VII. The English Consonants Outline

7.1. General Principles of Consonant Formation

7.2. The English Consonant System

7.3. The problem of affricates

7.1. General Principles of Consonant Formation

The general principles of consonant formation are different from those of vowels formation. The following are three most important principles.

1. An obstacle is created in one of the supra-laryngal cavities.

2. The muscular tension is concentrated in the place (or places) of obstruction.

3. A stronger air stream is required than in articulating vowels.

I. Since an impediment is an essential principle of consonant formation, we classify consonants according to the type of obstacle. In most languages the following three types of impediments are possible:

1. Complete closure at some point or other. Consonants of this type are called stops. The different kinds of stops are a result of the differences in the articulating organ (lips of tongue), in the manner of forming the impediment, the kind of resonance, the manner of releasing the closure (occlusive or obstructive), etc.

2. Narrowing (constriction) of the air passage at some point or other. As a result of the differences in the place of articulation, the size and shape of the narrowing, we have various types of constrictive consonants.

3. A moving obstacle, due to which air does not pass out in an uninterrupted stream; the articulating organ gives a series of taps against a passive organ. Consonants of this type are called trilled. They may be produced by means of vibrations of the tip of the tongue, the uvula or the lips. The Russian [p]-phoneme is an example of a trilled consonant. Trilled consonants are not characteristic of B.R.P.

The method of creating an obstacle determines the manner of articulation (see Table 3).

Table 3

Thus, stops may be of different kinds:

• plosives;

• affricates;

• they may differ as to the kind of resonance;

• there are oral and nasal stops.

Constrictive consonants are also of different kinds: (1) constrictives with a medial (or central) air passage (constrictive medial); (2) constrictives with a lateral air passage (constrictives lateral). All the characteristic features of one or another articulation make up what is called the manner of articulation.

The most important points of consonant formation are the manner and the place of articulation.

The place of articulation is composed of two important points:

l) the articulating organ;

2) the passive speech organ.

II. In classifying consonants according to the articulating organ, we distinguish the following types of consonants:

1. Labial consonants: 1) bi-labial, i. e. articulated by means of both lips; 2) labio-dental.

2. Lingual consonants: 1) fore-lingual; 2) front-lingual (or mid-lingual); 3) back-lingual.

[Fore-lingual consonants are of three kinds: apical, dorsal and cacuminal. Apical consonants are articulated by the tip of the tongue, which is brought into contact with the teeth or the teeth ridge. Dorsal consonants are articulated by lowering the tip of the tongue (so that it comes into contact with the front lower teeth) while the closure or narrowing of the air passage occurs between the blade of the tongue and the upper teeth. In the articulation of cacuminal consonants, the tip of the tongue is curled back and is usually brought into contact with the teeth ridge and the fore part of the hard palate.]

3. Velar consonants are formed by means of a closure between the velum (soft palate) and the back of the tongue, in cases when the velum is active.

4. Uvular consonants are formed by the activity of the uvula.

III. According to which passive organs of speech are involved in the articulation we distinguish:

1. dental (pre-dental, inter-dental and post-dental);

2. alveolar;

3. palatal;

4. velar (if the velum is passive).

It is more logical, however, to describe consonants from the point of view of the articulating organ for three reasons:

1) because it is the articulating organ that performs some kind of work;

2) Because the passive organ on the whole is determined by the active organ, since each articulating organ is usually brought into contact with a certain specific passive organ.

IV. A very important consideration in consonant formation is voice. Some consonants are mere noises, as they are produced without voice. They are called breathed or voiceless. Other consonants are voiced, that is to say, the vocal cords are in vibration' during their articulation.

Voiced consonants are also of two kinds:

1) voiced consonant noises;

2) sonorants. In the former the element of noise prevails over the element of musical tone; in the latter the element of musical tone prevails over the element of noise.