Affricates = plosive manner + nasal manner All of the consonant sounds described so far are produced with either a complete obstruction of the airflow (plosives and nasals) or a narrowing of the mouth passage (fricatives). One pair of consonants, however, is produced…
Approximants = near closure with friction Our description of consonant sounds has highlighted the different ways in which the free passage of air through the vocal apparatus may be impeded. So far we have discussed just two types of closure. The first is complete closure and…
Consonants naming convention During your reading of the various descriptions of English consonants you may have noted a pattern in the way each consonant sound is described. By convention each consonant is described in relation to three parameters, in the following order: voicing place of…
Consonants summary chart From our discussion of the naming convention for consonants, we see that any consonant can be summarized in terms of a tripartite description that indicates its voicing, place of articulation and manner of articulation. For example, /p/ would be described as a…
