UNIT 8

THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM II:

CONSONANTS. PHONETIC SYMBOLS.
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS WITH THE SPANISH
PHONOLGICAL SYSTEM
0. INTRODUCTION
1. THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM
1.1. Definition of Phonetics and Phonology
1.2. The mechanisms of speech
1.2.1. Speech sounds
1.2.2. Speech organs
1.3. Classification of speech sounds
2. CONSONANTS
2.1. Classification
2.1. Description
3. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PHONOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS OF SPANISH AND ENGLISH
4. CONCLUSION

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0. INTRODUCTION
A language may be said to be a method by which a person expresses his thoughts and feelings
in such a way that they can be understood by others. Language is, as we say, a means of
communication. When we speak, we produce a succession of sounds arranged in groups, which
we call words, and each word has a definite meaning in the minds of the people using that
language. But to somebody who does not know that language, the words convey no meaning;
every language on earth has its own particular set of words, most of which are quite different
from those of any other language. Just as each language has its own set of words, different from
those of other languages, so each language has its own set of sounds, different from the set used
in any other language. In fact, if we draw up a list of all the different sounds used in that
language, we shall get what is called its sound system. It is important to note that the sound
system of a language is peculiar to that language, and that no other language has the same
system.
The English phonological system is a rather complex topic since it entails many different
aspects, which differ from the Spanish language to a large extent. For this reason, this issue will
be dealt with from two different scopes, that of theory and that of didactics. The first part will
examine the English phonological system: to begin with, a distinction between phonetics and
phonology will be established; then, a brief analysis of the speech organs and the mechanisms
of speech will be provided since they are of fundamental importance in the utterance of sounds.
Secondly, a thorough analysis of the English consonants will be carried out. Finally, our last
part will be devoted to a contrastive analysis with the Spanish language.
In general, this study will be carried out from the perspective of relevant and influential
phoneticians, such as Daniel Jones or O'Connor who have provided a general but exhaustive
framework of the English phonological system, and have thrown light to the issue at stake.

1. THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM

1.1. Definition of Phonology and Phonetics
To begin with, a brief distinction between phonetics and phonology should be set forth in order
to determine which area of spoken English corresponds to each of branch.
Phonology deals with the study of the phonemes in a language system. Phonology studies the
phonic differences with difference in meaning and the rules according to which these are
combined to form significants. Its minimal unit, the phoneme, is represented between slashes
/.../. This, the phoneme, is an abstract representation in the speaker's mind (internal), which is

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physically realized by one or more allophones, represented in turn between square brackets [
].
Example: [l]: clear l: LADY
/l/ <
[1]: dark l: BALLOON
Phonetics is concerned with how speech sounds are produced in a given language. They are,
in fact, the concrete sounds or speech sounds of a language. Phonetics do not take into account
the relation they have with linguistic meaning, thus, phonetic differences are phonologically
irrelevant, if they have no effect on meaning.
1.2. The mechanisms of speech
It is important to note that when learning a foreign language, one should be conscious of the
point and manner of articulation of the sounds of that particular language, since they hardly
ever coincide with one's own language. Take, for example, the vowels of some different
languages. Spanish has five distinct vowel sounds, whereas English or French have twelve. The
learner of a new language must, therefore, realize that he is dealing with quite new sounds; he
must not be satisfied to continue to use any of the sounds of his own language unless he is
certain in each case that his own sound is exactly the same as that in the new language, and he
must not rest content until he has completely mastered all the new sounds. What is more, it
should be pointed out that learning a new set of sounds means forming a number of new habits.
In this sense, students will have t to put their speech organs into positions which are not used
in speaking their own language.
1.2.1. Speech Sounds: How are speech sounds made?
We use our tongue and lips, of course, but what is it that gives rise to the actual sound? However
much we may change the position and shape of our tongue, lips ..., that is not in itself sufficient
to produce any audible sound. Clearly, something else is needed. What happens in most cases
when we speak is that a stream of air is breathed out from the lungs, and this stream of air, when
passing through the narrow spaces in the human throat and mouth, makes a sound in the same
way as a strong wind blowing through a house will produce a rushing or howling noise. Now
the noise of the wind is not always the same: the wind sounds different when blowing through
a narrow crack and when blowing through a wider opening. In the same way, by modifying the
shape of the passage through which the air passes when we speak, we can make a number of
different sounds, in fact a surprising number. We can produce a new and distinct sound merely
by varying the passage slightly at one particular point, for instance, at the teeth or at the lips,
and there are a number of such points at which the course of the air stream may be varied.

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Together, the organs situated at these points constitute the speech organs, which shall be
developed in greater detail later on.
This process whereby speech sounds are produced can be divided into three different physical
stages:
- INITIATION: breathe in the air to produce the sound.
- PHONATION: the quality of the sound is made.
- ARTICULATION: the shaping of the sound is given.
1.2.2. Speech organs
Speech organs can be classified according to whether they are movable or flexible. While the
vocal cords, the soft palate, the tongue and the lips are movable, the other organs of speech are
fixed. The movable organs of speech can act independently of each other and their movements
can be combined in different ways. Consequently, it is possible to make a very large number of
different speech sounds. In any one language, however, the number of combinations is not very
large. Each organ of speech contributes to the formation of speech sounds:
1- nasal cavity
2- lips
3- teeth
4- aveolar ridge
5- hard palate
6- velum (soft palate)
7- uvula
8- apex (tip) of tongue
9- blade (front) of tongue
10- dorsum (back) of tongue
11- oral cavity
12- pharynx
13- epiglottis
14- larynx
15- vocal cords
16- trachea
17- esophagus

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• Lungs are like two bags, which can be enlarged and compressed by the muscles of the chest.
This happens regularly when we breathe: the air is drawn in and forced out through the tube
known as the windpipe. It is this stream of air used when we speak. Normally, it is only the
outgoing stream that is used, and consequently we have at times to stop and catch our breath.
• Larynx: the first point where it is possible to modify the air stream is at the top of the
windpipe, which ends in the larynx. Inside the larynx we can find the so-called vocal cords,
which can be brought together and place edge to edge in the middle of the air passage, or be
drawn apart leaving a wide opening between them. This opening is termed the glottis.
Therefore, the vocal cords can take up several positions, and in this way affect speech sounds:
voiceless, voiced, whisper and glottal stop.
• Soft palate: the soft palate can take up two positions; when the passage to the nose is open,
the soft palate is raised to touch the back wall of the pharynx. When the palate is raised, all the
air from the windpipe escapes through the mouth, giving rise to oral sounds; when the palate is
lowered and the passage to the nose is open, the air can escape either entirely through the nose
(if the mouth passage is closed), or through the nose and mouth. The lowering of the soft palate
gives rise to nasal or nasalized sounds. Its function, therefore, is to close or open the passage to
the nose, to close it for the production of those sounds, which are not nasal, and to open it for
the nasal sounds.
• The tongue is capable of making many movements, and consequently of modifying the breath
stream in numerous ways. It is used in the articulation of many of the consonants, when it either
blocks the air passage through the mouth at some point or other, or narrows it so that friction is
heard.
• The lips can articulate sounds themselves, and their movement can be combined with that of
other organs of speech in the formation of both consonants and vowels. They can take up
different positions, such as rounded, unrounded, neutral or spread.
1.3. Classification of speech sounds
Speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants, the main difference being one of
sonority; vowels are those sounds which have most carrying power.
Vowel is a voiced sound in the pronunciation of which the air passes through the mouth in a
continuous stream, there being no obstruction and no narrowing such as would produce audible
friction. All other sounds are consonants.
Consonant is a sound accompanied or unaccompanied by voice, in which there is either a
complete or a partial obstruction, which prevents the air from issuing freely from the mouth.
For the purpose of recording speech sounds, without fear of ambiguity, it is necessary to

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make use of a phonetic alphabet, that is to say, an alphabet based on the principle of one
letter per phoneme. Without such an alphabet, an accurate description and record of
speech usages would be clumsy and awkward, and liable to misinterpretation. It should be
remembered, however, that a phonetic alphabet is not phonetics, nor does it teach sounds.
It is a most useful, in fact, almost indispensable accompaniment of phonetics, in that by
means of it, a ready way is found of writing down the pronunciation of individual words, and
of showing with fair accuracy and without ambiguity how sounds are used in connected
speech.
Various phonetic alphabetic notations are in use. Yet, the most widely accepted alphabet is
the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. As a matter of fact, over the course of this unit,
this alphabet will be used for the record of consonants.

2. CONSONANTS
2.1. Classification
Consonants are classified according to the organs articulating them and according to the
manner of their articulation1. This double classification lends itself to a useful diagrammatic
form, the terms along the top of the diagram giving the organs by which they are
articulated, and those down the side the manner in which they are articulated. These
criteria, point and manner of articulation, help phoneticians study and classify consonants
in an accurate way.
a. According to POINT OF ARTICULATION, consonants can be:
• Labial: labial sounds can be bilabial, when the lips are put together, or labio-dental, when
the upper teeth rest on the lower lip.
• Dental: sounds, which are articulated by the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge.
• Alveolar: sounds uttered with the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge.
• Post-alveolar: the tip of the tongue touches against the back part of the teeth ridge.
• Palato-alveolar: these consonants are articulated by the blade of the tongue against the
teeth ridge with a simultaneous rising of the main body of the tongue towards the roof of
the mouth.
• Palatal: the front of the tongue touches the hard palate
• Velar: the back of the tongue touches against the central and forward part of the soft

1
Another way of classifying consonants is taking into account the vocal cords, thus, voiced and voiceless
consonants.

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palate.
• Glottal: sound articulated with the glottis.
b. According to MANNER OF ARTICULATION2, consonants can be:
• Plosive: These consonants are made by the stoppage of the air passage at some point. The
air compressed behind the stop rushes out with a slight explosion when the stop is released.
Thus, a plosive consists of: a stop, a hold, and some sound, which follows the release.
• Affricate: a plosive consonant can be pronounced with either quick or slow separation of the
articulating organs. If a slow separation is made, there is no noticeable explosion, but on the
release of the stop, a fricative consonant is heard. Such a method of articulating plosives gives
rise to what are called affricative consonants.
• Nasal: nasal consonants are formed by closing the mouth passage at some point, and at the
same time lowering the soft palate, so that the air can escape through the nose. In English there
are normally three nasal consonants: /m, n, q/.
• Lateral: the English /l/ is termed a lateral consonant because the air passage is stopped in the
centre by the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge, the air escaping along one or both sides
of the tongue.
• Rolled: the rolled r is made by a rapid succession of taps of the tongue-tip against the teeth—
ridge. It is common in northern dialects and in Scotland.
• Flapped: the tongue rapidly touches the alveolar ridge with a single tap, which resemble a
rolled /r/. Normally used at the beginning of unstressed syllables.
• Fricative: they are formed by narrowing the mouth passage at some point, so that the air,
forcing its way through, makes a rubbing sound. It is possible to make fricative consonants with
the same articulating organs as the plosives.
• Frictionless continuant: articulated very much like a fricative, but friction does not
accompany the production of the sound. The tip of the tongue slightly touches the back of the
alveolar ridge, while the body of the tongue is low in the mouth. It is referred to the principal
English /r/.

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This is a rather long classification of consonants taking into account the manner of articulation. Yet, this
could be reduced to a much simpler classification which only includes: PLOSIVE, AFFRICATE,
FRICATIVE, NASAL, LATERAL, APPROXIMANT or SEMIVOWEL. Approximants include
semivowels and liquids - produced in the alveolar and post-alveolar area and include several variants of the
lateral /l/ and of the rhotic /r/. The rhotic /r/ include several variants: frictionless, flapped and rolled, as
pointed out above.

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• Semi-vowel: they may be defined as a gliding sound, which the tongue starts in the position
of a close or half-close vowel and immediately leaves that position to take up one belonging to
a more open vowel. There are two semivowels in English, /w/ and /j/.
It is possible to combine the movements of the vocal cords with the articulation of any
consonant: i.e. consonants can be voiced, or they can be voiceless. In most languages, there
occur numbers of pairs of consonants, articulated by lips, tongue, teeth, etc., in exactly the same
way, and differing in the presence or absence of voice (p, b, f v, 8 5, s z, etc.)
Many consonants (such as m, n, q, r, l) have only their voiced form as usual speech sounds of
English. These can be pronounced, however, without voice, and the student is advised to
practise this as a good phonetic exercise. It should also be noticed that voiceless consonants
require more force of exhalation than voiced consonants and are articulated with greater vigour;
there is a tighter closure for the plosives and a sharper release, and for the fricatives a smaller
opening. To test the difference in breath force hold the hand before the mouth while /9/ and /S/
(or /f/ and /v/ or /p/ and /b/) are pronounced alternative.
The voiced consonants in English in initial and final positions are not fully voiced; i.e. in initial
position the vibration of the vocal cords do not begin immediately the consonant is formed, but
some way through the articulation; in final positions, the vibrations cease before the consonant
is finished.

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1.4.2. Description
■ PLOSIVES

Perhaps plosives are the easiest sounds to teach and learn in an English-Spanish second
language course. Plosives are defined as consonant sounds, which involve, first, a stricture of
the mouth that allows no air to escape from the vocal tract and, second, the compression and
release of the air. Therefore, there are four phases in the production of plosives: closure, hold,
release and post-release.
English has six plosive consonants, p, t, k, b, d, g. /p/ and /b/ are bilabial, that is, the lips are
pressed together. /t/ and /d/ are alveolar, so the tongue is pressed against the alveolar ridge. /k/
and /g/ are velar; the back of the tongue is pressed against an intermediate area between the
hard and the soft palate.
/p/, /t/ and /k/ are voiceless. /b/, /d/ and /g/ are normally voiced. The release of the voiceless
plosives is followed by audible plosion and, in the post-release phase, by an aspiration.
Therefore, the most noticeable difference between the voiceless and the voiced plosives is this
aspiration. In Vowel-Consonant position, the vowels preceding the voiceless plosives are much
shorter.
• Voiceless plosives
The English voiceless plosives are said to be aspirated, i.e., on the release of the stop a slight
h is heard before the following vowel, e.g. park is [pha:k]; this aspiration is marked in stressed,
but not in unstressed positions: thus, ten is [thsn], but in letter ['lets], the aspiration is very slight.
• Incomplete plosives
A plosive is said to have three parts, but in English there are some cases in which all the three
parts are not made, when the stop alone in formed, but no release. This occurs when two plosive
consonants follow each other: in act, stopped, doctor [aekt], [stopt], ['dokts], the first plosive in
each pair is not exploded. The same thing happens when the first plosive is at the end of one
word and the second at the beginning of another, e.g. [top boi]. When the two consonants are
the same, as in black cat, good dog, they form a long stop with one release. When three plosives
follow each other, in conversational speech, it is possible for the last one only to receive its full
plosion: an apt boy, a baked tart.

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• Nasal plosion
In the pronunciation of such words as button, hidden, shopman, oatmeal, the plosive consonant
is immediately followed by a nasal consonant, and the plosive is not exploded in the normal
way. While the tongue or lips remain in the position for the plosive, the soft palate is lowered
to allow the air to pass through the nose. The plosion that is heard and felt is made by the air
rushing out through the nose, on the lowering of the soft palate. This is called nasal plosion.
Examples of nasal plosion are found in the following words: Sidney, baken, open, and the
phrases good night, good morning, black magic.
• Lateral plosion
When a plosive is followed by an /l/ sound, the explosion is made by the sides of the tongue
leaving the upper teeth and the air rushing out along the sides of the tongue: e.g. little, muddle.
This is called lateral plosion. The same kind of plosion occurs when one word ends in a plosive
and the next begins with /l/: eg.: a bad light, a big lake.
• The glottal stop as in bu'er, wa'er, mar'in.
The glottal stop is used in all parts of the country to replace other plosive consonants. This
tendency, probably of long standing, seems to be growing. It is normally used in the following
cases: for the sake of emphasis, when a stressed syllable begins with a vowel, a glottal stop is
introduced before it.

■ FRICATIVES AND AFFRICATES

Fricatives are characterised by a "hissing" sound, which is produced by the air escaping
through a small passage in the mouth. Affricates begin as plosives and end as fricatives. These
are homorganic sounds, that is, the same articulator produces both sounds, the plosive and the
fricative. The English fricative consonants are: /f, v, 8, 6, s z, J, Z, h/.
/h/ is a glottal fricative, i.e., the air passes through the glottis, and slight friction occurs between
the open vocal cords. A further element is the sudden expulsion of the air from the lungs, and
frequently some friction can be heard in the mouth after the sudden jerk. /h/ varies according
to the vowel which follows it, i.e. for the word hard, the tongue is in the position of /a:/ while

9
the /h/ is being pronounced, for /hud/ it is in the position of /u/, for /hi:d/ in the position of /i:/:
i.e. the /h/ is these words is similar to the unvoiced vowels.
Dropping one's h's is regarded as a sign of lack of education. Voiceless fricatives have the effect
of shortening the preceding vowel, in the same way as voiceless plosives.
Affricative consonants:

An affricate is a plosive consonant in which the articulating organs are separated less quickly
than in the case of normal plosives, with the result that the corresponding fricative is heard
momentarily as the organs separate. To every plosive, a corresponding affricate can be made,
and the students are recommended to try to pronounce as many as he can. In English, however,
[t9], [ts], [tj], [tr], are the only ones that occur normally. E.g.: eighth, width, eats, beds, lunch,
bridge, tree, draw.
■ NASALS

The basic feature of a nasal is that the air escapes through the nose and the main difference
between the three types of nasals is the point where the air is stopped in the mouth. In this sense,
there are three types of nasals: bilabial /m/, alveolar /n/ and velar / rj /. This last velar sound
never occurs in initial position; in medial position, it may appear with or without a /g/ sound,
depending on whether it occurs at the end of a morpheme or not. If it occurs in the middle of a
morpheme, it has a following /g/. In final position the preceding rule is observed.
The difference between plosives and nasals lies in the fact that the position of the soft palate,
which is lowered for the nasal consonants and raised for the plosives. Nasal consonants are
often syllabic, i.e., they form the most sonorous element of a syllable: kitchen, heaven, iron,
spoken.
The nasal consonants are extremely susceptible to the influence of other neighbouring sounds.
/m, n, r/ undergo different changes: nasal consonants often influence the plosives articulated in
the same place, e.g. in kindness, the /d/, influenced by the preceding and following /n/, is
replaced by /n/ and then readily disappears. In handsome, the /d/ has been dropped under the
influence of the /n/. The letters -ng, pronounced as /j/ in words like singer, singing, are
pronounced /jg/ in the Midlands.

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■ LATERAL CONSONANTS
A lateral consonant is one in which air escapes from the mouth along the sides of the tongue.
The only additional information about the lateral /l/ is the existence of a clear /l/ at initial
position and a dark /l/, when it is final or medial preceding a consonant. The dark /l/ is similar
to an /u/ vowel. The terms clear and dark /l/ are descriptive of the acoustic effect of the sounds
and not a technical or scientific name; the correct phonetic terms are "palatalized" and
"velarized".
It is possible to make /l/, which is the most sonorous of all the consonants with the resonance
of any vowel. The English clear /l/ has a /a/ resonance tending towards /i/, the dark /l/ has a /u/
resonance. Many speaker use a kind of mid /l/ instead of a dark /l/, i.e., with an /a/ instead of a
/u/ resonance. This is particular noticeable in Northerners. Like the nasal sounds, /l/ is often
syllabic. E.g.: little, thimble. This is the symbol used: /!/.
■ APPROXIMANT /r/

The approximant /r/ is produced by the tip of the tongue approaching the alveolar area but it
never touches it. Besides, the tongue is slightly curled backwards with the tip raised (this is
called to be "retroflex").
In RP, this sound only occurs before vowels. However, many accents of English do pronounce
/r/ after vowels. This is the difference between non-rhotic and rhotic accents. There are different
kinds of /r/ sounds:
- The rolled /r/ described above.
- A semi-rolled or one-tap /r/, consisting of one tap of the tongue.
- A fricative /r/ is used in many parts of the country in position where an /r/ is sounded at all. It
is the usual initial /r/.
- An "inverted" /r/, i.e., a fricative made with the tongue-tip curled up considerably, is used
finally and before consonants, especially in Ireland and America.
- Linking /r/ in spelling occurs at the end of a word or phrase: give me some more, here not
there. But when such a word is followed by another word in close connection with it, beginning
with a vowel, the /r/ is introduced by many speakers: give me some more /mo:r/ of it.
- Intrusive /r/ where none exists in spelling is very frequently inserted between two words, the
one ending and the next beginning with a vowel, in order to avoid what is felt to be an awkward

11
hiatus. This is partly due to the false analogy with the linking /r/. e.g.: I've no idea of it /aidiar
av it/.
■ SEMIVOWELS: l\l and /w/

These two sounds are phonetically vowels but phonologically consonants. That is, phonetically
they are pronounced as /i:/ and /u:/ but a little bit shorter. /w/ has a double articulation; the
primary formation is that the lips are rounded and pushed forward; at the same time, the back
of the tongue is raised towards the /u/ position.
Voiceless /w/ (represented as an inverted w / /) is used by many people who distinguish w from
wh in words like witch, which. Another method of pronouncing wh is to prefix /h/, i.e. /hw/. In
Scotland and many parts of the North this distinction is regularly made, and by individual
speakers in al parts of the country.
For the semivowel /j/ the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, and immediately
leaves this position to take up that of the vowel, which follows it. The voiceless glide
corresponding to /j/ is often heard in the pronunciation of words like human, huge.

2. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE

PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
Following, both the English and Spanish phonological systems will be compared. This brief
contrastive analysis will help teachers with their instruction and students understand the
differences and similarities between both languages. Therefore, this will help them achieve a
more accurate pronunciation and use of the language.
Accordingly, the phonetic tables of the main English and Spanish consonantal articulations
should be compared (see appendix):
• In Spanish, plosive consonants are not aspirated, unlike English.
• Voiced plosives /b, d, g/ between vowels are not fricative as in Spanish. Compare the
following set of words: agua-again; dedo-addition; abuelo-about.
• The English phoneme /J/ does not exist in Spanish; yet, in some southern areas it is used
instead of the Spanish affricate -ch.
• There are some English clusters, which do not exist in Spanish: st-, sk-, sp- as in student,
school, Spanish.

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As for the vowels, Spanish has a smaller range of vowels phonetically speaking (5 vowels,
whereas English has 12). Moreover, there are no half-close / open vowels. But, most important
of all, Spanish vowels lack quantity; there are no long or short vowels in our language.
Regarding diphthongs, one major difference has already been put forward: Spanish diphthongs
can be falling or rising, and the glide is completed. On the contrary, English diphthongs are
falling and the glide is not completed.
From a prosodic point of view, the major difference lies in the fact that English is a stress-timed
language, whereas Spanish is a syllable-timed language.

3. CONCLUSION
All in all, the main features of the English phonological system, regarding consonants, have
been pointed out. It is a field of study which, although much research has been done on it,
continues developing in association with Sociolinguistics; the different pronunciation of the
vowels gives rise to the different dialects, but not exclusively, thus, its importance. Students
should be exposed to different variations of the language because RP is not spoken that much,
not even on TV as it was previously done.
The pronunciation of consonants also has an impact on dialects, specially regarding cockney.
As mentioned throughout this paper, it is important to note that being conscious of the point
and manner of articulation of sounds is a first step when learning new sounds. Thus, its

13
importance in the second language lesson. A contrastive analysis also serves an important role
in this respect.
This is a very complex field for Spanish students since they have to recognize and master a
number of sounds, which are strange to them. In this sense, special attention should be paid to
this arena, listening, recognizing and practising those particular sounds in context. Many and
varied activities can be exploited in the second language lesson, which range from recognizing
individual sounds to working with songs.

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