quiz 3 consonants

How many consonant phonemes does English have?

24 (average among world languages)

How are vowels made vs. consonants?

Vowels: only by changing tongue and lip position (ALL voiced). Consonants: vocal tract constrictions that modify the breath stream, usually two articulators meeting; voiced or voiceless.

Which consonants do NOT use the tongue as the main articulator?

/h/, /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/, /f/, /v/

Prevocalic vs. postvocalic vs. intervocalic consonant

Prevocalic = before a vowel (bee); postvocalic = after a vowel (eat); intervocalic = between two vowels (upper)

Sonorants: classes and voicing

Nasals, glides, liquids. ALL voiced. Little constriction, little turbulence; resonance throughout the vocal tract.

Obstruents: classes and voicing

Stops, fricatives, affricates. Voiced OR voiceless. Strong oral constriction; noise (turbulence) made at the point of constriction.

Three ways to classify any consonant

Manner (how airstream is modified), place (which articulators), voicing (do vocal folds vibrate)

Naming formula for a consonant

Voicing + place + manner (e.g. /p/ = voiceless bilabial stop)

What are cognates?

Phoneme pairs that differ ONLY in voicing (same place, same manner). Swapping them makes minimal pairs: sit/zit, fear/veer, bit/pit.

Quick trick to check voicing

Say the sound/word both ways and feel your throat for vibration

Which consonant classes have no cognates, and why?

Nasals, glides, liquids (sonorants): always voiced, so no voiceless partner. /h/ also has no voiced partner.

Stops: manner of articulation

Airstream completely obstructed in the oral cavity, then released in a quick burst. Velum raised (nasal cavity closed). Places: bilabial, alveolar, velar.

Nasals: manner of articulation

Velum LOWERED so air and vibration flow into the nasal cavity. Sonorants, all voiced.

Fricatives: manner of articulation

Breath forced through a narrow channel; articulators don't fully close; turbulent frictional noise at the constriction. Obstruents, voiced or voiceless.

Affricates: manner of articulation

Stop + fricative combined into one sound. Begins at the alveolar ridge as a stop, releases into a fricative. Place: palatal. Only two in English: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/.

Approximants: what are they and what are the two types?

Vowel-like ('semi-vowels'): articulators approach but don't touch. Voiced sonorants. Glides (/j/, /w/) and liquids (/l/, /ɹ/).

Memory aid: how many places do stops, nasals, and fricatives have?

Stops = 3 (bilabial, alveolar, velar). Nasals = same 3 (m, n, ŋ). Fricatives = 5 (labiodental, interdental, alveolar, palatal, glottal).

Master chart: stops by place (voiceless, voiced)

Bilabial p b; alveolar t d; velar k g; (glottal ʔ)

Master chart: fricatives by place

Labiodental f v; interdental θ ð; alveolar s z; palatal ʃ ʒ; glottal h

Master chart: affricates

Palatal: tʃ dʒ

Master chart: nasals

Bilabial m; alveolar n; velar ŋ

Master chart: glides and liquids

Glides: j (palatal), w (labiovelar). Liquids: l (alveolar), ɹ (palatal)

Describe /p/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless bilabial stop

Sample words for /p/

prayed, appear, stop

Common spellings (allographs) of /p/

p, pp

Describe /b/: voicing + place + manner

voiced bilabial stop

Sample words for /b/

bright, rubber, tub

Common spellings (allographs) of /b/

b, bb

Describe /t/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless alveolar stop

Sample words for /t/

toe, store, port, walked

Common spellings (allographs) of /t/

t, tt, ed

Describe /d/: voicing + place + manner

voiced alveolar stop

Sample words for /d/

door, address, bed, nailed

Common spellings (allographs) of /d/

d, dd, ed

Describe /k/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless velar stop

Sample words for /k/

cat, acrobat, pack, opaque

Common spellings (allographs) of /k/

c, k, ck, q(u), cc, ch, cqu, que (cat, kit, pack, question, occult, chord, acquit, biscuit, liquor)

Describe /g/: voicing + place + manner

voiced velar stop

Sample words for /g/

gate, rugged, bug, ghost

Common spellings (allographs) of /g/

g, gg, gh, gu

Describe /m/: voicing + place + manner

voiced bilabial nasal

Sample words for /m/

may, amble, team, hammer

Common spellings (allographs) of /m/

m, mm

Describe /n/: voicing + place + manner

voiced alveolar nasal

Sample words for /n/

no, another, den, snow, manner

Common spellings (allographs) of /n/

n, nn

Describe /ŋ/ ('eng'): voicing + place + manner

voiced velar nasal

Sample words for /ŋ/ ('eng')

ring, lingo, clank, link, finger, ankle

Common spellings (allographs) of /ŋ/ ('eng')

ng, nk

Describe /f/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless labiodental fricative

Sample words for /f/

foot, affront, rough, phone

Common spellings (allographs) of /f/

f, ff, gh, ph

Describe /v/: voicing + place + manner

voiced labiodental fricative

Sample words for /v/

veer, over, save, of, Stephen

Common spellings (allographs) of /v/

v, f (of), ph (Stephen)

Describe /θ/ ('theta'): voicing + place + manner

voiceless interdental fricative

Sample words for /θ/ ('theta')

three, bathtub, path, with, breath

Common spellings (allographs) of /θ/ ('theta')

th

Describe /ð/ ('eth'): voicing + place + manner

voiced interdental fricative

Sample words for /ð/ ('eth')

the, other, either, breathe, writhe

Common spellings (allographs) of /ð/ ('eth')

th

Describe /s/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless alveolar fricative

Sample words for /s/

so, pass, scent, ice

Common spellings (allographs) of /s/

s, ss, sc, c

Describe /z/: voicing + place + manner

voiced alveolar fricative

Sample words for /z/

zoo, shoes, fizz, Xerox

Common spellings (allographs) of /z/

s, ss, z, zz, x

Describe /ʃ/ ('esh'): voicing + place + manner

voiceless palatal (postalveolar) fricative

Sample words for /ʃ/ ('esh')

she, fish, mansion, sugar, pressure

Common spellings (allographs) of /ʃ/ ('esh')

sh, ss, sci, ce, ch, ci, s, si

Describe /ʒ/ ('yogh'): voicing + place + manner

voiced palatal (postalveolar) fricative

Sample words for /ʒ/ ('yogh')

fusion, measure, garage, casual, seizure

Common spellings (allographs) of /ʒ/ ('yogh')

z, g, s, si, zi

Describe /h/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless glottal fricative

Sample words for /h/

hat, ahead, behave, who

Common spellings (allographs) of /h/

h, wh

Describe /tʃ/: voicing + place + manner

voiceless palatal affricate (/t/ + /ʃ/)

Sample words for /tʃ/

chair, hatchet, batch, righteous, crutch

Common spellings (allographs) of /tʃ/

ch, tch, t (nature), te (righteous), ti (question)

Describe /dʒ/: voicing + place + manner

voiced palatal affricate (/d/ + /ʒ/)

Sample words for /dʒ/

jump, injure, budge, gin, soldier

Common spellings (allographs) of /dʒ/

j, g (gem), gg (exaggerate), d (educate), dg (lodge), di (soldier)

Describe /j/ ('yuh'): voicing + place + manner

voiced palatal glide

Sample words for /j/ ('yuh')

yes, your, feud, fuse, union, onion

Common spellings (allographs) of /j/ ('yuh')

y, u (fuse), eu (feud), i (union)

Describe /w/ ('wuh'): voicing + place + manner

voiced labiovelar glide (lips round + back of tongue approaches velum)

Sample words for /w/ ('wuh')

when, where, away, quit, penguin, square

Common spellings (allographs) of /w/ ('wuh')

w, wh, qu, u (language)

Describe /l/: voicing + place + manner

voiced alveolar liquid (lateral: air flows over the sides of the tongue)

Sample words for /l/

law, alone, ball, bowl, hollow, black

Common spellings (allographs) of /l/

l, ll ONLY

Describe /ɹ/ (or /r/): voicing + place + manner

voiced palatal liquid

Sample words for /ɹ/ (or /r/)

real, arrive, far, stress, more, brown, rhyme

Common spellings (allographs) of /ɹ/ (or /r/)

r, rr, rh ONLY

Which phoneme is the voiceless bilabial stop?

/p/

Which phoneme is the voiced bilabial stop?

/b/

Which phoneme is the voiceless alveolar stop?

/t/

Which phoneme is the voiced alveolar stop?

/d/

Which phoneme is the voiceless velar stop?

/k/

Which phoneme is the voiced velar stop?

/g/