THE CONSONANTS SOUNDS

BY: MOISES PERÉZ.

A consonant is a sound that is made when airflow is blocked by either your lips or your tongue. the different places where this block may occur are called points of articulation. 

In order to produce a consonant sound needed three pieces of information:

The Place where the block of air occurs: lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, palate etc.

The Type of block that occurs: plosive, fricative, nasal, approximant etc.

The Voicing  whether we are using our voice or not: voiced/voiceless.

Voiceless and Voiced Consonant Pairs

 Voicelees /p/ pul, stop, apple.
 Voiced /b/ bet, about, beer.
How to produce the sound
Lips start fully together, then part quickly to produce a small release of air.

Voiceless /t/ tree, stop, want.
Voiced /d/ door, food, said.
How to produce the sound 
Tip of the tongues is slightly tense as ir firmly touches and then releases the gum ridge.

Voiceless /k/ cup, dark, walk.
Voiced /g/ green, grin, girl.
How to produce the sound
Back of tongue presses up agaist soft palate (back of mouth) and releases.

Voiceless /f/ fish, four, food.
Voiced /v/ vow, vote, observer.
How to produce the sound
Lower lips lightly touch upper teeth; vinration occurs on the lips from the flow of air created.

Voiceless /θ/ thigh, throw, earth.
Voiced /ð/ bathe, there, they.
How to produce the sound
Tip of the tongue touches back of front teeth or adges of front teeth. Air flows put between tongue and teeth.

Voiceless /s/ sink, sit, fast.
Voiced /z/ citizen- president, noise.
How to produce the sound
Sides of tongue touch middle and back upper teeth. Tip of tongue is lowered a bit. Air flows aut od middle part of the tongue.

Voiceless /ʃ/ finish, shoe, fish.
Voiced /ʒ/ pleasure, measure, casual.
How to produce the sound
Tip od tongue is down, sides of tongue are against upper teeth on sides of mouth. Air flows out through middle of tongue.

Voiceless / tʃ / teacher, choice, chair.
Voiced /dʒ/ lounge, joy, joke.
 How to produce the sound
Tip of tomgue is down, side of toungue are against upper teeth on the side of mouth. Tip of tongue quickly touches gum ridge and then releases.

More Voiced Consonants

These consonants are all voiced, but they have no voiceless pair.

/m/ jump, money, mom.

How to produce the sound 

Lips together. Air flows out of the nose. 

/n/ never, nurse, nouse.

How to produce the sound 

Tip of tongue touches gum ridge, and the sides of the tongue touch upper teeth; air any flows out of the nouse. 

/ ŋ / sing, english, giong.

How to produce the sound 

Back of the tongue touches the soft palate; air flows out of the nouse. 

/l/ love, pull, will.

How to produce the sound 

Tip of tongue touches upper gum ridge. Tongue is tense. Air comes out on the sides of the tongue, at the comers of the mouth. 

/r/ rope, rule, red.

How to produce the sound 

There are two ways to produce this sound: 1: Tip of tongue curls a bit and then is pulled back slightly. 2: Tip of tongue is down; center of the tongue touches hard palate. 

/w/ want, win, way.

How to produce the sound 

Rounded lips as for the vowel /u/ in moom. Air flows out throught the lips. Tongue is in position for the vowel sound that follows the /w/ 

/y/ year, young, yes.

How to produce the sound 

Tip of tongue touches lower front teeth. Front of tongue is raised near the hard palate. 

The consonat /h/ 

This final consonant sound is voiceless and does not have a “voiced pair” that it corresponds to. 

/h/ hope, hot, heart.
How to produce the sound
Vocal cords are tense and restricted, back of tongue is pushed against the throat to create friction as the air flows out from the back of the mouth.

vowel length and voiced and voiceless consonants

Vowel length and voiced and voiceless consonants. vowels are longer when followed by a voiced consonant. they are shorter when followed by a voiceless consonants.


Word pairs: words almost equal, but with different sound 


Voiceless /s/                              Voiced /z/
Advice .                                           Advise.
Ice.                                                   Eyes.
Niece.                                              Knees.

Voiceless /t/                              Voiced /d/
Mate.                                                Made.
Hat.                                                   Had.
Bet.                                                   Bed.

Voiceless /f/                              Voiced /v/
Half.                                                Have.
Life.                                                 Live.
Belief.                                             Believe.

Voiceless /k/                             Voiced /g/
Back.                                               Bag.
Dock.                                              Dog.
Duck.                                              Doug.


stops and continuants. 

There is another important way that consonats are categorized, besides whether they are voiced or voiceless. consononts can either be "stops" or "continuants" depending on whether the airflow is stopped or if it is continued.

For many sounds we lets the air flow through the mouth without stopping. these sounds are called continuance.

Examples:
Pass.
Bus.
Cats.
Mice.
Race.
Nice.
Boats.

In other sounds, we stop the airflow inside the mouth. These sounds are called stops.

Examples:
Pat.
But.
Jacket.
Light.
Seat.
Might.
Right.