Stop consonants

Theoretical background

Key words

CLOSING DIPHTHONGS

DIPHTHONGS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

CENTRAL VOWELS

STOP CONSONANTS

Unit 3

Personal questions

English rhythm practice

Self-check questions

1. For what consonants is the friction the strongest?

2. Dwell on the position of the tongue for /s/ and /S/.

3. Compare the pronunciation of the vowels /A/ and /R/.

4. What is friction?

5. Give examples of words where /Z/ occurs at the beginning of words.

6. What is the difference in the pronunciation of the sounds /I/ and /J/.

7. For what consonants is the friction the weakest?

8. Why do we call this group of consonants friction consonants?

Listen to this poem. Practise reading it.

Where were you born?

I’d rather not say.

Where are you from?

I’d rather not say.

How tall are you?

How old are you?

How much do you weigh?

I’d rather not say.

How much rent do you pay?

I’d rather not say.

How much do you make?

I’d rather not say.

Why aren’t you married?

I’d rather not say.

Why don’t you have children?

I’d rather not say.

Where were you last night?

Why weren’t you at home?

Did you stay out late?

Did you come home alone?

Did you have a good time?

Did you see a good play?

Did you go to a concert? I’d rather not say.

Lesson	Topic	Hours	References
	Stop consonants. Central vowels. Diphthongs.
	Stop consonant [p]. Back vowel [H].		O’Connor – p.39-42, Ship or Sheep – Units 11, 24
	Stop consonant [b]. Central vowel [E:].		O’Connor – p.39-42, Ship or Sheep – Units 12, 25
	Stop consonant [t]. Central vowel [q].		O’Connor – p.42-44, Ship or Sheep – Units 13, 26
	Stop consonant [d]. Test on [P, L, V, H, E:, q].		O’Connor – p.42-44, Ship or Sheep – Units 14, 27 Lab work 3
	Stop consonant [k]. Diphthong [eI].		O’Connor – p.44-46, Ship or Sheep – Units 15, 28
	Stop consonant [g]. Diphthong [aI].		O’Connor – p.44-46, Ship or Sheep – Units 16, 29 Lab work 4
	Stop consonant [C]. Diphthong [OI].		O’Connor – p.46-48, Ship or Sheep – Units 17, 34
	Stop consonant [G]. Test on [eI, aI, OI].		O’Connor – p.46-48, Ship or Sheep – Units 18, 35
	Test on stop consonants. Diphthong [aV].		Ship or Sheep – Units 19

stop consonants

aspiration

affricates

schwa vowel

diphthong

closing diphthong

Stop consonants are consonants in which the air is completely blocked at some point in our mouth, then compressed, and then released with a slight explosion or a popping noise. There are eight stop consonants in English: /p, b, t, d, k, g, C, G/. Voiceless stop consonants / p, t, k/ are characterized by aspiration /xspI'reISn/. It is a short period of time after the explosion of these consonants when the air leaves the mouth without any voice. Aspiration is especially strong after /p, t, k/ in initial position in stressed syllables (note that after /s/ these consonants are not aspirated). It makes the following sound lose some of its voicing. When these consonants occur between vowels the aspiration may be less noticeable or even absent. In final position there may be no aspiration at all. Voiced stop consonants are never aspirated. Aspiration makes distinction between voiced and voiceless stop consonants (e.g. ‘ pen ’if pronounced without aspiration will be understood by the English as ‘ Ben ’). In transcription we can mark aspiration by ^h: /p^hHl, t^heIbl/.

/p/ and /b/

The position of organs of speech for these sounds is the following. The soft palate is raised and the lips are closed firmly so that the breath cannot get out of either the nose or the mouth but it is trapped for a short time. When the lips are opened suddenly the air rushes out with a slight explosion or a popping noise.

/p/ is voiceless, strong, long and aspirated; it makes the preceding vowel shorter, while /b/ is weak, short, voiced and non-aspirated; it lengthens the vowel before it (e.g. /kxp/ and /kxb/).

/t/ and /d/

To pronounce these two stop consonants correctly you need to raise the soft palate to prevent the air from going out through the nose. Then you put the tip of the tongue firmly against the middle of the alveolar ridge and the sides of the tongue firmly against the sides of the palate, so that the air is blocked in the mouth for a short period of time. When the tongue-tip is lowered suddenly the breath rushes out with a slight explosion.

/t/ is a strong, voiceless, aspirated consonant; it is long and in final position it shortens the vowel before it. Oppositely, /d/ is voiced, weak, short, not aspirated and it makes vowels before it longer (e.g. /bxt/ and /bxd/).

/k/ and /g/

For both these stop consonants the soft palate is raised and the back of the tongue is in firm contact with the soft palate, so that the air is trapped in our mouth for a short time. When the tongue is lowered suddenly from the soft palate, the breath leaves the mouth with a slight explosion or a popping noise.

/k/ is voiceless, strong, long and it has aspiration; /g/ is voiced, weak, short and it is never aspirated. /k/ as all strong consonants makes vowels before it shorter and /g/ lengthens the preceding vowel (e.g. /bxk/ and /bxg/).

/C/ and /G/

These two are rather complex sounds. Sometimes they are referred not to the stop consonants, but to the affricates /'xfrIkqts/. They consist of two elements and they begin as stop consonants and end as friction consonants. So the air is trapped as for all stop consonants, but instead of going out with a slight explosion it is released with definite friction of the /S, Z/ kind.

The soft palate is raised, the tongue-tip touches the back part of the alveolar ridge, so that the breath is blocked for a short time. The front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate in readiness for /S, Z/. The tongue-tip slowly moves away from the alveolar ridge a little way, and the whole tongue is then in the position for /S, Z/, so that a short period of friction is heard.

/C/ is voiceless, strong, long; /G/ is voiced, weak, short. /C/ shortens the preceding vowel, whilst /G/ lengthens it (e.g. /rIC/ and /rIG/).

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