Consonant phonemes in English

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DESCRIPTION
Introduction to the articulatory phonetics of English consonants.
PURPOSE
By means of studying places and manner of articulation of consonant phonemes, one will be
better equipped to reproduce them more clearly, become a more articulate English speaker and
consequently more skilled to teach the language.
PREPARATION
Before beginning this unit, make sure you have the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) chart
at hand so that you can easily identify the phonemes being discussed. You might also want to
check an illustration of the vocal tract and articulators beforehand to have a better
understanding of the places of articulation to be discussed.
GOALS
SECTION 1
To identify fricative consonants: labiodental, dental, alveolar, palato-alveolar, and glottal
fricatives
SECTION 2
To identify plosive consonants: bilabial, alveolar, and velar plosive
SECTION 3
To classify consonants based on the degree of constriction
SECTION 4
To recognize the context in which syllabic consonants can occur
Soruce: Shutterstock.com.
WARM-UP
In the following sections, you will learn how to classify consonants according to different
degrees of constriction to the airflow. You will learn that plosives and fricatives can be combined
to form a different type of consonant. What’s more, to produce specific consonant phonemes,
the air can be allowed to escape through the nasal cavity.
You will study consonants that exhibit vowel-like qualities and may, phonetically speaking,
function as vowels. Finally, you will learn cases in which a consonant may fill the nucleus slot in
a syllable. By the end of this unit, you will be able to classify, identify and correctly
reproduce consonant phonemes.
SECTION 1
 To identify fricative consonants: labiodental, dental, alveolar, palato-alveolar, and
glottal fricatives
INTRODUCTION
Several students, while learning a second language, many times express the wish to sound like
a native speaker. You might have already thought to yourself:
Source: Shutterstock.com.
How many times has this wish resulted in frustration?
Even though the same organs (that is, the ones that compose the respiratory, the phonatory
and the articulatory systems) are activated during speech production both in Portuguese and in
English, patterns of muscular activities may differ depending on the sounds involved. Let’s
consider, for example:
Since this sound does not exist in Portuguese, that is, since the muscular patterns involved in
producing such sound differ from the ones Portuguese speakers are used to, Portuguese
speakers may resort to more familiar muscular patterns.
This happens when English learners, instead of placing the tongue between the teeth, resort to
a more common phoneme such as /s/, and the word think becomes:
The problem, therefore, does not lie in the physiology of pronunciation, but rather in the fact that
the set of sounds we acquire may vary. Learning a new language would, this way, mean
learning how to use our speech organs in new ways so that the sounds learnt in English
could be intelligibly reproduced. Learning how and where sounds are articulated may help
students reproduce sounds more clearly and become more articulate speakers.
Do you know how and where sounds are articulated in English?
MANNER OF ARTICULATION, PLACE OF
ARTICULATION AND VOICING
As you probably remember, sounds within a language are called phonemes, which means that
vowels are phonemes and so are consonants. Remember that vowels and consonants are
phonemic categories, related to sounds and not letters.
Letters and phonemes do not always coincide as the same letter (or cluster) may refer to
different phonemes. Let’s go back to the given example, to the word think! Even though th
refers to the phoneme /θ/, in a different word such as they, the phoneme /ð/ is used.
Both phonemes are produced by placing the tongue between the teeth, in other terms, they are
both dental consonants. To produce both phonemes, the airstream is not interrupted,
meaning they are both fricative consonants.
The only difference resides in the vibration of the vocal cords. Whereas in the phoneme /θ/
(as in think) the vocal cords do not vibrate, to produce the phoneme /ð/ (as in they) the cords
need to vibrate. There is thus no difference either in the way the phonemes are articulated or in
the articulators involved in producing them. While /ð/ is a voiced phoneme, /θ/ is voiceless.
Source: Shutterstock.com.
 ATTENTION
Just remember:
A voiced phoneme happens when the vocal cords vibrate.
By placing your hand on your Adam’s apple while producing the /ð/ phoneme (as in they) you
feel your cords vibrate.
On the other hand, when doing the same while pronouncing the /θ/ sound (as in think), no
vibration is observed. /θ/ is then a voiceless consonant.
By comparing both phonemes /θ/ and /ð/, we realize that consonants are categorized based on
three factors:
On how the sounds are articulated
Where they
are articulated
On the presence or absence of vibration



In more academic terms, consonants differ in:
Manner of articulation
Place of articulation
Voicing
Since speech sounds are basically produced by obstructing or constricting airstream, that is, by
means of modifying airstream, those categories relate to how and where the airflow is modified.
For instance, when articulators are brought together, e.g., the upper teeth and the lower lip,
such as in the phoneme /f/, the air finds its way through a small passage and the hissing sound,
which derives from it, can be continued until your lungs run out of air. These are called:
Continuant consonants
Consonants produced without any interruption to the airstream.
How is, then, the sound produced in the phoneme /f/?
By not blocking the airstream, by allowing the sound to be continuous. Since /f/ is a continuant
consonant, it falls under the category of what is called:
Fricative consonants
Consonants whose sounds are continuous and do not end up in an explosion.
The term fricative refers to how the sound is produced but it says nothing about which
articulators are activated during sound production. In the production of the phoneme /f/ both the
upper teeth (dental) and the lower lip (labio) are mobilized, and that is why it is called
labiodental consonant.
How is then the sound produced?
With the upper teeth against the lower lip (labiodental), allowing for a continuous airstream
(fricative).
According to where the sound is articulated, fricative consonants are split into smaller
categories such as:
Labiodental
Dental
Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Glottal
Except for the glottal one, each category is composed of a pair of consonants that only differ in
voicing (one is voiced and the other voiceless).
LABIODENTAL FRICATIVES
Labiodental consonants are produced when the upper teeth touch the lower lip. Two sounds
derive from this encounter: /f/ and /v/. Both consonants are labiodental fricatives.
In the production of the phoneme /v/ the vocal cords vibrate whereas the same does not apply
to /f/. In other words, /v/ is voiced and /f/ is voiceless.
Try the following:
Place your upper teeth over your bottom lip and touch your Adam’s apple.
Source: EnsineMe
Source: EnsineMe
DENTAL FRICATIVES
The tongue and the teeth produce a gap through which the air escapes. This type of consonant
poses a great challenge to most Portuguese speakers since it is inexistent in the Portuguese
language. To make students’ lives easier, teachers and even pronunciation guides tend to
explain that dental consonants are produced by placing the tongue between the teeth. Actually,
the tongue is normally placed inside the teeth and not between the teeth. The tip of the tongue
would then touch the inside of the lower teeth and the blade of the tongue the inside of the
lower teeth.
To understand how to pronounce this phoneme, do the following: place the front of your tongue
against the back of your frontteeth. Let the air out as you breathe out. Produce a continuant
sound. Once again, these fricatives can be voiced and voiceless consonants.
They are voiceless /θ/ in the following words:
Source: EnsineMe
Notice that the phoneme /θ/ can occur in the beginning, middle or end of words.
They are voiced /ð/ in the following words:
Source: EnsineMe
 ATTENTION
Just remember:
Touch your Adam’s apple while producing this sound. If you feel a vibration, you are producing
the right sound.
So far, we have seen cases in which the lip, the tongue, and the teeth are involved in sound
production. However, many other articulators can be activated when speaking a language. The
main ones are:
Pharynx
Velum or soft palate
Hard palate or “roof of the mouth”
Alveolar ridge
Tongue
Teeth
Lips
In the following sections you will see fricative consonants that are produced by bringing other
articulators together, such as in the word sin.
Source: Shutterstock.com.
The phoneme /s/ is produced when the airstream is modified by bringing the tip of the tongue
closer to the alveolar ridge (the hard, bony ridge behind the teeth) and a sharp hiss is produced.
Since the alveolar ridge is involved, this type of consonant falls under the category of an
alveolar consonant.
ALVEOLAR FRICATIVES
When the tip or blade of the tongue is brought closer to the alveolar ridge, the air flows through
a deep groove in the tongue, producing a sharp hiss. These consonants are called alveolar due
to where the sound is produced: in the alveolar ridge.
The phonemes /s/ and /z/ are the two alveolar fricatives that only differ in the buzzing sound the
phoneme /z/ produces. While /s/ is voiceless, /z/ is its voiced counterpart.
Source: Kurit afshen | shutterstock.com
/s/ is a pretty common sound in most languages and it normally does not pose a great challenge
for English learners, just remember the hissing sound a snake makes!
 ATTENTION
Note that throughout this section phonemes are being discussed, that is, sounds and not letters.
Just remember that many times in English letters and phonemes do not coincide, meaning that
the same phoneme can be produced by different letters or combination of letters.
While it is true that /s/ in many cases is just a phonemic representation of the letter s, bear in
mind that the rule does not apply to all cases. Notice the following words, for example:
autor/shutterstock
Even though different letters and combination of letters are being used in the words, they all
refer to the same phoneme, namely, /s/. When the letter c is followed by e, i or y, it is usually
pronounced as /s/, like in the words cell, ice, cent and society. Also, the letter x, represented by
the combination /ks/, for example:
Source: Aleksandr Rybalko | shutterstock.com
While /s/ is a pretty common sound, its voiced counterpart, /z/, is not. But if you remember the
buzzing sound of a bee it may help you.
The only difference between /s/ and /z/ is that your vocal cords vibrate while pronouncing words
such as:
The letter s is pronounced as /z/ when between vowels in a stressed syllable, such as in the
word because. Also, the letter s in certain plural nouns, when following a vowel or most voiced
consonants is pronounced as /z/ as well. For example:
Source: EnsineMe
PALATO-ALVEOLAR FRICATIVES
Before delving a little bit deeper into the sound production of the palato-alveolar fricatives,
picture the following scene:
Source: Stock-Asso | shutterstock.com
Imagine you are at a movie theater, trying to pay attention to a movie (a movie you desperately
wanted to watch!)
Source: StockLite | shutterstock.com
A group starts a pretty loud conversation about some random topic.
Source: Syda Productions | shutterstock.com
There is, then, no other way than shushing them!
Think about the sound you make when you try to do it: shhhhhhh!
Now let’s think:
Did you notice that the middle of your tongue came closer to the roof of your mouth?
Did you realize that the tip of your tongue was brought closer to the upper gum ridge?
Did you notice that the tongue was in contact with an area further back than when you produce
the phonemes /s/ and /z/?
As the name shows, this sound production is partly palatal and partly alveolar, since it happens
in the area in between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.
You may realize that the air flows through a passage along the tongue as in the word sip, but
your tongue moves backwards to produce de /ʃ/ in ship, making the air passage wider. The air
flows through a shallower groove in the tongue than in /s/, which makes the hissing sound
graver.
As with most fricatives, the palato-alveolar consonants also have voiced and voiceless
counterparts. Whereas /ʃ/ is voiceless, that is, it is produced without any vibration in the vocal
cords; /ʒ/ is its voiced counterpart.
The phoneme /ʃ/ has different spellings such: sh, ch, ci, ti, ss. For example:
Source: EnsineMe
When pronouncing these words just make sure not to let your tongue touch either your teeth or
the gum ridge.
The phoneme /ʒ/ has similarly different spellings. These include: si, su, gi, ge as in the words:
autor/shutterstock
 ATTENTION
This phoneme is mainly found in the middle or end of words. Just don’t forget to make your
vocal cords vibrate!
So far, the fricatives described have been produced by combining articulators present in the
mouth (tongue, lip, palate, alveolar ridge) and have been described in contrast with their
counterparts (e.g., voiced or voiceless). The remaining fricative, nonetheless, has no voiced
counterpart and has, additionally, a place of articulation that cannot be placed in the mouth.
GLOTTAL FRICATIVE
By now you may have become a bit more familiarized with how the articulators in the mouth
modify the airstream to produce sounds. And you may assume that, aside from the vibration of
the vocal cords, these articulators (present in the mouth) play a major role in modifying
airstream by constricting the airflow.
However, as the name shows, a glottal consonant is neither produced in the palate nor in the
alveolar ridge; the airflow is modified instead in the glottis (the space between the vocal
cords).
/h/ is produced by narrowing the space between the vocal folds. The air flows through a
narrower passage between the vocal folds, producing, then, a friction noise.
Source: pathdoc | shutterstock.com
Imagine you feel a sudden sense of relief. You suddenly realize that all your problems are over,
and you can just relax. Have this feeling in mind. Think about how to express this emotion
through sounds, let out a sigh of relief. Did you feel your tongue and throat relax, while letting
out a puff of air? If you said yes, then you are on the right track!
The /h/ is found in the middle as well as at the end of words. Example:
autor/shutterstock
Just make sure you pronounce the /h/ phoneme, otherwise you may produce a completely
different word and your message may be compromised. If /h/ is not pronounced, you may, for
instance, say:
Fricative consonants are categorized based on their places of articulation. According to the
articulators involved in making the stricture, fricatives may be labiodental, dental, alveolar,
palato-alveolar and glottal consonants. Apart from the glottal fricative, all the other consonants
were studied in pairs: as voiced and voiceless counterparts.
The following chart summarizes what was discussed in the section:
Fricatives Labiodental Dental Alveolar
Palato-
alveolar
Glottal
Voiced /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ʒ/
/h/
Voiceless /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Source: Elaborated by the author.
In the following video, Professor Fábio Simas presents us with some practical examples of
fricative consonants. Let's watch!
LEARNING CHECK
1. WE HAVE STUDIED DIFFERENT FRICATIVE CONSONANTS THAT
DIFFER IN TERMS OF THEIR PLACES OF ARTICULATION AND VOICING.
BASEDON THAT, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING: WHY WOULD A NON-
NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER SAY /F/INK INSTEAD OF /Ɵ/INK WHEN
TRYING TO PRONOUNCE THE WORD THINK? WHICH MISTAKES DID
THIS PERSON MAKE?
A) The person forgot to make the vocal cords vibrate, since /ɵ/ is a voiced consonant.
B) The person forgot to make the sound of the consonant continuous and ended up with an
explosion instead.
C) The person produced a labiodental consonant instead of a dental one. That is, wrong place
of articulation.
D) The person mistakenly produced a buzzing sound when /ɵ/ is voiceless.
E) The person did not realize that /ɵ/ is a glottal consonant, meaning the sound is produced by
the narrowing of the vocal folds.
2. MANY TIMES, IN ENGLISH, THE SPELLING OF A WORD DOES NOT
COINCIDE WITH ITS PRONUNCIATION. THAT MEANS THAT LETTERS AND
PHONEMES MAY BE DIFFERENT. HAVING THAT IN MIND, CHOOSE THE
ALTERNATIVE THAT EXEMPLIFY THIS PHENOMENON:
A) Hat, heat, ahead, hot
B) Has, because, legs, shoes
C) Skate, school, skip, snake
D) Fun, fat, for, fast
E) Vine, vase, vest, even
GABARITO
1. We have studied different fricative consonants that differ in terms of their places of
articulation and voicing. Based on that, answer the following: why would a non-native
English speaker say /f/ink instead of /ɵ/ink when trying to pronounce the word think?
Which mistakes did this person make?
Option "C " is correct.
The /ɵ/ is a voiceless dental consonant, produced by the constriction of the airflow when the
tongue is placed inside the teeth, whereas /f/ is a labiodental fricative. Both consonants differ in
places of articulation.
2. Many times, in English, the spelling of a word does not coincide with its pronunciation.
That means that letters and phonemes may be different. Having that in mind, choose the
alternative that exemplify this phenomenon:
Option "B " is correct.
The letter s in all the words in the list is pronounced as its voiced counterpart /z/. The spelling
and the phoneme are not the same then.
SECTION 2
 To identify plosive consonants: bilabial, alveolar, and velar plosives
INTRODUCTION
Have you noticed that certain consonantal sounds seem to end up in an explosion? A puff of air
is released, after a moment of blockage, and a small explosion seems to happen in your mouth.
Try saying the following sentence:
THE CAT IS IN THE HOUSE.
Now pay attention to how you articulate the sounds in the words cat and house.
In which word can you sense a small explosion happening in your mouth?
In which word does the sound seem to be continuous without any complete closure of the
airstream?
Keep those questions in mind. In the next topics we will be discussing a different manner of
articulation, one in which the airstream is blocked, causing an explosion to happen. We will also
describe which articulators are brought together to completely block the airstream in order to
produce certain sounds.
PLOSIVE CONSONANTS
Source: Shutterstock.com.
Let’s go back to the word cat.
Say the word again.

Now isolate its constituents.

Think of the two consonants that compose this simple word.
What have you noticed about the two phonemes /k/ and /t/?
If you try to continuously make these sounds until your lungs run out of air, you will realize that
you will not be able to. To make the same sound again you will have to obstruct the airstream,
to completely block the air from flowing. They are, therefore, non-continuants, as their sounds
cannot be prolonged. And the reason why lies in the way (manner) they are articulated.
Both consonants /k/ and /t/ depend on a three-step mechanism to be pronounced:
THE CLOSURE PHASE
THE HOLD PHASE
THE RELEASE PHASE
THE CLOSURE PHASE
It happens when articulators are brought together to completely block the airstream and the air
is trapped behind the closure.
THE HOLD PHASE
It entails maintaining the vocal tract completely closed. This is when a continuous pressure is
felt as the air is trying to be released. The duration of the hold phase may be shorter or longer,
depending on the consonant involved. It is usually longer for /p/, /t/, and /k/ than it is for /b/, /d/,
and /g/.
THE RELEASE PHASE
It happens when the articulators are released, and the air is let out. Because of the difference in
pressure (the pressure is higher behind the closure) the release produces a sound which
resembles that of an explosion – this is called the plosive burst.
AS YOU CAN SEE, TO PRODUCE BOTH CONSONANTS, /K/
AND /T/, WE NEED TO COMPLETELY STOP THE AIR FROM
FLOWING, AT LEAST FOR SOME TIME. THESE CONSONANTS,
THEREFORE, DO NOT RESULT FROM A FRICTION NOISE,
FROM THE CONSTRICTION OF THE AIRSTREAM, AS WAS THE
CASE WITH THE FRICATIVES; QUITE THE CONTRARY, THEY
DERIVE FROM A “PLOSIVE BURST” THAT CAN ONLY HAPPEN
DUE TO A TEMPORARY CLOSURE IN THE VOCAL TRACT.
According to its manner of articulation, a consonant is fricative or plosive:
Fricative consonants
When there is a constriction of the airstream caused by articulators brought together, the
airstream remains continuous and the sound is continuant, like in the word house.
Plosive consonants
They occur when there is a complete obstruction to the airstream. Articulators are brought
together to create a stricture that allows no air to escape. The air is trapped temporarily in the
vocal tract. These non-continuant consonants are, then, called plosive (or stop) consonants, like
in the case of /k/ and /t/.
As we will see, the six plosive consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, and /g/ will differ in places of
articulation and voicing. So, in the following sections we will be asking the questions:
Which articulators are involved in the stricture?
Are the vocal cords vibrating or not?
Similarly to what happens to the fricative consonants, the plosives also come in pairs. Each
place of articulation produces a pair of consonants that only differ in voicing. In other words, the
pairs of bilabial, alveolar, and velar plosives entail voiceless and voiced counterparts.
BILABIAL PLOSIVES
Source: Shutterstock.com.
Let’s go back to the word cat!
Instead of producing the /k/ phoneme, join your lips to create complete closure.

As you release the air pronounce the following phonemes /æ/ and /t/.

You may have sensed a vibration in your vocal cords. If not, do it again.

Pay attention to the movement of your lips, the release of air and the vibration of your vocal
cords.
Source: Shutterstock.com.
As you may have realized, by changing the place of articulation, by using both lips to form the
stricture, the word which was initially cat became the word bat. A change in the place of
articulation and the presence of vibration created a totally new phoneme that changed the
meaning of the word.
Do you see why phonetics is important?
Simply altering where a phoneme is articulated may cause great changes in meaning. Both cat
and bat are words composed of plosives.
The phoneme /b/, however, is formed by a closure made at the lips. And that is why it is called a
bilabial (two lips) consonant.
The /b/ is a simple consonant to pronounce. Nonetheless, attention to the vibration of the vocal
cords is necessary. Otherwise you may be pronouncing /p/ instead.
BOTH /B/ AND /P/ ARE BILABIAL PLOSIVES, SO THEY BOTH
CONVERGE IN MANNER AND PLACE OF ARTICULATION;
THEIR ONLY DIFFERENCE RESIDES IN THE PRESENCE OR
ABSENCE OF VIBRATION. WHILE /P/ IS VOICELESS, /B/ IS ITS
VOICED COUNTERPART.
Both phonemes may occur in the beginning, the middle or the end of the words. When /b/
comes at the end, though, many speakers may forget to make the vocal cords vibrate and
words such as:
Moreover, /b/ is not always pronounced and in some words, it is silent (this happens when b
comes after m in the same syllable), like:
The /p/ seems to pose little difficulties for many students learning English as well. However,
aside from voicing, another element should be introduced in the study of the plosives. After the
release phase, when there is the plosiveburst as described before, in the case of /p/ we should
consider another phase:
This is the moment when the air escapes and we produce a sound like /h/. This phenomenon is
known as aspiration.
Initial voiceless plosives like the phoneme /p/ are aspirated, whereas /b/, as a voiced plosive, is
unaspirated.
Aspiration is perceptible when there is a delay between the plosive burst and the beginning of
voicing, which is often equated with a puff of air. Aspiration only occurs, however, when /p/ is
initial in a stressed syllable, for example:
Pit
When /p/ follows /s/ it is, though, not aspirated, like in the word:
Spit
We may say then that /p/ is more explosive in English than in most languages and the lack of
aspiration in an initial /p/ may cause misunderstandings. You may end up saying:
To make sure aspiration is taking place, try the following test:
Put your hand in front of your mouth, you can also place a tissue in front of your mouth.

Then, practice saying the following: Practice makes perfect.

Pay attention to what happens to the tissue or to what you feel in your hand when saying the
words practice and perfect.
Did the tissue move?
Did you feel a puff of air in your hand?
If your answer was yes, then you are doing it right!
Source: EnsineMe
Source: EnsineMe
ALVEOLAR PLOSIVES
Source: Shutterstock.com.
So far, we have seen that the word cat has two plosive consonants. But we haven’t discussed
which articulators are involved in producing both /k/ and /t/ yet. Let’s start with the /t/ phoneme.
Try saying the word cat out loud.

Pay attention to your tongue position.

Now think: How was the stricture formed?

If your tongue tip touched your gum ridge, then you are on the right track!
Alveolar plosives are formed when a closure is made with the tongue tip against the alveolar
ridge (that is, the hard, bony ridge behind the teeth).
Try saying the sentence:
Image: Shutterstock.com.
You may have noticed that both Ted and sad are formed in the same area (the alveolar ridge).
To produce both sounds the tip/blade of the tongue is brought closer to the alveolar ridge.
For the /s/ phoneme, though, the air passage is not completely blocked and a hissing sound
results from it.

To pronounce /t/, on the other hand, the airflow is blocked and after its release there is a puff of
air.
Both /s/ and /t/ are alveolar consonants; both are then formed in the alveolar ridge. While one
results from the complete closure of the air passage, the other derives from the constriction of
the airflow.
IN OTHER TERMS, ONE IS A FRICATIVE CONSONANT AND THE
OTHER, A PLOSIVE ONE. WHAT’S MORE, /S/ AND /T/ ARE
VOICELESS, PRODUCED WITH NO VIBRATION OF THE VOCAL
CORDS.
Because /t/ is a voiceless plosive consonant, like /p/ discussed before, it will also be aspirated
whenever it is an initial phoneme in a stressed syllable. If pronounced with no aspiration it may
resemble its voiced counterpart, that is, /d/. /t/ is aspirated in words such as:
When, however, it occurs between vowels and follows a stressed syllable it is not aspirated, for
example:
While it is true that the letter t is usually pronounced /t/, it is not the only letter or combination of
letters that is pronounced as such. Think of the past tense of the verb stop, that is, the word
stopped.
Have you noticed that the -ed ending is pronounced /t/?
This happens whenever -ed follows a voiceless consonant, for example:
THE PHONEME /D/ IS ITS VOICED COUNTERPART. IN ORDER
TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDINGS, JUST REMEMBER THAT /D/
IS A VOICED CONSONANT. YOUR VOCAL CORDS SHOULD,
THEREFORE, VIBRATE.
Pay special attention to the /d/ at the end of words, such as bed or card, for example, as the
lack of vibration may give the listener the impression that you are saying bet and cart instead.
Another pronunciation problem may result from placing your tongue tip at the wrong place. Your
tongue tip should touch your alveolar ridge and not the back of your teeth (inside the teeth) or
between your teeth, otherwise:
Source: EnsineMe
Source: EnsineMe
VELAR PLOSIVES
Simply put, the word velar identifies a place of articulation, that is, the velum or soft palate. To
determine where the soft palate is, do the following:
Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth (hard palate).

If you keep moving your tongue backwards, you will reach a point in which a hard structure
meets a soft one.

This is the soft palate! The velum contains only muscles, it is boneless, and that’s why it is soft.
 LEARN MORE
Alternatively, you may want to use your finger instead to identify the velum. This area, where the
hard palate joins the velum, is a pretty sensitive one, and once you reach it you may experience
what is called the “gag reflex”, as if you were about to vomit. That is a natural bodily response
aimed at preventing choking or swallowing unpleasant objects.
The soft palate, however, has other functions as well, and in our case, it functions as the place
of articulation for our remaining plosives: /k/ and /g/.
Imagem: Shutterstock.com.
Let’s go back again to our initial example: the word cat!
So far, we have determined that /t/ is an alveolar plosive, meaning that the closure is made with
the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge.
By pronouncing the word cat, you may notice that the back of your tongue touches the soft
palate (that spot that may trigger the “gag reflex”) to produce the phoneme /k/. Velar plosives
are, then, formed when the back of the tongue and the soft palate make a closure, preventing
the air from escaping.
To understand the movement, you may want to try the following:
Place the back of your tongue against the soft palate.

Don’t let the air out, while you breathe out.

Suddenly let it out.

When you use your voice, you realize that two phonemes derive from it: /k/ and /g/.
/K/ IS NOT A HARD PHONEME TO PRODUCE, ESPECIALLY
WHEN COMPARED TO /Θ/, A DENTAL FRICATIVE CONSONANT.
HOWEVER, ATTENTION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ASPIRATION.
/k/ is a very explosive phoneme in English and whenever it is an initial phoneme in a stressed
syllable, such as in cat, it should be said with strong aspiration and a puff of air.
Source: Petrychenko Anton | shutterstock.com
By holding a match in front of your face, while pronouncing /k/, as in cat, you should see the
flame flicker.
Just remember that the letter k does not always coincide with the phoneme /k/. In words such
as knit and know, the letter k is silent, which is usually the case when k precedes the letter n.
Moreover, different spellings refer to the phoneme /k/: k being the most frequent one, and ch, a
less frequent spelling. The words mechanics, chrome, Christmas exemplify the former. The
letter c, whenever it precedes a, o or u, is also pronounced as /k/, as in the words:
Source: EnsineMe
When the velar closure produces vibration of the vocal cords and less aspiration, the sound /g/
is being pronounced. Therefore, make sure your vocal cords are vibrating, especially at the end
of the words, to avoid misunderstandings; otherwise you may end up saying:
While it is true that the letter g is usually pronounced as /g/, words containing the letter x may
also be pronounced as a combination of /g/ and /z/, such as the word:
autor/shutterstock
We have studied three pairs of plosives that differ in terms of places of articulation. When it
comes to the articulators involved, plosives in English can be alveolar, velar or bilabial
consonants.
In the study of the plosives, aside from voicing, that is, categorizing the consonants in terms of
absence of presence of vibration; another element was added, namely: aspiration. Even
though the vibration of the vocal cords may play a major role in determining different
consonants, in the case of the plosives, aspiration becomes a much more relevant aspect,
especially to a native ear.
Voiceless consonants are aspirated whenever they are the initial consonants in a stressedsyllable. That means that while /t/ is:

The following chart summarizes what was discussed in this section:
Plosive Consonants Bilabial Alveolar Velar
Voiced (unaspirated) /b/ /d/ /g/
Voiceless (aspirated) /p/ /t/ /k/
 Atenção! Para visualizaçãocompleta da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
 Source: Elaborated by the author.
In the following video, Professor Fábio Simas presents us with some practical examples of
plosive consonants. Let's watch!
LEARNING CHECK
1. A CHANGE IN ONE PHONEME COMPLETELY CHANGES AN ENTIRE
WORD. WHAT MAKES YOU SAY CAT, INSTEAD OF BAT OR PAT IS THE
CHANGE IN ONE PHONEME. HAVING THAT IN MIND, EXPLAIN THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONSONANTS /K/, /B/, AND /P/.
A) All consonants are fricatives and they only differ in voicing. /p/ is voiced, whereas /b/ and /k/
are voiceless.
B) They are all plosives that differ in places of articulation. /b/ is bilabial, /k/ is velar, and /p/ is a
glottal consonant.
C) They are all plosives that differ in places of articulation and voicing. Whereas /p/ and /b/ are
bilabial consonants, /k/ velar. What’s more, /b/ is the only voiced consonant.
D) They are all plosives that differ in placed of articulation and aspiration. Whereas /p/ and/b/
are bilabial consonants, /k/ is velar. What’s more, /b/ is the only aspirated consonant.
E) They all have the same place of articulation but differ in manner of articulation.
2. ONE OF THE GREATEST PROBLEMS STUDENTS FACE WHEN TRYING
TO UNDERSTAND ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION COMES FROM THE FACT
THAT, IN ENGLISH, MANY TIMES SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION DON’T
CONVERGE. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE CH, FOR EXAMPLE. WHAT CAN
BE SAID ABOUT THIS COMBINATION OF LETTERS IN THE FOLLOWING
WORDS: CHEF AND CHEMISTRY?
A) In both words the letters ch refer to the phoneme /k/, that is, a velar plosive.
B) The letters ch refer to different phonemes: alveolar and velar plosives, respectively.
C) The letters ch refer to different phonemes: bilabial and velar plosives, respectively.
D) The letters ch refer to different phonemes: alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively.
E) The letters ch refer to different phonemes: palato-alveolar and velar consonants,
respectively.
GABARITO
1. A change in one phoneme completely changes an entire word. What makes you say
cat, instead of bat or Pat is the change in one phoneme. Having that in mind, explain the
difference between the consonants /k/, /b/, and /p/.
Option "C " is correct.
/p/ and /b/ are bilabial plosives, that is, they have the same place and manner of articulation.
Their only difference resides in voicing: /p/ is voiceless and, this way, aspirated and /b/ is voiced
and unaspirated. The phoneme /k/ is a velar plosive and voiceless.
2. One of the greatest problems students face when trying to understand English
pronunciation comes from the fact that, in English, many times spelling and
pronunciation don’t converge. Let’s take a look at the ch, for example. What can be said
about this combination of letters in the following words: chef and chemistry?
Option "E " is correct.
The letters refer to two different phonemes. In the word chef, the phoneme /ʃ/ is being produced.
Therefore, in the first word, the letters ch refer to a palato-alveolar fricative. The second word,
however, falls under the category of a velar plosive, since the phoneme /k/ is being produced.
SECTION 3
 To classify consonants based on the degree of constriction
AIRFLOW AND CONSTRICTION
Speech production involves modifying the airstream. Different phonemes are produced by
different degrees of constriction. While the plosive burst is produced by a complete closure at
some point in the vocal tract, fricatives such as /f/ and /v/ result from a friction sound. Fricatives,
therefore, are produced when the degree of constriction is such that a friction noise is heard.
Both fricatives and plosives are categorized under the umbrella term:
Obstruents
In phonetics, obstruent is a sound that is produced by obstructing the airflow, whether by a
complete closure (such as is the case with the plosives) or by a narrowing in the vocal tract (as
with the fricatives).
Although all obstruents are consonants, not all consonants are obstruents, as you may see in
the following sections. There are three types of obstruents in English, namely:
Plosives
Fricatives
Affricates
In this section we will be studying the remaining obstruent as well as consonants produced with
continuous and non-turbulent airflow.
AFFRICATES
The first phoneme in the word tip is a plosive consonant, meaning that we bring the tip/blade
of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, and the airflow is momentarily blocked. By releasing
the air, due to the pressure difference, we can hear an explosive sound called plosive burst.
Now let’s compare two words that, apart from their initial phonemes, are quite similar!
The words are:
The initial phoneme in the word tip is a plosive consonant, but what can we say about the initial
phoneme in chip?
Does it involve a complete closure in the vocal tract?
Does it involve
friction?
Is it a fricative or a plosive, then?
Notice that to pronounce chip, we must completely obstruct the air from flowing and produce a
friction sound. The resultant phoneme seems to be a combination of a plosive and a fricative.
First, a closure is formed.

Then, the palato-alveolar closure is released slowly, producing a friction at the same place of
articulation.
The phoneme /tʃ/ is a combination of the:
Plosive /t/

Fricative /ʃ/
The phoneme /tʃ/, in the word chip, is an affricate. There are two affricates in English, formed
at the same place of articulation: they are both palato-alveolar affricates. /tʃ/ is produced without
vibration of the vocal cords, that is, it is a voiceless consonant.
Since this phoneme involves a plosive/fricative combination, attention should be paid to its initial
closure, otherwise the phoneme /ʃ/ may be pronounced instead. If you don’t press the tongue tip
against the gum ridge behind your upper teeth, you will say:
The phoneme may be found in the beginning, middle, and end of words. The affricate may have
the following spellings: ch, tu, tch and less frequently t and ti.
Source: EnsineMe
Its voiced counterpart also derives from a complete closure followed by a fricative release. The
phoneme /dʒ/ is the one found in words such as:
If you forget to press your tongue against the upper gum ridge, you will say:
Alternatively, if your vocal cords do not vibrate:
/dʒ/ may be spelled as: j, g, and dg.
Source: EnsineMe
The letters di and du may be pronounced as /dʒ/ as well as in words such as:
The phoneme is found in the beginning, middle and end of words.
 TIP
The letter g at the end of words and before a silent e is usually pronounced as /dʒ/. This is what
happens in words such as age, college, collage.
APPROXIMANTS
The degree of constriction may vary depending on the consonants involved:
Plosives entail the highest degree of constriction: complete closure.
Fricatives depend on a stricture capable of hindering the airstream in such a way that friction is
caused.
Affricates are a combination of plosives and fricatives, therefore both degrees are at play.
There is another possibility, though, the least radical one; one in which articulators are brought
together but the stricture formed is wide enough not to give rise to friction:
Since articulators are brought into closer contact (approximation), these consonants, formed
without friction, are known as approximants.
Approximants, together with the vowels, fall under the category of:
Sonorants
Sonorants are speech sounds produced by a degree of constriction that is less radical than
those that produce obstruents. There is, then, no obstruction to the airflow and the air can
escape without any audible turbulence or friction. Nasals and approximants, as well as vowels,
are sonorants.
There are four approximants in English, and they are split into two categories:Lateral approximants
Central approximants
 ATTENTION
Alternatively, the terms liquids and glides may also be used. These terms are not synonymous
and, even though some of their phonemes overlap, there are also differences. Not all liquid
consonants are lateral approximants, but all glides, for instance, are central
approximants. The great difference resides in the phoneme /r/, which seems to be the
exception to the rule.
But what are liquid consonants anyway?
LIQUIDS
Liquid consonants are formed when the tongue approaches a place of articulation in the mouth.
This approximation, however, does not hinder the airflow by causing an obstruction so the air
can escape through the mouth without any turbulence. The position and movement of the
tongue directs the airflow. Liquid consonants are approximants since we bring the articulators
into close contact, but we hear no friction. They may also be classed as lateral and central
approximants.
Let’s think of two similar words:
When you say the first one, you notice that the tip of your tongue is raised and touches the
upper teeth or the roof of the mouth (as it does for the phonemes /t/ and /d/). You also notice
that this approximation does not involve a closure in the vocal tract and the air can flow toward
the sides of the mouth.
Frictionless airflow is possible since the sides of the tongue are kept down.
The air is, then, pushed to the sides of the tongue and able to escape laterally.
/l/ is a lateral approximant. It is also an alveolar consonant, as there is a central closure with the
alveolar ridge. The term lateral refers to how the air escapes (laterally) and the word alveolar
refers to its place of articulation. In terms of its manner of articulation, /l/ may be classed as a
lateral approximant. Notice that the airstream is blocked centrally, but lateral escape is allowed.
Now let’s go back to the word rap!
Fonte: Unsplash
When you say this word, you may realize that your tongue is also raised to produce the /r/
phoneme. The tip of the tongue approaches the same area it does for /t/ and /d/, but it never
really touches this area. It is, in fact, curled upward toward the roof of the mouth.
This curling process usually makes the tip of the tongue move to a position further back in the
mouth than that for /t/ and /d/. That’s probably why there seems to be some confusion
about the phoneme’s place of articulation.
 COMMENTS
Some books refer to /r/ as being an alveolar consonant, others prefer the term post-alveolar but
here we will be calling it a palatal liquid, in clear contrast with /l/, the alveolar liquid. Since the
tongue is elevated towards the roof of the mouth (the hard palate), it is a palatal consonant.
Moreover, the consonant r in English is very difficult to describe as native speakers may
produce it differently (it is one of the most variable sounds in English), and that’s also why
authors don’t seem to agree when it comes to its place of articulation.
Nonetheless, one thing is for sure: it involves the tip of the tongue approaching the alveolar
ridge area, but not touching it. The tongue is also curled backwards.
To produce /r/ the air does not escape laterally as it does for /l/; it flows, on the contrary,
centrally. /r/ is a central approximant, since the air can flow centrally without any audible friction.
The airflow is altered but still directed forward.
As you can see, liquid consonants, /l/ and /r/, entail a not-so-narrow constriction in the vocal
tract, meaning that there is no friction or blockage. That’s why, together with the glides, they are
grouped as approximants.
/l/ is a lateral approximant, and an alveolar liquid consonant

/r/ is a central approximant, and a palatal liquid consonant
ALVEOLAR LIQUID
One simple way of describing the pronunciation of /l/ is to say that the tongue tip is pressed
against the gum ridge behind the upper front teeth. The air escapes through the sides of the
tongue and the vocal cords vibrate. The following picture illustrates this sound production:
Source: EnsineMe
What this simple description fails to specify is the position of the body of the tongue. There are
two possible positions that characterize two distinct pronunciations.
“CLEAR L”
Whenever L comes initially in a syllable, the body of the tongue is bunched upwards and
forwards towards the hard palate, giving a light quality to the sound, as in a word like:
Let
This is called: “clear L” and the front of the tongue is raised. “Clear L” will occur before vowels
in words such as:
Lemonade / Lake
“DARK L”
This is not what happens in words when L comes at the end, such as:
Kill
In this case, the back of the tongue is raised and “dark L” is pronounced instead.
“Dark L” will occur before consonants and at the end of syllables, in words such as:
Eel / Bill
PALATAL LIQUID
The English language is split into two types of accents:
RHOTIC ACCENTS
NON-RHOTIC ACCENTS
RHOTIC ACCENTS
When the letter r is pronounced regardless of its context, then, it means we are dealing with a
rhotic variation.
Rhotic accents encompass most American varieties, Scottish, Irish, and the regional accents of
the West Country of England.
NON-RHOTIC ACCENTS
In non-rhotic accents, r is only pronounced before a vowel. This accent is characteristic of most
of England and Wales, American English spoken in the southern and eastern states, some
Caribbean, all Australian, all South African, and most New Zealand varieties of English.
In non-rhotic accents, the letter r is not pronounced and the word sounds as follows:
Fonte: Unsplash
To produce the /r/ phoneme the tongue tip is curled upward toward the roof of the mouth:
Source: EnsineMe
If you touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue, you will produce /l/ instead of /r/. Just
make sure your tongue approaches the hard palate, but never touches it. Also, /r/ is a voiced
consonant, and your vocal cords should vibrate while you make this phoneme. The production
of /r/, differently from what happens to /l/, involves lip movement. The lips are rounded.
A different sound, however, is heard when the letter is at the beginning of a syllable and comes
after p, t or k. For example:
In this case, the phoneme is voiceless and a bit fricative.
In the other cases, both liquid consonants are voiced, and both also involve the tongue
approaching a place of articulation in the mouth, be it the alveolar ridge or the hard palate.
To produce the alveolar liquid, the air escapes laterally.

To produce the palatal liquid, the air escapes centrally instead.
NASALS
Approximants produce a frictionless sound since the stricture, formed by bringing articulators
into closer contact, is wide enough not to cause any friction. Nasal consonants are also
frictionless sounds, but these phonemes are produced differently.
Even though nasals are sonorants, like approximants and vowels, their production involve a
closure in the vocal tract. Unlike the plosives, though, the air is not held behind the closure but
allowed to escape through the nasal cavity.
First, the velum is lowered.

Then, a closure in the vocal tract stops the airflow through the oral cavity.

Finally, the airflow continues through the nasal cavity.
There are three nasals:
Alveolar nasal
Bilabial nasal
Velar nasal
ALVEOLAR NASAL
To produce this phoneme, there is a complete closure between the blade of the tongue and the
alveolar ridge. The air, then, escapes through the nasal cavity. The alveolar nasal is the initial
phoneme in the word:
Just make sure you press your tongue tip against the gum ridge behind your upper front teeth.
The airstream is continuous through the nose and your vocal cords vibrate as /n/ is a voiced
consonant.
The letter n is usually pronounced. The exception to the rule is when it is preceded by m. When
n follows m, it is not pronounced, it is silent.
Source: EnsineMe
BILABIAL NASAL
Nasal consonants, especially when they come at theend of words, are often confused. If /n/
entails a closure between the tongue and the alveolar ridge, /m/, being a bilabial nasal, entails
the lips coming together. There is, then, a complete closure between the lips and the air
escapes through the nasal cavity. Once again, just make sure your vocal cords vibrate!
Remember the phoneme’s place of articulation to avoid possible misunderstandings. If you form
a closure between the alveolar ridge and the tongue, instead of closing your lips, you will say:
Source: EnsineMe
VELAR NASAL
If you say the word sing, you will realize that the closure is formed at a different point in the
vocal tract. The back of the tongue and the velum form a complete closure and the air flows
through the nasal cavity. This phoneme may pose some problems as students may be
unfamiliar with it and try to resort to a more common sound, namely, /n/. Just remember to raise
the back of your tongue, not the tip.
The consonant /ŋ/ is only found in the middle and end of words. The letters ng and ngue,
whenever they come at the end of words, are pronounced as /ŋ/.
Source: EnsineMe
The letter n, when it precedes g or k, is usually pronounced as /ŋ/. This is the case in words
such as:
We have studied so far different types of sonorants and obstruents. The obstruents are
formed when there is an obstruction to the airflow. There are three types of obstruents: plosives,
fricatives and affricates. The remaining phonemes are called sonorants, which are formed when
the airstream can flow without any audible friction. Vowels, approximants and nasals are
sonorants.
Fonte: Elaborado pelo autor.
In the following video, Professor Tatiana Massuno presents us consonants produced with
continuous and non-turbulent airflow. Let's watch it!
LEARNING CHECK
1. EVEN THOUGH FRICATIVES AND AFFRICATES ARE BOTH
OBSTRUENTS, THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEIR
MANNERS OF ARTICULATION. HAVING THIS DIFFERENCE IN MIND,
CHOOSE THE ALTERNATIVE THAT BEST DESCRIBES THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE WORDS SHEEP AND CHEAP:
A) There is no difference between them as they both refer to the phoneme /tʃ/.
B) While the initial phoneme in sheep is an affricate, the initial phoneme in cheap is a fricative.
C) While the initial phoneme in sheep is a fricative, the initial phoneme in cheap is an
affricate.
D) There is no difference between them as they both refer to the phoneme /ʃ/.
E) The first phoneme in sheep is a fricative and plosive combination, while the first phoneme in
the word cheap is not.
2. NASALS AND LIQUIDS ARE BOTH SONORANTS, MEANING THAT
THERE IS NO OBSTRUCTION TO THE AIRFLOW. THE AIR ESCAPES
DIFFERENTLY, HOWEVER, IN EACH CASE. CHOOSE THE ALTERNATIVE
THAT CONTAINS A TRUE STATEMENT ABOUT NASALS AND LIQUIDS:
A) An alveolar nasal is a phoneme that allows the air to flow through the alveolar ridge.
B) A palatal liquid is a phoneme that allows the air to flow through the hard palate.
C) An alveolar nasal is a phoneme formed by a closure between the tongue and the alveolar
ridge. The air, then, escapes through the nasal cavity.
D) A palatal liquid is a lateral approximant.
E) Nasals are also approximants since there is an open approximation between two articulators.
GABARITO
1. Even though fricatives and affricates are both obstruents, there is a great difference
between their manners of articulation. Having this difference in mind, choose the
alternative that best describes the difference between the words sheep and cheap:
Option "C " is correct.
The initial phoneme in the word sheep refers to the fricative /ʃ/. The initial phoneme in the word
cheap, on the other hand, refers to the phoneme /tʃ/, which is a plosive- fricative combination.
Even though there is an initial closure to produce this phoneme, the air is slowly released with
some friction noise. The phoneme /tʃ/ is an affricate.
2. Nasals and liquids are both sonorants, meaning that there is no obstruction to the
airflow. The air escapes differently, however, in each case. Choose the alternative that
contains a true statement about nasals and liquids:
Option "C " is correct.
The term alveolar determines the place of articulation, that is, the point in the vocal tract where
there is a closure or stricture. For nasals, it determines where the closure occurs so that the air
can escape through the nasal cavity.
SECTION 4
 To recognize the context in which syllabic consonants can occur
VOWELS X CONSONANTS
Establishing criteria to distinguish vowels from consonants is not as simple as expected. Even
though vowels and consonants are concepts used on a daily basis by the majority of the
population around the world, pinpointing their differences can be a bit tricky in English.
FIRSTLY, SINCE CONSONANTS AND VOWELS ARE
PHONEMES, CERTAIN LETTERS, DEPENDING ON THEIR
CONTEXT, MAY ACT AS CONSONANTS OR VOWELS.
What’s more, combinations of consonants as well may act as vowels in certain words. It means
that consonants may take a vowel-like quality depending on the context in which they occur. In
this section we will be discussing consonants that act as vowels, that exhibit vowel-like
characteristics. We will also study the contexts in which they occur.
CONSONANTS AND VOWELS
The last time you went to the doctor she or he probably asked you to say:
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
There is a reason why this sound seems to be a favorite among medical professionals. When
you produce this sound (ahh) the air flows through an unobstructed passage from the larynx to
the lips. The doctor, then, can examine you better since this sound production provides him or
her with an unobstructed view.
It wouldn’t be the same if you were asked to say /k/ or /d/ instead.
SIMPLY PUT, VOWELS ARE PHONEMES PRODUCED WITH
MINIMAL OBSTRUCTION TO THE AIRFLOW.
So much so that, when it comes to vowel production, places and manner of articulation become
irrelevant. All vowels are approximants since they involve open approximations. For
vowels, the tongue shape and its movement, as well as the movement of the lips are much
more relevant.
However, this simple distinction fails to account for some phonemes such as:
/w/ in wet
/j/ in yes
The obstruction to the airflow in these phonemes resembles what happens in vowel production.
/w/ and /j/ may adapt to the adjacent vowel. The same does not apply to vowels, though (as
they typically do not adapt to adjacent consonants).
 COMMENTS
Vowels are syllabic sounds, but this characteristic is not enough to class a phoneme as a vowel.
Some consonants may be also syllabic. Even though some primary tentative distinctions
between vowels and consonants, at first, seem to hold true; scrutinizing them might reveal
some exceptions and unexpected contradictions. The consonants that follow in this section fall
under this category: they are exceptions to the rule, as they may act as vowels (phonetically),
depending on the context in which they find themselves.
GLIDES
Glides, together with the phoneme /r/, are grouped under the central approximant category.
That means that they are formed by a stricture of open approximation and the stricture is wide
enough not to cause any turbulence to the airflow. What’s more, the air escapes centrally,
without any audible friction.
When you say the word wet you realize that your lips are rounded in the same position as for
the vowel /u/.
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
Lip shape is important to produce vowels, do you remember?
Phonetically, /w/ is like a vowel since it is place of articulation is basically the same as for /u/. It
does not function as a vowel, though.
Compare the word wet with other similar one-syllable words, such as:
You will notice that all these words differ in one phoneme: the initial one. /g/, /v/, /p/, and /l/ are
inarguably consonants, meaning that /w/ also occupies the place of a consonant. It occurs
before a vowel phoneme, which is a consonant distribution. Moreover, the use of the indefinite
article may also hint/w/ is a consonant.
ONE OF THE FIRST RULES WE STUDY, WHILE LEARNING
ENGLISH, IS THAT THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE "A" IS USED
BEFORE CONSONANT SOUNDS. GRAMMAR BOOKS ARE
EMPHATIC ABOUT THIS RULE APPLYING TO SOUNDS AND
NOT LETTERS. BEFORE CONSONANT SOUNDS, "A" IS USED,
WHEREAS BEFORE VOWEL SOUNDS "AN" IS USED.
Now let’s think about a noun phrase to exemplify!
If we want to say that a car is wet in a simple noun phrase, we will sum it up as follows:
Notice that before /w/ an "a" is used, meaning that it sounds like a consonant.
Phonetically, /w/ is like a vowel.

Phonologically, /w/ is a consonant.
Some grammar books prefer the term semi-vowel, a phoneme that is articulated like a vowel
but classed as a consonant.
You may refer to /w/ as being a central approximant, a semi-vowel, and even as:
A glide
The term glide refers to the fact that it glides into the syllable nucleus. As it occurs in prevocalic
positions, it cannot form the nucleus of the syllable. And when a glide, conversely, follows a
vowel, it is, then, considered a diphthong.
LABIOVELAR GLIDE
/w/ is considered to be a doubly articulated sound. It involves an open approximation at the
lips and the tongue back at the velum and that is why it is often called a labiovelar approximant.
This labiovelar approximant shares its articulatory characteristics with the vowel /u/, as
mentioned before:
The velum is raised so the air does not escape through the nose.
The airflow, however, is altered by having it glide over the tongue before it escapes through the
mouth.
The labiovelar approximant is considered to be a very short version of /u/.
This consonant sound occurs at the beginning and middle of words. It does not occur at the end
of words in English, though. At the end of words, it is usually silent, as in words like:
Source: EnsineMe
The letter w is always pronounced as /w/ in prevocalic position, for instance, in words such as:
And a less frequent spelling for the phoneme are the letters o and u, in words such as:
Some English speakers, whenever they say words spelled with wh-, like what or where, use
aspiration and sound, resembling what happens to the phoneme /h/. The resultant phoneme is
a combination of /h/ and /w/ and sounds like /hw/. Both pronunciations (/hw/ and /w/) are
acceptable, though. Let’s hear:
PALATAL GLIDE
If instead of the word wet, you say the word yet, you will notice that the latter resembles the
articulatory production of another vowel /i/.
If you prolong the pronunciation of /j/ it will sound like /i/, meaning that /j/ sounds like a very
short /i/. To produce this sound, you should:
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
Raise the tongue body up to the hard palate.

The lips are spread, and the velum is raised preventing the air from escaping through the nose.

Also, your vocal cords should vibrate as this is a voiced consonant.
The consonant /j/ is usually spelled as the letter y, in words such as:
Source: EnsineMe
Some words containing the letter u may also refer to the palatal glide, in words such as:
Liquids and glides are both approximants, their difference resides, however, in the fact that:
To produce the glides the body of the tongue is used.

To produce the liquids the tip of the tongue is raised.
SYLLABIC CONSONANTS
As you may remember, a syllable, phonetically speaking, consists of a center that has no or
minimal obstruction to the airflow. Before and after the center there is more obstruction, though.
In other terms, a syllable consists of a nucleus that is usually a vowel. Before and after the
nucleus there are other segments, which are typically consonants. If there is no vowel, certain
consonants may function as the nucleus, filling the nucleus slot in the syllable. These are called
syllabic consonants. Nasals and liquids can occur as syllabic consonants. Syllabic consonants
are longer and more prominent than usual.
What makes certain sounds candidates for the syllable nucleus slot?
Sonority plays a great role here. More sonorous sounds are more apt to fill the nucleus slot.
Vowels are more sonorous than plosives or fricatives, for instance.
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
Fricatives entail a friction noise

Plosives entail a plosive burst
It is easy to notice that these consonants depend acoustically on noise elements to be
produced. That is not the case with vowels, since they are approximants:
Vowels typically form the nucleus.
Obstruents, on the other hand, occur at the margins of the syllable (they precede or follow
the nucleus).
Sonorant consonants (approximants and nasals) may function as the nucleus, when there is
no vowel in the syllable.
THE GREATER THE CONSTRICTION, THE LESS SONOROUS A
PHONEME IS.
Philipp Carr (2013) proposes the following sonority scale:

Low vowels

High vowels

Approximants

Nasals

Voiced fricatives

Voiceless fricatives

Voiced stops

Voiceless stops
THE SCHWA SOUND
The schwa sound is one of the most frequent vowels sounds in English. It is associated with
weak, unstressed syllables and, differently from other vowels, is not articulated with much
energy.
Compare the words:
Source: Unsplash

Source: Unsplash
You will realize that the letter a has two distinct pronunciations.
In the first word, a is pronounced as /æ/.

In the second word, however, since a is in an unstressed syllable, it is pronounced as /ə/.
As you can notice, /ə/ is the symbol for the schwa sound.
Any vowel letter may be pronounced as a schwa sound, as long as it is unstressed. The schwa
vowel is a very short, quick sound, pronounced in a relaxed way with barely any lip movement.
Syllabic consonants are not exclusive to certain varieties of English and may, then, occur in
many of them. They are, though, more perceptible as the rate of the speech increases. Let’s
think of a simple word, like:
Button
The second syllable, the unstressed one, may have a syllabic nasal, depending on how the
speaker pronounces it. If the schwa sound /ə/ is lost during speech production, /n/ may fill the
nucleus slot. The following transcription shows the process:
/ˈbʌtən/ → [ˈbʌtn̩].
The omission of the neutral vowel /ə/ leads to a syllabic /n/.
 ATTENTION
Notice the use of the symbol [ ˌ ]. This little vertical mark shows that it is a syllabic consonant.
SYLLABIC NASALS
The most frequently found syllabic nasal is the syllabic n. It is most common after alveolar
plosives and fricatives, for instance, in words such as:
Since the second syllable is unstressed, the vowel before the nasal sound is not pronounced
and n functions as the nucleus of the syllable. After certain phonemes, however, syllabic n does
not occur.
That is the case of the following phonemes: /l/, /tʃ/, and /dʒ/. The schwa sound is not lost, and n
is not syllabic. In words such as:
After bilabial consonants, both /n/ and syllabic n are possible, in words such as:
The same happens after velar consonants, both pronunciations are possible, in words such as:
After /f/ and /v/, syllabic n is also common, as:
In words such as button, syllabic n occurs as a product of the join between the plosive and the
nasal parts of the word. The word has an alveolar plosive and an alveolar nasal. There is, then,
a complete closure formed by the tongue against the alveolar ridge. There is, this way, no
possibility for the unobstructed airflow needed for a vowel.
 ATTENTION
Notice that the plosive and the nasal portions are homorganic, that is, they share the same
place of articulation. This is a clear case of syllabic consonant.
Syllabic m occurs in similar environments, in words such as:
Let’s take a look at the word broken!
Fonte:Shutterstock
As discussed above, after velar consonants syllabic n may occur. However, there is another
possibility:
The occurrence of a velar plosive (/k/) close to a nasal (/n/) may lead to the nasal assimilating a
characteristic of the plosive.
The nasal may assimilate the place of articulation of the velarplosive

Leading to a velar nasal
Instead of producing a syllabic n, another phoneme may occur: syllabic ŋ. The same can
happen in a word such as:
 LEARN MORE
The occurrence of a bilabial plosive close to a nasal may also lead to the assimilation a feature
of the bilabial plosive, that is, its place of articulation. This may lead to the production of the
syllabic m, instead of a syllabic n.
SYLLABIC LIQUIDS
For many speakers, /l/ in the word bottle may be syllabic.
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
That means that the schwa sound in the second syllable, which is unstressed, may be lost.
When this happens, we have a syllabic l instead of /l/. Other examples of syllabic l are the
words:
In rhotic accents syllabic r is also common. In the word particular, for instance, the last /r/ could
be syllabic.
Notice that in non-rhotic accents, however, some British varieties, for instance, since the letter r
is not pronounced after vowels, the process does not occur.
 RECALLING
The difference between rhotic and non-rhotic accents lies in whether the letter r is pronounced
in certain contexts. In rhotic accents, the letter r is always pronounced. In this variety of English,
you will always hear the letter r in words such as car, large, park. This is not true for non-rhotic
accents, though. When the letter r follows a vowel, in non-rhotic accents, it is dropped, that is, it
is not pronounced. It is only pronounced when it precedes a vowel in words such as rat, crop or
drop. American English is usually rhotic, whereas British English is usually non-rhotic.
To sum up, even though vowels typically occupy the nucleus slot in a syllable, whenever they
are absent, a consonant may function as the nucleus. Given the sonority scale, approximants
and nasals are fitter to occupy that slot.
Nasals and liquids, therefore, may be syllabic, whenever they occur in an unstressed
syllable without vowels.
The neutral vowel, the schwa sound, is lost, and a syllabic consonant is, then, heard. In many
cases, more than one pronunciation is acceptable: the syllabic and the non-syllabic
consonants. Nasals may suffer assimilation and a syllabic velar, or a syllabic bilabial may be
heard instead. The occurrence of syllabic r is less frequent in non-rhotic accents.
Syllabic consonants may also be combined. We may find words in which more than one syllabic
consonant is possible.
Let’s think of the word national, for example!
Fonte: Shutterstock.com
Syllabic n and syllabic l are adjacent in the word and its phonemic transcription may read as
follows: /næʃn̩l̩/.
Peter Roach (2004) also provides more examples for this phenomenon:
To perceive the use of the syllabic consonant or its non-syllabic counterpart may not be so easy
in a conversation, however. This tendency, thus, may be harder to pinpoint in real life than its
phonetic study may imply.
We have studied consonants that do not thoroughly abide by what is expected from a
consonant. Glides, for instance, function phonetically as vowels since their articulatory
production resembles that of two vowels: /u/ and /i/.
Phonetically, then, they are like short vowels.

Phonologically, however, they function as consonants.
/w/ and /j/ are also called semi-vowels. Liquids and nasals, given their sonority, may function as
the nucleus of a syllable. Even though the nucleus is typically a vowel, these consonants may
occupy the nucleus slot when a vowel is absent.
SYLLABIC CONSONANTS AND GLIDES, THEREFORE,
ARTICULATORY-WISE OR IN TERMS OF THEIR
FUNCTIONALITY IN THE SYLLABLE, EXHIBIT VOWEL-LIKE
QUALITIES.
In the following video, Professor Tatiana Massuno presents us more information on glides e
syllabic consonants. Let's watch it!
LEARNING CHECK
1. SEMI-VOWELS IN ENGLISH MAY ALSO BE CALLED GLIDES. GLIDES
ARE CENTRAL APPROXIMANTS, LIKE THE PHONEME /R/. CHOOSE THE
ALTERNATIVE THAT CONTAINS A TRUE STATEMENT ABOUT THE
GLIDES.
A) /l/ and /r/ are both glides, since they can become syllabic.
B) If you prolong the pronunciation of /j/ it will sound like /i/.
C) /w/ is like a short /i/.
D) /j/ is like a short /u/.
E) Glides are obstruents like vowels.
2. A CONSONANT IS SAID TO BE SYLLABIC WHEN IT CAN FUNCTION AS
THE NUCLEUS OF A SYLLABLE. WHICH CONSONANTS ARE APT TO FILL
THE NUCLEUS SLOT?
A) Any consonant can be syllabic.
B) Only fricatives and plosives can be syllabic.
C) Liquids and nasals can be syllabic.
D) Only central approximants can be syllabic.
E) Only lateral approximants can be syllabic.
GABARITO
1. Semi-vowels in English may also be called glides. Glides are central approximants,
like the phoneme /r/. Choose the alternative that contains a true statement about the
glides.
Option "B " is correct.
: /w/ and /j/ are like short vowels. While /w/ sounds like a short version of /u/ and /j/ sounds like
a short /i/. If both sounds are prolonged, they will sound like the corresponding vowel.
2. A consonant is said to be syllabic when it can function as the nucleus of a syllable.
Which consonants are apt to fill the nucleus slot?
Option "C " is correct.
The more sonorous a consonant is, the best candidate it is for the nucleus slot. Having said
that, liquids and nasals (since they are sonorants) may occupy the nucleus slot and become
syllabic consonants.
CONCLUSION
FINAL ISSUES
We have learned how consonants are formed in English. Consonants differ in terms of how they
are articulated, and which articulators are involved in sound production. They may also be
produced by vibrating the vocal cords or not. Each of these aspects: place of articulation,
manner of articulation, and voicing help us identify the sound being produced.
Consonants are, then, produced by a combination of these three aspects; which means that a
change in one of them leads to the production of a different sound. The phonemes /b/ and /p/,
for example, only differ in voicing. Even though their manner and place of articulation coincide,
differing in voicing (one being a voiced consonant and the other a voiceless one) is more than
enough to produce two distinct phonemes.
WE ALSO HAVE LEARNED THAT CONSONANTS IN ENGLISH
CAN BE CLASSED AS OBSTRUENTS OR SONORANTS. WHILE
OBSTRUENT CONSONANTS INVOLVE OBSTRUCTION TO THE
AIRFLOW, SONORANT CONSONANTS ENTAIL A NOT-SO-
NARROW CONSTRICTION. CERTAIN SONORANTS – GLIDES –
MAY RESEMBLE VERY SHORT VOWELS. MOREOVER, OTHER
SONORANTS, SUCH AS LIQUIDS AND NASALS, MAY OCCUPY
THE NUCLEUS SLOT IN A SYLLABLE, WHENEVER A VOWEL IS
ABSENT.
By now you will have become familiarized with the categories under which consonants are
classified and with how such understanding may influence positively your own speech
production. Besides that, you are now able to identify how consonants are produced in English,
and you can identify the contexts in which a consonant may exhibit vowel-like qualities.
AVALIAÇÃO DO TEMA:
REFERENCES
BROWN, A. Pronunciation and Phonetics: A Practical Guide for English Language Teachers.
New York: Routledge, 2014.
CARR, P. English Phonetics and Phonology: an introduction. 2. ed. West Sussex: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2013.
COLLINS, Beverly; MEES, Inger. Practical phonetics and phonology: a resource book for
students. 3. ed. New York: Routledge, 2013.
DALE, P.; POMS, L. English pronunciation made simple. New York: Longman, 2005.
GUT, U. Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2009.
LADEFOGED. Peter. Vowels and Consonants: an Introduction to the sounds of languages.
Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.
OGDEN, Richard. An Introduction to English Phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2009
ROACH, Peter. English Phonetic and phonology: a practical course. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004.
GO FURTHER
For more practice exercises and pronunciation rules, check Pronunciation Resources of
University of Iowa.
Nice resources can be found at Fonetica & Fonologia website, from Universidade Federal de
Minas de Gerais (UFMG).
Two good titlesabout teaching pronunciation are:
KELLY, G. How to teach pronunciation. England: Longman, 2001.
KENWORTHY, J. Teaching English Pronunciation. New York: Longman, 1987.
And two good resource books on Phonetics:
COLLINS, B.; MEES, I. Practical phonetics and phonology: a resource book for
students. 3. ed. New York: Routledge, 2013.
ROACH, P. English Phonetic and phonology: a practical course. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2004.
CONTENT AUTHOR
Tatiana de Freitas Massuno
 CURRÍCULO LATTES
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