Consonants

Consonants

• The standard English consontant system is traditionally considered to comprise:
• 17 obstruents (6 plosives, 2 affricates and 9 fricatives)
• 7 sonorants (3 nasals, 2 liquid and 2 semivowel glides)

Plosives

• The six plosives are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ and /g/

Symbol	Word	Transcription	Place of articulation
/p/ (voiceless) /b/ (voiced)	Pin Bin		Bilabial
/t/ /d/	Toy  Dog		Alveolar
/k/ /g/	Kind Give		Velar

• They are also known as “stops” or “occlusive”
• They are formed by a temporary blocking off the air, then explode rapidly (hence the name plosive)

/p/

• To produce /p/ first close your lips hard and then push air forward in your mouth and then open your lips quickly.  Do not use your voice because it is a voiceless sound. Spanish speakers may fail to aspirate this sound, causing confusion with /b/
• Here you can see a video on how it is pronounced https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7GoPDPAsec
• Si transcribimos una oración: la -er normalmente no se pronuncia y se transcribe como swua pero si la siguiente palabra empieza con un sonido de vocal, si se transcribe la r.
• 
  

  Paper	[ˈpeɪpə]
  Pupil	[ˈpjuːpl]
  People	[ˈpiːpl]
  Happy	[ˈhæpi]
  Supper	[ˈsʌpə]

  
  
•     Sometimes English speakers do not pronounce p




Cupboard	[ˈkʌpəd]
Receipt	[rɪˈsiːt]
Empty	[ˈɛmpti]
Jumped	[ʤʌmpt]

/b/

•          The sound /b/ is written with the letter “b”:
•          To produce /b/ use your voice.

Big	[big]
Baby	[ˈbeɪbi]
About	[əˈbaʊt]

•          English people do not pronounce the sound /b/ when it is followed by ”t”:

Debt	[dɛt]
Doubt	[daʊt]
Subtle	[ˈsʌtl]

•          Or when it is in final position folloing an “m”:

Lamb	[læm]
Comb	[kəʊm]
Bomb	[bɒm]
Plumber	[ˈplʌmə]

Practice:

•          Butcher: [ˈbʊʧə]
•          Picture: [pɪkʧə]
•          Footballer: [ˈfʊtbɔːlə]
•          Potatoes: [pəˈteɪtəʊz ]
•          Pipe: [paip]
•          Bottle of beer: [ˈbɔtl ɒv bɪə]
•          Bread and butter: [bred ən ˈbʌtə]

/t/

•          Sound production: put the front of your tongue behind your top teeth. Push air for forward in your mouth. Move your tongue away
•          Spelling: the sound /t/ is written with the letter “t”

Time	[taɪm]
Late	[leɪt]
Little	[ˈlɪtl ]
Dirty	[ˈdɜːti]
Pretty	[ˈprɪti]
Quiet	[ˈkwaɪət]
Quite	[kwaɪt]
Telephone	[ˈtɛlɪfəʊn]

•          In some proper names the “th” is pronounced /t/:

Thames	[temz]
Thomas	[tɔməs]
Sean	[ʃɔːn]

•          /t/ is not usually pronounced between /s/ and /l/: castle à [ka:sl]
•          We can also find some very well known words where the sound /t/ is not pronounced

Christmas	[krismәs]
Ballet	[bӕlei]
Mortgage	[mɔ:gidӡ]

/d/

•          It is represented by the letter “d” or “dd”
•          This sound can be found in initial, medial and final position: dog [dɒg], badly [ˈbædli], mad [mæd]
•          This is a voiced sound and that´s why you ca feel your throat vibrates as you say the letter
•          The letter “d” does not always denote [d]: in the past participle of verbs ending in a voiceless consonant. E.g. washed, “d” is realized as an unvoiced [t]
•          When a word ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant (except d), the –ed is pronounced /d/. E.g. played [pleid]
•          Ed endings examples:

Played	[pleid]
Begged	[begd]
Showed	[ʃəʊd]
Shaved	[ʃeivd]

•          Occasionally “d” is mute (above all when it is followed by another consonant). E.g. Wednesday [wenzdei]
•          Difficulties for Spanish speakers:

o   Difference between /d/ and  /ð/. E.g. loading [ˈləʊdɪŋ]/ loathing[ləʊðɪŋ]

o   If you do nor pronounce the ending clearly: 

Lead [li:d]	Lea [li:]
Bead [bi:d]	Bee [bi:]
Road  [rəʊd]	Row [rəʊ]

/k/

•          /c/ it doesn’t exist, it is replaces by /k/
•          Place of articulation: it is the soft palate at the back of your mouth. You should be able to feel the strong release of air that clearly…
•          Spelling:

o   K: king, kiss, kitten, make, sack, baker…

o   C: cure, cat, bacon…

o   Ch: chemist, Christmas, school.

o   Que /kw/ quaint, queer, queen.

o   Cqu: /kw/ acquaint, acquire.

o   Qu: /k/ conquer, liquor, antique 

o   X: /ks/ box, lexicon 

•          A mute k can be funded at the beginning of a word normally when it is followed by an “n”: know, knight, knife

/g/

•          Voiced version of /k/
•          Spelling: it is usually written “g”, overall when followed by “a”, “u” or a consonant and when it appears in final position: gate, goat, grey, pig, big
•          In some other cases it is pronounced /d3/: Gem, ginger
•          We can also find a mute “g” when it is followed by an “n” at the beginning of a word: gnaw, gnat, gnome
•          Or when it is followed by an “n” at the end of a word: reign, sign, foreign