Principles of classification of English consonants.

Consonants are made with air stream that meets an obstruc­tion in the mouth or nasal cavities. That is why in the produc­tion of consonant sounds there is a certain degree of noise.

Consonants are the bones of a word and give it its basic shape. English accents differ mainly in vowels, the consonants are more or less the same wherever English is spoken. So if your vowels are not perfect you may still be understood by the listen­er, but if the consonants are imperfect there may be some misun­derstanding.

The sentence "W-l y- -nv-t- m-1- th- p-t-?" "Will you invite me to the party?" is easy for understanding even if all the vowel letters would be left out. But if we leave all the consonant letters out: "-i- -ou i—i-e -e -o —e -a-y" it is impossible to make any sense out of it.

On the articulatory level the consonants change:

1. In the degree of noise.

2. In the manner of articulation.

3. In the place of articulation.

 

Classification of English consonants according to the manner of articulation. Mistakes typical of Russian learners of English and way of correcting them.

The manner of articulation of consonants is determined by the type of obstruction. The obstructions may be complete, in­complete and momentary. When the obstruction is complete the organs of speech are in contact and the air stream meets a clo­sure in the mouth or nasal cavities as in the production of the English [p, b, t, d, k, g, tf, dj, m, n, n].

In case of an incomplete obstruction the active organ of.speech moves towards the point of articulation and the air stream goes through the narrowing between them as in the production of the English [f, v, s, z, d, h, w, l, r, j] and the Rus­sian [ф, ф']. Momentary obstructions are formed in the production of the Russian sono­rants [p, p'] when the tip of the tongue taps quickly several times against the teeth ridge.

According to the manner of articulation consonants may be of four groups:

1. Occlusive.

2. Constrictive.

3. Occlusive-constrictive (affricates).

4. Rolled.

1. Occlusive consonants are sounds in the production which the air stream meets a complete obstruction in mouth.

Occlusive voiced consonants are: the English [b, d, g].

Occlusive voiceless consonants are: the English [p, t, k|.

2. Constrictive consonants are those in the production of which the air stream meets an incomplete obstruction in the resonator, so the air passage is constricted. Both noise consonants and sonorants may be constrictive.

Constrictive noise consonants are called fricatives.

The English fricatives: [f, v, s, z, h].

The English voiced fricatives: [v, d, z, 3].

The English voiceless fricatives: [f, s, h].

3. Occlusive-constrictive consonants or affricates are noise consonant sounds produced with a complete obstruction which is slowly released and the air escapes from the mouth with some friction. There are only two occlusive-constrictives in English: [tf,dz]. The English [dz] is voiced and weak; [tf] is voiceless and strong.

4. Rolled consonants are sounds pronounced with periodical momentary obstructions when the tip of the tongue taps quickly several times against the teeth ridge and vibrates in the air stream. (They are the Russian [p, p']).

 

Classification of English consonants according to the place of articulation. Mistakes typical of Russian learners of English and way of correcting them.

The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of articulation. There may be one place of articulation or focus, or two places of articulation or foci when active organs of speech contact with two points of articulation. In the first case consonants are called unicentral, in the second they are bicentral.

According to the position of the active organ of speech against the point of articulation consonants may be:

1. Labial

2. Lingual

3. Glottal

Labial consonants are made by the lips. They may be bilabial and labio-dental. Bilabial consonants are produced when both lips are active: [p, b,m, w].

Labio-dental consonants are articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth: [f, v].

Lingual consonants are classified into forelingual, mediolingual and backlingual.

Forelingual consonants are articulated with the tip or the blade of the tongue. According to its work they may be:

apical, if the tip of the tongue is active [t, d, s, z, tf, n, l].

cacuminal, if the tip of the tongue is at the back part of the teeth ridge, but a depression is formed in the blade of the tongue as [r].According to the place of obstruction forelingual consonants may be: interdental, dental., alveolar, post-alveolar., palato-alveolar.

Interdental consonants are made with the tip of the tongue projected between the teeth: the English [ð, Ө].

Dental consonants are produced with the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth.

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tip against the upper teeth ridge: the English [t, d, s, z, n, 1].

Post-alveolar consonants are made when the tip or the blade of the tongue is against the back part of the teeth ridge or just behind it: the English [r].

Palato-alveolar consonants are made with the tip or the blade of the tongue against the teeth ridge and the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate, thus having two places of articulation.

 

Modification of English consonants in connected speech. Assimilation. Types of assimilation. Assimilative changes of the place of obstruction and the active organs of speech, changes in the work of the vocal cords (voicing/devoicing), the lip position, the position of the soft palate, and the manner of releasing plosives (incomplete, nasal, lateral plosives)

In connected speech the sounds are subjected, in general, to two main types of influence: the reciprocal influence of neighboring sounds and the influence on sounds by larger speech units and their elements, first of all — by the stress. The first group of processes is called the combinative changes, the second group — the positional changes.

Assimilation is a process of alteration of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sounds becomes fully or partially simi­lar to the adjoining sound.

Types of assimilation can be distinguished according to: direction, degree of completeness, degree of stability.

Modification of the place of obstruction and the active organs of speech: Assimilation may take place within a word and also at word boundaries. The following three important cases should be noticed:

(a) The alveolar allophones of [t, d, n, 1, s, z] are replaced by the dental variants when immediately followed by the interden­tal [ð] or [Ө], eg

within a word: eighth, breadth, tenth; at word boundaries: Put that down! Read this!, on the desk

(b)The post-alveolar [t] and [d] are heard before the post-alveolar sonorant [r], eg

within a word: trip, true, trunk, dream, drink; at word boundaries: at rest, would read.

(c)The bilabial nasal [m] or the alveolar nasal [n] become labio-dental under the influence of immediately following labio-­dental fricatives [f, v], eg

within a word: triumph, comfort, infant; at word boundaries: come for me, ten forks.

Changes in the work of the vocal cords (voicing/devoicing):

Progressive voicing or devoicing is common in English.

(a) The sonorants [m, n, 1, w, r] are partially devoiced when preceded by voiceless consonants [s, p, t, k, f,].

At word boundaries the sonorants [1, r, w] are slightly voiced if with the adjacent words they form a phrasal word or a rhyth­mic group, eg at last, at rest.

(b)Contracted forms of the verbs "is" and "has" may retain voice or be devoiced depending on the preceding consonants.

(c)The assimilative voicing or devoicing of the possessive suffix -'s or -s', the plural suffix -(e)s of nouns and of the third person singular present indefinite of verbs depends on the quali­ty of the preceding consonant.

(d) The assimilative voicing or devoicing of the suffix -ed of regular verbs also depends on the quality of the preceding con­sonant.

Changes in the Lip Position. Consonants followed by the sonorant [w] change their lip-position. They become lip-rounded in anticipation of [w], eg twinkle, quite, swan, language.

Changes in the Position of the Soft Palate. Nasal conso­nants may influence the adjacent plosive. Sometimes [d] changes into [n], eg handsome, handmade.

Changes in the Manner of the Release of Plosive Conso­nants. English plosives do not always have the third stage con­sisting of a sudden oral release of air. The main variants are:

(a) Incomplete plosion.

In the clusters of two plosives [pp, pb, bb, bp, tt, td, dd, dt,, kk, kg, gg, gk] where the position of the organs of speech is the same for both consonants, there is no separation of the organs of speech between the two plosives.

(b) Nasal plosion.

When a plosive is followed by the syllabic [n] or [m] it has no release of its own, the so-called 'nasal' plosion is produced.

(c) Lateral plosion.

In the sequences of a plosive immediately followed by [1] the closure produced for the plosive is not released till after [1]. Be­fore [1] the release is made by a sudden lowering of the sides of the tongue, and the air escapes along the sides of the tongue with lateral plosion, eg please, cattle, black, candle.