THE

CONSONANT SOUNDS

Consonant Sounds

Consonant sounds are sounds produced when there is a constriction of the vocal tract at some
points, such that it impedes or hinders the flow of air in the oral cavity (mouth). In other
words. consonant sounds are speech sounds produced by blocking the flow of outflowing air
through contact with some speech organs. Consonant sounds according to Roach (2002:17)
are sounds that obstruct the flow of air through the vocal tract. According to him. some of
such sounds obstruct the flow of air a lot, some not very much, while those which make the
maximum obstruction (i.e. plosives, which form a complete stoppage of the airstream) are the
most consonantal. O'Connor (1980:24) argues that consonants are more important than
vowels in English because they form the bones, the skeleton of English words and give them
their basic shape. They are produced with the air which originates from the lungs called
"pulmonic egressive air". The air passes through the vocal tract. Consonant sounds are so
called because they are articulated. By this, we mean two or more speech organs usually
come together or in contact with each other in the production of a speech sound before the
speech sound could be said to have been articulated. On the other hand, there is a process of
articulating each of these consonant sounds.

There are twenty four (24) consonants sounds in English language. Each of these consonants
has its mode of articulation. The three major parameters used in describing consonant sounds
include:

State of the Glottis

Place of Articulation
Manner of Articulation

Describing the Consonant Sounds Using the Three Parameters

Description of the English consonant sounds

Place of articulation
The place of articulation refers to the point/place where articulation takes place in the vocal
tract. Technically, it can be seen as the point where the constriction is made. It is the point
where the greatest constriction occurs in the buccal cavity. In other words, it has to do with
the parts of the human speech organs that come together or approach one another in the
production of a sound. With the place of articulation, the English consonants have been
categorized into eight groups,, which include;

Labio-dental sounds
Glottal sound.
Bilabial sounds
Inter-dental sounds
Alveolar sounds
Palato-Alveolar sounds
Palatal sound
Velar sounds

Bilabial sounds: Bilabial sounds are sounds produced when the upper and the lower lips
come in contact or articulate with each other. Their articulation usually involves complete
closure at the lips. In actual fact, 'bi' means 'two' while 'labio' means 'lips', that is it involves
the two lips. Examples of bilabial sounds are; /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/.

Labio-dental sounds: The word 'labio' as earlier said means 'lips' and 'dental' means 'teeth'.
In other words, labio-dental sounds are sounds produced as a result of the interaction between
the upper teeth and the lower lip. Examples of labio-dental sounds are: /f/ and /vl.

Dental/inter-dental sounds: These are consonant sounds made when the tongue interacts
with the teeth. By 'inter' we mean 'between', while 'dental' as earlier said means 'teeth'.
Therefore. inter-dental sounds are sounds made when the tip of the tongue is placed between
the upper and the lower teeth. while air escapes through the slit-like passage formed. They
are orthographically represented as 'th'. They include // and /o/. As observed by Clark. et al
(2007:39), the sound /n/ may also be called a dental sound if it appears immediately after any
of /e/ and /o/, as in 'month'.
Alveolar: These are sounds produced with complete blockage at the point where the tip of
the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge. This occurs in sounds like /t/ and /d/. In
producing the sounds /s/ and /z/, the air stream is closed off at the sides of the tongue while
the passage of air is allowed only through a narrow groove or constriction over the centre of
the tongue. Also. with /1/ sound, the blade of the tongue is placed against the alveolar ridge.
 Palato-alveolar/Post alveolar sounds: These are sounds produced when the blade of the
tongue makes contact with the back of the alveolar ridge which is located right before the
hard palate. In other words, it is the point between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.
During the production of palato-alveolar sounds. the tip of the tongue may be kept down, that
is behind the lower front teeth or may be up near the alveolar ridge; but the blade of the
tongue is always close to the back part of the alveolar ridge. For a distinct practice, try to
assume the position you take while taking a breath through the mouth; it would be observed
that the incoming air will cool the blade of the tongue and the back part of the alveolar ridge.
The constriction causes the friction associated with the sounds. They are /3/ and /f/

Palatal sounds: Palatal sounds are sounds made at the forward part of the roof of the vocal
tract. In other words, a palatal sound is made when the tongue make contact with the hard
palate. The palatal sound is made when the front of the tongue is raised and extended towards
the hard palate while the sides of the mouth are curved to form a grooved shape. A prominent
example of palatal sounds is /j/ as in 'yes'. Most speakers of English also advance the example
of /k/ especially when it appears before a front vowel, for example as in 'keep'. Following
Clark, et al (2007:40), phoneticians differ in the distinction, definition and description of the
alveolar, palato-alveolar and palatal sounds. We wish to add retroflex to this list. The reason
for these differences is not far from the view that human beings, generally, somewhat differ
in the anatomy of this region.

Velar sounds: These are sounds made when the back of the tongue makes contact with the
soft palate or the velum. When the back of the tongue is placed against the velum (soft
palate). there is a complete closure of the oral cavity. They include /k/. /g/ and/n/.

Glottal sound: The glottis plays the most central role in the phonation process and equally
functions as an articulator. A glottal sound is produced at the glottis. This sound is produced
when there is constriction at the glottis resulting in the friction which accompanies it. The
only glottal sound in English is /h/.

Manner of Articulation
The manner of articulation refers to the extent of a constriction in the vocal tract in the course
of producing a consonant sound. The process of articulating a sound with the speech organs
in the articulatory chamber is termed "manner of articulation". In other words, it deals with
how a sound is articulated. It primarily implies the type of constrictions technically
(structures) made by the articulatory organs to produce the sounds. The manner of
articulation takes into account the degree or extent of obstruction to the airstream in the vocal
tract. It also considers how the articulators interact to modify the airstream during the
production of a consonant sound. It includes:
(i) Stop/plosive

(ii) Fricative

(iii) Affricate

(v) Lateral

(vi) Nasal

Stops/plosives: Stop sounds are sounds produced when there is a total constriction or
blockage of the airstream, that is when the airstream is completely stopped; and this is
followed by a sudden release of air. The production of stops involves bringing two
articulators together so much that they create a complete stoppage of air which is followed by
an abrupt or a sudden release of air. This explains why Clark et al (2007) termed this as
dynamic articulation. The complete closure in the production of stops takes place in any part
of the vocal tract between the glottis and the lips. It is interesting to note that there is a
variation in the actual quality of the release burst which accompanies stop consonants. This is
obviously determined by the place of articulation of the consonant and the phonation mode at
the time of production. The release burst" earlier mentioned is a very short but sharp pulse of
turbulence, that is turbulent airflow which passes through the narrow aperture of the parting
articulators (see Clark et al. 2007: 44). Stop consonants are either oral or nasal. The action of
the soft palate or the velum brings about the difference between oral and nasal stops. In the
production of oral stops, there is velic closure. that is the velum is raised such that it prevents
the airstream from escaping through the nasal cavity, hence the airflow only has a free
passage through the oral cavity. Therefore, pressure is built up in the mouth such that the air
rushes out of the mouth when there is a sudden opening or parting of the articulators. Oral
stops are regarded as plosives because of the kind of plosion involved in their production. On
the other hand, in the case of nasal stops, there is a velic opening, that is the velum is lowered
such that the air passage to the oral cavity is blocked, hence the airstream only escapes
through the nasal cavity. However, there is no pressure involved in this situation; hence they
are not called plosives. There are basically six plosive sounds in English. They include /p/,
/b/, /t/, /d/. /k/ and /g/.
Stops/plosives: Stop sounds are sounds produced when there is a total constriction or
blockage of the airstream, that is when the airstream is completely stopped; and this is
followed by a sudden release of air. The production of stops involves bringing two
articulators together so much that they create a complete stoppage of air which is followed by
an abrupt or a sudden release of air. This explains why Clark et al (2007) termed this as
dynamic articulation. The complete closure in the production of stops takes place in any part
of the vocal tract between the glottis and the lips. It is interesting to note that there is a
variation in the actual quality of the release burst which accompanies stop consonants. This is
obviously determined by the place of articulation of the consonant and the phonation mode at
the time of production. The release burst earlier mentioned is a very short but sharp pulse of
turbulence. that is turbulent airflow which passes through the narrow aperture of the parting
articulators (see Clark et al. 2007: 44). Stop consonants are either oral or nasal. The action of
the soft palate or the velum brings about the difference between oral and nasal stops. In the
production of oral stops, there is velic closure. that is the velum is raised such that it prevents
the airstream from escaping through the nasal cavity, hence the airflow only has a free
passage through the oral cavity. Therefore, pressure is built up in the mouth such that the air
rushes out of the mouth when there is a sudden opening or parting of the articulators. Oral
stops are regarded as plosives because of the kind of plosion involved in their production. On
the other hand, in the case of nasal stops, there is a velic opening, that is the velum is lowered
such that the air passage to the oral cavity is blocked, hence the airstream only escapes
through the nasal cavity. However, there is no pressure involved in this situation; hence they
are not called plosives. There are basically six plosive sounds in English. They include /p/,
/b/, /t/. /d/, /k/ and /g/.
Fricatives: Fricative sounds are sounds produced with an extreme narrowing of the air
passage at the point of production or articulation. The passage is narrow enough that the air
forces its way through, that is to escape, thereby creating turbulence and air friction noise or
audible friction. In the production of fricatives. the constriction must be relatively small, that
is there must not be a total stoppage of air; rather there should be a partial restriction of air.
Nevertheless, the airflow should be rapid. Fricatives in general have a characteristic hissing
quality or sibilant quality which depends on the modification that the noise of the turbulent
airflow is subjected to. Just like stops, fricatives do not have the same quality all through. The
actual quality of a fricative consonant is determined by three factors. that is place of
articulation, the shape of the constriction and the aerodynamic forces of the airstream (see
Clark et al. 2007: 45). There are nine fricative sounds in English. They include /f/. Ivl, Isl. Izl.
13, IS/. /O/, /8/ and/h/. According to Ladefoged (1975), the sounds (/s/, Izl. 13/. /S/) are called
sibilants sounds because they have more acoustic energy, that is greater loudness at a higher
pitch than the other fricatives.

Affricates: Affricate sounds could be described as sounds with a combination of stop and
fricative features. In the production of an affricate sound, one first observes total stoppage of
air as done in stops and this is followed by a gradual release as characterised by the rapid
airflow found in fricatives. There are two affricate sounds in English. They are /tf/ and /d3/.
Roach (2002:40) remarks that it is often difficult to decide whether any particular
combination of a plosive plus a fricative should be classed as a single affricate sound or as
two separate sounds, and the question depends on whether these are to be regarded as
separate phonemes or not.

Approximants: In the production of approximants, there is often a stable articulation which

has a greater constriction than is the case with vowels. In the production of approximants. one
articulator approaches the other; the constriction is not great enough to produce turbulent
airflow. In other words, approximants are sounds produced when one articulator approaches
the other. but without the tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is
produced. Ladefoged (1975) says the term approximant' could be used to cover 'frictionless
continuant. 'semi-vowel and oral resonant Nevertheless, Roach (2002) opines that it has been
traditionally divided into two groups: semi- vowels and liquids. The semi-vowels include
the /w/ in English 'wet' and /j/ in English 'yet', which are very similar to close vowels such as
[u] and [i] but are produced as a rapid glide. The liquids are sounds which have an
identifiable constriction of the airflow but not one that is sufficiently obstructive to produce
fricative noise, compression or the diversion of airflow through another part of the vocal tract
as in nasals. Specifically, in the production of /w/, the two lips articulate together while the
back of the tongue simultaneously moves towards the direction of the velum. In the case of
/j/, the front of the tongue nearly approaches the hard palate. Approximants therefore are
never fricatives and never contain interruptions to the flow of air. Clark et al (2007) give the
consonants /l/ /w/ and /j/ as observed in the words 'law'. 'war', 'your' respectively as
approximants in the wider sense.

Nasals: Nasal sounds are produced when the air is completely blocked/stopped in the
articulatory chamber and forced to pass through the nasal cavity. In the production, the velum
is lowered and the oral cavity is closed off at some points. The only escape route for the air is
therefore the nasal cavity. The stoppage of air is not enough to pass the sounds for plosives,
especially since the sounds are perceived as potentially stable and continuous. The English
nasal sounds are: /m/. /n/ and /n/
Lateral: This refers to the obstruction of the airstream at a point along the centre of the oral
cavity. The lateral sound is produced by raising the tongue against the roof of the buccal
cavity subsequently hindering the air stream at the centre of the mouth. nonetheless leaving
free passage on the sides of the tongue for air to escape. The only lateral sound in English is //
as in "lip'.

State of the Glottis

State of the glottis explains the state in which the human glottis assumes when consonant
sounds are produced. It expresses what happens to the glottis and the vocal cords when the
sounds are produced. At the level of the state of the glottis, speech sounds can either be
voiced or voiceless. Hence, the consonant sounds are subdivided into two. These are

(i) Voiced sounds

(ii) Voiceless sounds.

Voiced sounds: Voiced sounds are sounds produced when the vocal cords vibrate in the
course of their production. In other words, some English consonants are voiced sounds. There
are fifteen voiced sounds in English. They include /b/, /d/, /g/. /j /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, /w/ /l/,/n/ /r/

6.2.1.3.2 Voiceless sounds: Voiceless sounds are sounds produced when the vocal cords do
not vibrate in the course of their production. In other words, some English consonants are
produced when the vocal cords do not shake while producing them. These sounds are termed;
"voiceless sounds". There are nine voiceless sounds in English. They include /t/, /k/, /p/, /f/.
/s/. //. /h/, /t/. /e/

SECONDARY ARTICULATORY FEATURES

Secondary Articulatory Features are features that have to do with the articulatory
modification of sounds in connected speech. They are otherwise regarded as assimilation
processes. The feature occurs when a sound is changed into another because of the influence
of the surrounding sound(s). Secondary articulation is an articulation with a lesser degree of
closure occurring at the same time as another (primary) articulation.

Aspiration: This refers to the puff/outburst of air that accompanies the articulation of
voiceless stops, that is [p. t. k] when they occur in word initial positions or syllable initials in
pre- vocalic contexts, that is when they precede vowel sounds. Aspiration is indicated by
placing a raised letter [h], that is ["] after the affected or the aspirated sound.

Figure 1

However, there are exceptions to this rule. When the voiceless stops are preceded by the
voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, the voiceless stops cannot be aspirated as we have in sport,
skin, store etc.

Labialization: This occurs when the articulation of a consonant sound is accompanied by

rounding of the lips and the raising of the back of the tongue as in the production of a high
back vowel. When this occurs, it gives the affected sound, that is the labialised sound a w-
like quality. This is indicated by placing a raised [w], that is ["] after the affected sound. It is
mostly realised after /t/ and /k/. However, we may also realise it after others such as /d/.
Figure 2

Palatalization: This involves extending or raising the body of the tongue in to the front high
position to give a j-like quality. It is the addition of a high front tongue position to another
articulation. It is realised when the affected consonant sound is followed by the palatal
glide /j/ and this is indicated by writing [j] immediately after the affected consonant sound.

Figure 3

Velarization: This involves raising the back of the tongue towards the velum in the
articulation of the final // sound in a given word. The lateral /l/ sound in English has two
contextual variants called the clear-1 [l] and the dark-1[ł]. The /l/ that is involved in the
articulatory process called velarization is the dark- [1]. It occurs at syllable final position and
it is only realised after consonant sounds, that is mainly after the consonants /t. k. p. g/

Figure 4

Syllabification: This is realised through a vowel or vowel-like articulation which forms the
syllabic peak. that is that forms the nucleus of a syllable. In other words, it is realised when a
consonant sound that has a vowel-like quality takes the position of the peak. A syllabic peak
can be formed by lateral sound/ and the alveolar nasal /n/. It is indicated by putting a stroke
[.] under the affected sound.

Figure 5

Nasalisation: This is realised when a non-nasal sound is nasalized, that is when it is

articulated with the lowering of the soft palate. It is mainly realised when a vowel sound
occurs between two nasal sounds or when a vowel precedes or follows a nasal consonant. The
diacritic mark used in representing this is [~]

Figure 6

Dentalization: This is a phonetic process which occurs when a non-dental sound becomes
dentalised. The sounds that are usually affected by this are mostly alveolar sounds. It occurs
when the voiceless dental fricative /o/ follows an alveolar sound, which may be the voiceless
alveolar plosive /t/. The alveolar sound becomes dentalised. The diacritic mark used in
representing it is small letter 'n', that is [] placed beneath the dentalised sound.

Figure 7

Devoicing: This is the phonetic process involved in rendering a voiced sound voiceless. In
other words, as a result of the environment where the voiced sound occurs, it becomes
devoiced. For instance, when the sounds /1/ and /r/ occur after a voiceless stop, they become
devoiced and are realised as voiceless. The diacritic used in representing this is [.].

Figure 8

Voicing: This is a feature of the voiceless stops. When voiceless stop consonants occur
between vowels, the voice quality changes, hence, they become voiced.

Figure 9

T
HE PHONEME

The Phoneme According to Jones (1931:74), a phoneme is a family of sounds in a given

language which consists of an important sound of the language together with other related
sounds, which take its place in particular sound - sequences'. In Gimson's (1980:43) view, 'a
phoneme is an abstract linguistic unit which can bring about a change in meaning. It can be
seen as a minimal unit of sound which is capable of distinguishing words of different
meanings. It is a fundamental unit of phonology. It can also be seen as the smallest
contrastive linguistic unit which may bring about a change in meaning. Roach (1997:38) says
phonemes are abstract. In the same vein, Durand (1992:7) says with phonemes, we operate
from a fair degree of abstraction from real sounds by thinking of contrasting units at a given
position within words. A phoneme can therefore equally be seen as an abstract unit which is
only realised by the system of occurrence of its members called allophones. According to
Roach(2002:57) the most widely accepted view is that phonemes are contrastive and one
must find cases where the difference between two words is dependent on the difference
between two phonemes: for example, we can prove that the difference between 'pen' and 'pan'
depends on the vowel, and that /e/ and /a/ are different phonemes. Another example can be
found in the words bit and pit. The sounds /b/ and /p/ belong to different phonemes since they
bring about a change in meaning. A phoneme can therefore also be seen as a contrastive or
distinctive sound within a language (Clark et al, 2007: 93).
 Allophones: Another word which often accompanies the word 'phoneme' is 'allophone'.
What is an allophone? Allophones are class-members of a phoneme. They are variants of a
phoneme. Accoding to Jolayemi et al (2010:84), an allophone is an "ally of phone". In other
words, an allophone is a phoneme that shares similarities of pronunciation with a phoneme.
More technically. allophones are phonemes, which share a variety of pronunciations with a
common phoneme. These varieties are determined by phonetic circumstances such as types
of words, morphemes or positions. Ashby and Maidment (2005:189) define an allophone as
"A speech sound considered as a positional variant of a phoneme". In other words, allophones
are the different realisations of a phoneme, for instance, the phoneme /t/ has at least two
variants, that is the aspirated t = [t"] as we have in the word tick, that is [t'ik] and the
unaspirated t = [t] as we have in the word set, that is [set]. These are two different allophones
which belong to the same phoneme. Another example is found in the words 'tray' and 'ray'.
the two /r/ sounds are very different - the /r/ in 'ray' is voiced and non-fricative, while the /r/
sound in 'tray' is voiceless and fricative. Nevertheless, the two types of /r/ here, that is the
voiceless and the voiced are allophones of the same /r/ variant.
Minimal Pairs: A minimal pair is constituted by pairs of words which differ by just one
sound and have different meanings. In establishing the set of phonemes of a language, it is
usual to demonstrate the independent. contrastive nature of a phoneme by citing pairs of
words which differ in one sound only and have different meanings (Roach 2002:49), this is a
function of the minimal pairs. If two phonetically similar sounds occur in the same phonetic
environment: and the substitution of one for the other results in a difference in meaning, then
the sounds are assigned to different phonemes. Yule (1996:56) explains minimal pairs thus:
when two words such as pat and bat are identical in form except for a contrast in one
phoneme. occurring in the same position, the two words are described as a minimal pair".
The point of difference could be observed at the initial (e.g. pin/bin). medial (rapid/rabid) or
final stage (rip/rib). Hocket (1942) says that minimal pairs are the delight of an analyst and he
seeks them whenever there is any hope of finding them. Minimal set can be seen as a group
of words which differ by just a sound. thereby bringing about a difference in meaning.
According to Yule (1996:57). "when a group of words can be differentiated, each one from
the others. by changing one phoneme (always in the same position). then we have a minimal
set. For example
(a) pill. kill, fill, bill

(b) fat. mat. sat. bat

(c) bed, bud, bad, I bid

(d) pit, pill, pin, pig