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University of Madras
Syllabus with effect from 2020-2021
BA English Literature
[2nd Year, 4th Semester]
ASPECTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE – PAPER II
Unit 2
2.3 Segmental Phonemes - Consonants – Definition– Articulation of individual Consonants Three term Label
2.4 FIVE point Description – Position of the Vocal Cords, Position of the Soft Palate, Place of Articulation, Manner of Articulation – Active and Passive Articulators
2.3 Segmental Phonemes
The
English language has 44 speech sounds. These sounds are broadly divided into
two categories - 24 consonant sounds and20 vowel sounds. This division is based
on whether the obstruction is created to the airstream during the production of
sound or not. The vowel sounds are further divided into two groups – 12 pure
vowels and 08 diphthongs. A vowel sound is a sound in the production of which
the air passes over the tongue without audible friction in the mouth while a
diphthong is a union of two vowels within a syllable.
Description
of Consonant sounds:
Consonant
sounds are those sounds in the production of which the obstruction is created
to the air-stream. These sounds are generally made by a definite interference
of the speech organs with the air stream. During the production of consonant
sounds the air released from the lungs escapes through mouth with friction. The
24 consonant sounds in English are - /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /ɡ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/,
/z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/, /m/, /n, /ŋ/, /l/,
/r/, /j/, /w/.
The
description of these consonant sounds involves with the following three term labels:
a) The
State of Glottis (voiced or voiceless consonant sounds)
b)
Place of articulation
c)
Manner of articulation
a)
The State of Glottis (Voiced or Voiceless consonant sounds):
The
consonant sounds are voiceless or voiced depends upon the state of glottis in
the vocal cords. When the two cords come very close to each other, the glottis are
kept loosely together. Therefore they vibrate while producing sounds. Such
sounds are called ‘Voiced sounds’.
In the
production of some consonant sounds, the vocal cords are kept apart and the
glottis is widely open. Hence, they do not vibrate. Such sounds without
vibration are known as ‘Voiceless’ sounds.
Thus,
the 24 consonant sounds are divided into voiceless and voiced in a following
way:
Voiceless
Consonant sounds -/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /s/,/ʃ/ and /h/
Voiced
consonant sounds- /b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /dʒ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/,
/ʒ/, /m/,
/n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /j/ and /w/.
b)
Place of Articulation:
Consonants
can be described according to their places of articulation which refers to the
organs of speech used for the production of the consonant sounds. The oral
cavity can be divided into different places of articulation as bilabial,
labio-dental, dental, alveolar, post alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal, velar and
glottal.
Consonant
sounds can be classified according to the place of articulation as follows:
i) Bilabial: The
bilabial sounds are articulated by the two lips. The lower lip is the active
articulator and the upper lip is the passive articular. /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ are
the Bilabial sounds.
ii)
Labio-dental: These sounds are articulated by the active articulator -
lower lip and the passive articulator - the upper front teeth. e.g. /f/, /v/.
iii)
Dental: In the production of this sound the tip of the tongue is the active
articulator and the upper front teeth is the passive articulator as /θ/ in
‘thin’ and /ð/ in ‘this’.
iv)
Alveolar: The tip or the blade of the tongue is the active articulator and
the teeth ridge is the passive articulator in the production of these sounds.
e.g. /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/.
v)
Post–alveolar: The tip of the tongue is the active articulator and the back
part of the teeth ridge is the passive articulator for the production of this
consonant sounds. /r/ sound in try and dry are examples.
vi)
Palato–alveolar: They are articulated by the tip and the blade of the
tongue (active articulator) against the teeth ridge (passive articulator).
Simultaneously, the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. /ʃ/ in ship, /ʒ/ in pleasure, /ʧ / in church and /ʤ/ in judge are examples.
vii)
Palatal: The front of the tongue is the active articulator and the hard
palate is the passive articulator. /j/ in yes is a palatal sound in English. During
the articulation the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.
e.g./j/.
viii)
Velar: The back of the tongue is the active articulator and the soft palate
is the passive articulator. /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/ (sing) are examples.
ix)
Glottal: The sound is produced by an obstruction and narrowing between the
vocal cords. Glottal sounds are produced at the glottis of vocal cords. The two
vocal cords are the active articulators. e.g. /h/.
c) Manner of articulation:
It includes the stricture involved in the
articulation of consonants. The term ‘stricture’ refers to the way or manner in
which the passage of air is restricted by the various speech organs. The way in
which the sound is articulated is called the manner of articulation.
Consonants can be classified according to
the manner of articulation as follows:
i)
Plosive: The two articulators come together in the mouth cavity to form a
complete closure of the air pressure. The air released from the lungs is
blocked at this closure. Then the air is released suddenly with a slight
explosive sound. Thus, the sound is produced with complete closure and sudden
release. Such sounds are known as “Plosives”. In English, there are 6 plosives
- /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.
ii)
Affricate: The speech organs in the mouth cavity come together to form a
complete closure of the air passage in the mouth. The air pressure builds up at
the closure. The tongue is lowered a little, narrowing of the air passage
causing audible friction. They are characterized by complete closure and slow release
of the air pressure. Such sounds are known as “Affricate”. In English, there
are 2 Affricates. e.g. /tʃ/, /dʒ/.
iii)
Fricatives: The two speech organs come close to each other but there is a
narrow passage between them. The air passes through this narrow passage with
friction. These are characterized by the
close approximation of the articulators and the gap between them is very
narrow. There are 9 fricatives in English. e.g. /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/.
iv)
Nasal: The two lips come together to form a complete closure in the mouth.
Then the soft palate is lowered. Therefore the air escapes through the nose
cavity. Thus, the sounds that are articulated with a stricture of complete oral
closure are called nasals. There are 3 nasal sounds in English. e.g. /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.
v)
Laterals: At some point in the mouth there is a closure or contact in the
middle but the air escapes through the sides of the contact. Sides of the
tongue are lowered. Thus, the lateral sounds are articulated with a complete
closure in the centre of the vocal tract but with the air escaping along the
sides of the tongue without any friction. e.g. /l/.
vi) Frictionless continuant or Rolled:
There is no closure or friction but the sound has a consonantal function. The
sound is produced with a stricture of open approximation. The stricture may be
such that air passes between the active and passive articulators
intermittently. Such a stricture is called intermittent closure, and involves
the vibration of the active articulator against the passive. Sounds produced
during this time are called trills or
rolled consonants. e.g. /r/ in red.
For some consonants, the active
articulator strikes against the passive articulator once and then quickly flaps
forward. Such consonants are called taps
or flaps. The letter r in very is an example.
vii)
Semi Vowels: The sounds have a vowel glide with a consonantal function.
These sounds are called as semi vowels. e.g. /j/, /w/.
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