THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS

JFSOUND PRACTICE SECTION.

1.1. Do the following exercise paying special attention to the sounds /b/,/p/, sentence stress and nuclear tones.

Conversation in a Travel Agent's.

Customer: Good morning. I'd like to book a cheap spring holiday. What package holidays are available?

Travel Agent: There's a splendid holiday in Paris.

Customer: I expect Paris is expensive!

Travel Agent: There is a cheap period between November and February. You can compare our prices with other companies. Ours are cheaper.

Customer: But I don't want to go in February. I'd prefer April.

Travel Agent: Well, April in Paris is beautiful. But it's very popular. Most package tours in April are fully booked.

Customer: Yes, I remember my neighbour went to Paris in April. She belongs to a travel club. It was beautiful. But the airport was very busy. What other places are available in April?

Travel Agent: Here's a brochure, with all the places and prices.

Customer: Right, I'll probably be back tomorrow. Goodbye.

Revise reading rules by transcribing the following words

LPhonetic Theory Discussion Section.

Learn the following words and phrases to Theme 1.

Read Theme 1 and be ready to answer the questions given in 2.3.

Theme 1. THE ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION OF

THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS

A consonant is a sound produced with an obstruction to the air stream. The particular quality of a consonant depends on the work of the vocal cords, the position of the soft palate and the kind of noise that results when the tongue or the lips obstruct the air passage.

There are two types of articulatory obstruction:

1) a complete obstruction, formed when two organs of speech come in contact with each other and the air passage through the mouth is blocked.

2) an incomplete obstruction, formed when an articulating organ is held close to a point of articulation as to narrow or constrict the air passage without blocking it.

The English consonants are usually classified according to the following principles:

1) the type of obstruction and the manner of noise production;

2) the active speech organ and the place of obstruction;

3) the work of the vocal cords and the force of articulation;

4) the position of the soft palate.

1.According to the type of obstruction the English consonants are divided into:

1) Occlusive consonants (they are produced with a complete obstruction formed by the articulator). Occlusive consonants may be: noise consonants (plosives) [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g] and sonorants [m], [n], [N].

2) Constrictive consonants (they are produced with an incomplete obstruction, that is by a narrowing of the air passage). Constrictive consonants may be: noise consonants (fricatives) [f], [v], [T], [D], [s], [z], [S], [Z], [h] and sonorants [w], [r], [j], [l].

3) Occlusive-constrictive (affricates) [tS], [dZ] (the speech organs form a complete obstruction which is then released so slowly that considerable friction occurs at the point of articulation).

According to the manner of noise production occlusive noise consonants are called plosive consonants (stops) [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g] as the speech organs form a complete obstruction which is then quickly released with plosion. In the production of occlusive sonorants the speech organs form a complete obstruction in the mouth cavity, the soft palate is lowered and the air escapes through the nasal cavity: [m], [n], [N].

Constrictive noise consonants are produced with an incomplete obstruction, that is by a narrowing of the air-passage. According to the manner of noise production they are called fricatives [f], [v], [T], [D], [s], [z], [S], [Z], [h] as the air that goes through the narrowing produces audible friction. In the production of constrictive sonorants the air passage is fairly wide so that the air passing through the mouth does not produce audible friction. Constrictive sonorants may be:

- median (the air escapes over the central part of the tongue): [w], [r], [j];

- lateral (the sides of the tongue are lowered, leaving the air passage open along them: [l].

2.According to the active speech organ the English consonants are divided into labial, lingual and glottal.

Labial consonants may be: bilabial [p], [b], [m], [w] (articulated by the two lips) and labio-dental [f], [v] (articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth).

Lingual consonants may be:

(A) forelingual, articulated with the tip or the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth or the alveolar ridge.

According to the position of the tip English forelingual consonants may be:

1 apical (if the tip of the tongue is active): [t], [d], [s], [z], [n],[l], [T], [D], [tS], [S], [dZ], [Z].

2 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): [r]

(B) mediolingual, produced with the front of the tongue against the hard palate: [j].

(C) backlingual, which are articulated by the back of the tongue against the soft palate: [k], [g], [N].

Glottal consonants are produced in the glottis: [h].

According to the place of obstruction (point of articulation) forelingual consonants are divided into:

(1) interdental, made with the tip of the tongue projected between the teeth: [T], [D].

(2) alveolar, articulated with the tip against the upper teeth ridge: [t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l].

(3) post-alveolar, made when the tip or the blade of the tongue is against the back part of the teeth ridge or just behind it: [r].

(4) palato-alveolar, 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: [tS], [dZ], [S], [Z].

Mediolingual consonants are palatal, when the front part of the tongue is raised high to the hard palate:[j].

Backlingual consonants are velar, because they are produced with the back part of the tongue raised towards the soft palate: [k], [g], [N].

3. According to the work of the vocal cords the English noise consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless. According to the force of articulation the consonants are divided into relatively strong , or fortis and relatively weak, or lenis.

The English voiced consonants are lenis. The English voiceless consonants are fortis. They are pronounced with greater muscular tension and a stronger breath force.

The following English consonants are voiced and lenis: [p], [t], [k], [T], [f], [s], [S], [tS], [h].

The following English consonants are voiceless and fortis: [b], [d], [g], [D], [v], [z], [Z], [dZ].

4. According to the position of the soft palate consonants are divided into oral and nasal.

Oral consonants are produced when the soft palate is raised and the air escapes through the mouth.

Nasal consonants are produced with the soft palate lowered while the air passage through the mouth is blocked. As a result, the air escapes through the nasal cavity. The English nasal consonants are [m], [n], [N].

Most consonants are pronounced with a single obstruction. But some consonants are pronounced with two obstructions, the second obstruction being called coarticulation. Coarticulation may be front (with the front of the tongue raised) or back (with the back of the tongue raised). The tongue front coarticulation gives the sound a clear (‘soft’) colouring, e.g. [l], [S], [Z], [tS], [dZ] and all the Ukrainian palatalized consonants. The tongue back coarticulation gives the sound a dark (‘hard’) colouring, e.g. the English dark [l], [w], the Ukrainian sounds [ш], [ж], [ч], [дж].