Uttalslära
Introduction to phonetics and
English phonology:
Consonants, part 2
Types of consonants
• Plosives (stops)
• Nasals
• Fricatives
• Affricates
• Semi-vowels
• Laterals
• Frictionless continuants
The consonants of English 1
Fricatives
Plosives
Nasals
Voiceless
/f/ fan
/s/ so
/ʃ/ shore
/θ/ thin
/h/ hat
/p/ pet
/k/ kite
/t/ take
Voiced
/v/ van
/z/ zoo
/ʒ/ vision
/ð/ then
/b/ bag
/g/ bag
/d/ dog
/m/ men
/n/ men
/ŋ/ sing
The consonants of English 2
Affricates
Voiceless
Voiced
/tʃ/ church
/dʒ/ judge
Semi-vowels
/w/ well
/j/ yes
Lateral
/l/ long
Frictionless continuant
/r/ rose
Nasals
When producing a nasal, we let the air
flow through the nose instead of the
mouth.
English has three nasals, all of them
voiced.
/m/ as in me
Examples:
summer
/'sʌmə(r)/
Always voiced in English....
....but what about Swedish?
/n/ as in not
Pronunciation: the tip of the tongue not
touching the teeth
“n” is mute in words with -mn:
condemn /kən'dem/
hymn
/hım/
damn
/dæm/
/ŋ/ as in king
The spelling “ng” is sometimes pronounced
/ŋ/ and sometimes /ŋg/
herring
singing
angry
hunger
/'herıŋ/
/'sıŋıŋ/
/'æŋgrı/
/'hʌŋgə(r)/
Affricates
Consist of a plosive followed by a
fricative.
English has two affricates; one voiced and
one voiceless.
/tʃ/ as in church
The plosive /t/ is followed by the fricative /ʃ/
Spellings: ch
cheese /tʃi:z/
China
/'tʃaınə/
children /'tʃıldrən/
/ʃ/ versus /tʃ/
sheep
/ʃi:p/
cheap
ship
/ʃıp/
chip
Charlotte /'ʃɑ:(r)lət/ Charles
Talk is not sheep!
/tʃi:p/
/tʃıp/
/tʃɑ:lz/
Pronunciations of ch
/tʃ/ in most words
/ʃ/ in champagne, chauffeur, Chicago,
parachute
/k/ in chaos, chemistry, echo, epoch
Mute in yacht /jɒt||jɑ:t/
/dʒ/ as in judge
Spellings: j, g, ge
geography
/dʒı'ɒgrəfı||dʒı'ɑ:grəfı/
jeans
jam
ridge
/dʒi:nz/
/dʒæm/
/rıdʒ/
/dʒ/ versus /tʃ/
judge
/'dʒʌdʒ/
church /tʃɜ:(r)tʃ/
/dʒ/ versus /g/
ginger /'dʒındʒə(r)/
urgent /'ɜ:(r)dʒənt/
gentle /'dʒent(ə)l/
giggle /'gig(ə)l/
target /'tɑ(r):gıt/
giddy /'gıdı/
Semi-vowels
Produced like vowels, without any
obstruction of the oral cavity, but
behave like consonants.
English has two semi-vowels, both
voiced.
/w/ as in well
The letter w is mute in words beginning
with wr- and in names ending in -wich, wick.
wring
Warwick
sword
/rıŋ/
/'wɒrık || 'wɔ:rık/
/sɔ:(r)d/
/j/ as in yes
Spelling: y, eu, u, ue, ui
The letter “j” is never pronounced /j/!
unit
Europe
/'ju:nıt/
/'ju:rəp/
/dʒ/ versus /j/
use
your
(noun) /ju:s/
/jɔ:(r)/
juice
jaw
/dʒu:s/
/dʒɔ:/
/l/ as in all
A lateral consonant
Two realisations: clear and dark
In RP, /l/ is clear before vowels and /j/,
dark in other positions including at the
end of a word. In GA, /l/ is always more
or less dark.
/l/ as in all
Clear l: lip, less, fully, halyard
Dark l: tall, world, help, humble
Linda Wilson will perhaps be on television
c
d
d
c
/l/ as in all
Clear and dark /l/ – sound examples
“leap, play, pool” (clear, clear, dark)
“play, play” (first clear, then dark)
/l/ as in all
The letter l is mute in some words with -alf, -alk,
-alm, -olk
Examples:
calf
/kɑ:f || kæf/
chalk
/tʃɔ:k/
calm
/kɑ:m/
yolk
/jəʊk/
Also mute in salmon, Stockholm, colonel.
/r/ as in rose
A fricative in Swedish. In English it is a
frictionless continuant.
In RP, final r is only pronounced before a
vowel. In GA, /r/ occurs in all positions.
/r/ as in rose
Linking /r/ occurs in RP when a word
with a final r is followed by a vowel.
Examples: far away, your answer, War
and Peace
Compare: before long
before everyone
/r/ as in rose
Intrusive /r/ occurs in RP in some positions
where there is no r in the spelling. Used
to prevent hiatus (vokalmöte).
Examples:
Asia and Africa
/'eıʃər ən 'æfrikə/
law and order
/lɔ:r ən 'ɔ:də/
drawing
/'drɔ:rıŋ/
/θæŋk ju: fə 'lısənıŋ/!