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Unit 6: Consonants and Its Phonetic Transcription

Fricatives involve letting the air slide through a narrow opening in the mouth. They can be prolonged Notes
for some time. The air is not completely blocked.
If you make the narrow opening with your bottom lip against your top teeth, you are producing a
labiodental (lip-tooth) fricative. The voiced labiodental fricative is the initial consonant of veer. The
unvoiced labiodental fricative is the initial consonant of fear.
If you make that opening with your tongue against your top teeth, you produce a dental fricative.
The voiced dental fricative is the initial consonant of though. The unvoiced dental fricative is the
initial consonant of think.
There are voiced and unvoiced alveolar fricatives, just as there are alveolar stops (above). The voiced
alveolar fricative is the initial consonant of zoo; the unvoiced alveolar fricative is the initial consonant
of sue.
Postalveolar fricatives are made with the tongue constricting the air behind the alveolar ridge, almost
at the top of the roof of the mouth. The voiced postalveolar fricative is the initial sound of the second
syllable of version. The unvoiced postalveolar fricative is the initial sound of the second syllable of
motion.
The unvoiced velar fricative is not now used in English except in some Scots dialects; it is like the
consonant sound in German ich. A voiced velar fricative is heard sometimes as the initial consonant
in Spanish llame. I include these sounds here because the unvoiced velar fricative is perhaps the
sound that was heard after a front vowel (see below in Middle English words like knight and bright.
Modern English has an unvoiced glottal fricative, the initial consonant in home (at least for American
speakers). Another, slightly “rougher” glottal fricative is heard at the end of Scots loch or German
Nacht, and may have been the sound heard after a back vowel (see below) in Middle English words
like brought and caught.
Nasals involve blocking the mouth completely, holding the blockage (instead of releasing it as in a
stop consonant), and letting the air come out of your nose. All nasals are voiced. You can hold and
hum them.
The bilabial nasal is the initial consonant of might.
The alveolar nasal is the initial consonant of night.
The velar nasal is never initial in English. It is the final consonant of sing.
The affricates are represented in phonetic transcription (usually) by double symbols. They begin as
stops and slide into fricatives, and hence are represented as a stop followed by a fricative. Only two
affricates are used in most dialects of English: a voiced affricate that is the initial consonant in jeer and
an unvoiced affricate that is the initial consonant in cheer.
When we make semivowels, we only partially obstruct the flow of air. Each semivowel is unique; all
are voiced. Rounding the lips and then opening them straight up and down gives the initial consonant
of weir. Flattening and extending the lips and cheeks--almost as if smiling--gives the initial consonant
of year. Flapping the tongue toward the front and top of the mouth, while letting air go around its
sides, gives the initial consonant of leer. Rounding the lips and then opening them sideways gives the
initial consonant of rear. /l/and /r/ are sometimes called “laterals” because of the sideways motion
involved in producing them./w/ and /y/ are sometimes called “glides” or “liquids”; they often
occur along with vowels--if before, as “on-glides,” if after, as “off-glides.” /l/ and /r/ also sound
quite different depending on whether they come before or after a vowel.

6.1 Nasals

The basic characteristic of a nasal consonant is that the air escapes through the nose. For this to
happen, the soft palate must be lowered; in the case of all the other consonants and vowels of English,
the soft palate is raised and air cannot pass through the nose. In nasal consonants, however, air does
not pass through the mouth; it is prevented by a complete closure in the mouth at some point. If you
produce a long sequence dndndndndn without moving your tongue from the position for alveolar
closure, you will feel your soft palate moving up and down. The three types of closure are: bilabial

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