The articulatory classification of English sounds. Consonants

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS. THE ARTICULATION BASIS OF ENGLISH.

In all L SS are traditionally divided into 2 main types – V and Cons. From the articulatory point of view the main principles of the division are as follows: presence or absence of obstruction, the distribution of muscular tension, the force of the air steam coming from the lungs. Vowels are sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air when it passes from the larynx to the lips. Consonants are sounds which are made by obstructing the flow of air at some point in our mouth. The articulatory boundary between the V and C is not well marked. There exist SS that occupy an intermediate position between V and C and have common features with both the V and C. There are sonorants. There is an obstruction in their articulation and the muscular tension is concentrated at the place of obstruction as in the production is rather wide and the force of the air weak in the case of V. From the acoustic point of view V are complex periodic vibrations-tones. C are non-periodic vibrations-noises. Voiced C are actually a combination of tone and noise. Due to the identical structure of speech organs of all people, all Ls have sounds of identical types. The sounds are not identical articulatory. These articulatory habits characteristics of all the native speakers of a L are called the articulation basis of the L. Every L has certain characteristics of pronunciation which give it distinctive ph character. In E, the tongue, when articulating, is characterized by laxity. In articulating the front V it is not pushed so far forward, nir, in the back V, drawn so far back. Ther is also a C tendency to lower and flatten the tongue, hollow the front of it more or less, like a spoon, and to draw it away from the teeth, the lips are inactive. The notion of the art. basis of a L can be broadened if we analyse not only the art part in sound production but phonation as well. The phonation habits of the native speakers of different L may differ depending on the character of sounds. The art basis comprises both the art and phonational habits of the native speakers of a L.

Consonants are sounds which are made by obstructing the flow of air at some point in our mouth.

1. They can be classified, first of all, according to the type of obstruction, that is the way they are pronounced. Passive and active organs of speech:

· friction (constructives) 1. Unicentral (f,v, s,z, межзубн) 2. Bicentral (ш)

· stop (occlusives) (p,b,t,d,k,g)

· affricate (constructive- occlusives) (тч, дж)

· nasal sonants (occlusives) (m,n)

· sonants (constructives)1. Medial (j, r,w) 2. Lateral (l)

2. Some of the consonants are produced by a vibration of the vocal cords, rather like a vibration that produces vowel sounds. And in some consonants there is no such voicing. That’s why we say that according to the presence or absence of voice during the articulation of consonants they can be divided into:

· voiced

· voiceless

3. Consonants differ in the force of articulation. Voiceless consonants are said to be pronounced with greater force than voiced ones. So, consonants are:

· strong or fortis (voiceless)

· weak or lenis(voiced)

4. Consonants have different length. Voiceless consonants are considerably longer than voiced ones:

· long (voiceless)

· short (voiced)

5. According to the active organ of speech which forms an obstruction. So, they can be:

· bilabial (made with the help of the two lips) -LABIAL

· labio-dental (the lower lip articulates with the upper teeth)- LABIAL

· forelingual (apical (t,d,n,s,z,медзуб)/cacuminal(r))-LINGUAL

· media-lingual (j) –LINGUAL

· backlingual (k,g) –LINGUAL

· pharyngeal (h) –LINGUAL

5. According to the place of obstruction

· dental (the tongue tip touches the upper teeth)

· alveolar (the tip or blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge)

· post-alveolar (the tip of the tongue touches the back of the alveolar ridge)

· palatal (the front of the tongue articulates with the hard palate)

· velar (the back of the tongue articulates with the soft palate)

· palatal-alveolar (produced in the glottis, between the vocal cords)

6. According to the position of the soft palate

· Oral

· nasal

There is also a very important general rule which applies to many pairs of English consonants: strong consonants at the end of words shorten the vowel before them, while weak consonants make it longer (e.g. in [kxp] vowel [x] is made shorter by the following voiceless consonant [p], and in [kxb] the same vowel is made longer by the following voiced consonant).

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