Classification
:
In B.R.P. (British Received Pronunciation) there are 24
Consonant Sounds which may be described and classified in different ways : (a)
According to the position of the vocal cords (b) According to the manner of articulation
and (c) According to the place of
articulation.
Position
of Vocal Cords :
According to the position and
movement of vocal cords the consonants are classified into two categories : (1) Voiced and (2)
Voiceless.
Voiced : During the production of
these consonants the vocal cords come closer and hang loosely. The air passage becomes narrow. When the lung air
is forced between the cords, they vibrate and the sound produced is called voiced sound.
There are 15(Fifteen) voiced consonants and
these are /b/, /d/, /g/, /dʒ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /w/, /j/, /r/.
Voiceless
: Voiceless
sounds are produced for the tightness of the vocal cords which go apart and
does not hang loosely. The air passage
is not narrow. Naturally ,the lung air can go smoothly without
making vibration. Thus voiceless sounds
are produced.
There are 9 (Nine) voiceless consonants and
these are /p/, /t/, /k/, /ʈʃ/, /f/, /s/, /θ/, /ʃ/ and /h/.
Manner
of articulation:
According to the manner of
articulation consonants are divided into seven classes : (1)Plosive (2)Affricate (3) Fricative (4)
Nasal (5) Lateral (6) Semi Vowel and (7) Frictionless Continuant.
(1) Plosive – The two articulators make complete closure and
then release suddenly causing an explosive sound. There are six plosives and
these are :
/p/, /t/,
/k/,/b/, /d/, /g/.
(2) Affricate
- The two articulators make complete closure and then release slowly. We know
two affricates in English :
/ʈʃ/ and /dʒ/.
(3) Fricative – The process involved in the production of
these sounds is the close approximation. A narrow space is made between the
active and passive articulators and the lung air passes through it causing
audible friction. There are nine affricates , five voiceless and four voiced. /f/, /s/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /h/, /v/, /ð/, /z/ and /ʒ/.
(4) Nasal – The manner involved is complete oral closure.
Mouth is totally closed and the air
escapes through nose and produce a nasal sound. There are three nasals : /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.
(5) Lateral – only one lateral consonant is / l /. Partial closure is the process involved in the
production of this sound. In the middle of the mouth an obstacle is formed and
the air passes through both side of the obstacle.
(6) Semi Vowel – The stricture involved in the production of
the semi vowel is the open approximation . /w/ and /j/ are two semi vowels which are vowels
for some features but function as consonant.
(7) Frictionless Continuant. - No audible friction is present during the
production of this consonant. The manner involved in it is open approximation . The sound /r/
comes to this category.
The place of articulation
:
According to the
place of articulation the consonant are divided into nine classes . These are – (1) Bilabial (2) Labio Dental (3) Dental (4) Alveolar
(5) Post Alveolar (6) Palato Alveolar
(7) Palatal (8) Velar (9) Glottal
(1) Bilabial – Those
sounds are called bilabial in the
production of which the active articulator is lower lip and the passive
articulator is upper lip. There are four bilabials. These are /p/,/b/,/m/, /w/.
(2) Labio Dental – When the active articulator and passive
articulator are lower lip and upper teeth respectively , the consonants are
called Labio Dental. Only two such consonants are /f/ and /v/.
(3) Dental – Dental consonants are those in the production
of which the tip of the tongue touches the upper teeth. There are two dental
consonants and these are /θ/ and /ð/.
(4) Alveolar - When the teeth
ridge is touched by the tip and blade of the tongue, the sounds produced
are called alveolar consonants. There
are six alveolar consonants : /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, and /l/.
(5) Post Alveolar - /r/ is the only one post alveolar
consonant. During its production tip of the tongue is the active articulator
and back of teeth ridge is passive articulator.
(6) Palato
Alveolar - Blade or front of the
tongue touches the hard palate and the consonants produced in this way are
called the palato alveolar consonants. There
are four such consonants which are /ʈʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/.
(7) Palatal - The
consonant in the production of which the
front of the tongue is active articulator and the hard palate is passive
articulator is called palatal. Only one
palatal consonant is /j/.
(8) Velar - /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/ are the three
velar consonants in B.R.P. These are
called velar as the back of the tongue touches the soft palate or velum in time of the production .
(9) Glottal – When the vocal cords are both active and passive
articulators, the sound produced in that
way are called glottal. Only one glottal consonant is /h/.
Description
:
A consonant is described on the basis of three variables or
points and for this it is caller Three Term Description . These three variables
are (1) Position of Vocal Cords i.e. it is Voiceless or Voiced. (2)Place of articulation and
(3) Manner of articulation. Example s are given below -
/p/ - Voiceless bilabial plosive consonant.
/t/ - Voiceless alveolar plosive consonant.
/dʒ/ - voiced palato alveolar
affricate consonant.
/ð/ - Voiced dental fricative
consonant.
