making a contact with the teeth ridge. 

 Velar Plosive: For /k/, /g/ the air passage is closed completely by the back of the tongue making contact with soft plate

 The nasal passage is also closed by the soft palate. The air from the lungs is compressed. When the tongue is suddenly remove from the soft palate the air escapes with explosion. The vocal cords are wide apart for /k/, and vibrate for /g/. ii) Affricate: The sounds that are produced by some form of complete stopping of the air stream and then letting it go slowly such sounds produce in same friction are known affricate. Like /d3/, /3/. iii) Nasals: While articulating of such sounds, the velum is lower and the air stream is allowed to flow through the nose/nasal cavity. So, the sounds are known as nasal sounds. 

 Bilabial Nasal: For /m/, the mouth passage is completely closed by the lips. The soft palate is lowered and thee air comes out through the nose the vocal cords are vibrate. 

 Alveolar Nasal: For /n/, the tip of tongue make closer against the teeth ridge. The soft palate is lowered and air comes out through the nose. The vocal cords vibrate.

 Velar Nasal: For /y/, the back of tongue makes a closer with soft palate. This is lowered so that the air escapes through the nose. The vocal cords vibrate, 

iv) Lateral: The air comes from the lungs and passed through the sides of the tongue and produces certain sounds known as lateral. Sound like /l/. 

v) Approximants / Semi-vowel: The articulation of each is strongly influenced by flowing vowel sound. So, the sounds are also called some time semi-vowels.

 The sounds /w/, /j/, are sometime called ‘semi-vowels’ or ‘glides’ because they are typically produce with the tongue moving or gliding to or from the position of nearby vowels both /w/, /j/, are voiced. Like we, wet, you, yes. vi) Fricatives: The sounds that are articulated with a structure of close approximation are called fricative.

The soft palate raise to shut off nasal cavity and the lung-air escapes through the narrow space between the active and the passive articulators. Following are the main fricatives: 

 Labio-Dental Fricatives: For /f/, /v/ the lower lips are brought much closed to the upper teeth. The soft plate raise to shut off the nasal passage. The air comes out between the lower lip and the upper teeth with friction. The vocal cords wide apart for /f/, but vibrate for /v/. 

 Dental Fricatives: the tip of tongue is brought very near and contact with upper teeth. The air passing between tip and blade of tongue and the upper teeth produce audible friction. The vocal cords wide apart for /0/, but vibrate for //. 

 Alveolar fricatives: For /s/, /z/, the tip of tongue and blade of tongue brought very near to teeth ridge. The air comes out it produce audible sounds. The vocal cords are wide apart for /s/, but vibrate for /z

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

By
Image
                                            JOHN MILTON John Milton   (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, pamphleteer,and historian,   polemicist,   man of letters, and a civil servant for the   Commonwealth of England   under   Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his   epic poem   Paradise Lost   (1667), written in   blank verse. He is considered the most significant English author after   William Shakespeare Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated   Areopagitica   (1644)—written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship—is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free speech and freedom of the press. Milton is best
Read more

KINDLY ADJUST TO OUR ENGLISH -Shashi Tharoor

By
KINDLY ADJUST TO OUR ENGLISH                                                                                     -Shashi Tharoor         He is the Indian national Congress MP Thiruvananthapuram. He is the Author of 23 books, Ex- minister of stat e, government of India and Former under Secretary General, United Nations. He outlines the key of elements of a possible peace in Ukraine and urges UN Secretary-General to give a call to the warning nation to stop the war. He plays his part in bringing the needless suffering and destruction to an end. His ideas on the way English is used in this country are helpful to the English learning persons.            Indian English is a result of the British colonization of India which lasted more than 200 years. Officially, Indians follow the rules of British English grammar but there are a lot of differences in the way Indians speak English. A little over 108 of Indians speak English. There is diversity among Indian English speakers due to cultu
Read more
By
Image
JOHN KEATS                                                                             John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley , despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death.            Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of later poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.           The poetry of Keats is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analyzed in English literature. CHARACTERISTIC
Read more