Consonant Sounds in English

Consonants are speech sounds produced with some degree of obstruction or constriction in the vocal tract. Unlike vowels, where air flows freely through the mouth, consonants involve the articulators (tongue, lips, teeth, palate) coming close together or making contact to modify the airstream in various ways. English has 24 consonant phonemes, and understanding how they are classified and produced is fundamental to phonological analysis at A-Level.

---

The Three Parameters of Consonant Classification

Every consonant can be described using three parameters: voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation. Together, these three features uniquely identify each consonant sound.

---

Voicing

Voicing refers to whether the vocal cords (vocal folds) in the larynx vibrate during the production of a sound.

Type	Description	Example Pairs
Voiceless (unvoiced)	Vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate	/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /h/
Voiced	Vocal cords are close together and vibrate	/b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/

Most English consonants come in voicing pairs — pairs of sounds that are identical in place and manner of articulation but differ only in voicing:

Voiceless	Voiced	Place	Manner
/p/ (pat)	/b/ (bat)	Bilabial	Plosive
/t/ (tin)	/d/ (din)	Alveolar	Plosive
/k/ (cap)	/g/ (gap)	Velar	Plosive
/f/ (fan)	/v/ (van)	Labiodental	Fricative
/θ/ (thin)	/ð/ (then)	Dental	Fricative
/s/ (sue)	/z/ (zoo)	Alveolar	Fricative
/ʃ/ (ship)	/ʒ/ (measure)	Postalveolar	Fricative
/tʃ/ (church)	/dʒ/ (judge)	Postalveolar	Affricate

The sounds /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/ are all voiced and do not have voiceless counterparts in English. The sound /h/ is voiceless and has no voiced counterpart.

Key Definition: Voicing — the vibration of the vocal cords during the production of a speech sound. Sounds produced with vocal cord vibration are voiced; sounds produced without vibration are voiceless.

---

Place of Articulation

Place of articulation describes where in the vocal tract the obstruction or constriction occurs. The main places of articulation for English consonants are:

Place	Articulators Involved	English Sounds	Example Words
Bilabial	Both lips come together	/p/, /b/, /m/, /w/	pat, bat, mat, wet
Labiodental	Lower lip contacts upper teeth	/f/, /v/	fat, vat
Dental	Tongue tip contacts or approaches upper teeth	/θ/, /ð/	think, this
Alveolar	Tongue tip/blade contacts the alveolar ridge (the bony ridge behind the upper teeth)	/t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /l/	tip, dip, nip, sip, zip, lip
Postalveolar	Tongue blade approaches the area just behind the alveolar ridge	/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /r/	ship, measure, chip, jam, rip
Palatal	Front of tongue approaches the hard palate	/j/	yes
Velar	Back of tongue contacts the soft palate (velum)	/k/, /g/, /ŋ/	kit, get, sing
Glottal	Obstruction at the glottis (vocal cords)	/h/, [ʔ]	hat; glottal stop in "butter" [bʌʔə]

Note that the glottal stop [ʔ] is not a phoneme of RP English (it does not distinguish meaning on its own) but is an extremely common allophone of /t/ in many British accents, and it is phonemically distinctive in some analyses.

Key Definition: Place of articulation — the location in the vocal tract where the primary constriction or obstruction occurs during the production of a consonant.

---

Manner of Articulation

Manner of articulation describes how the airstream is modified as it passes through the vocal tract. The main manners of articulation for English consonants are:

Plosives (Stops)

Plosives are produced by completely blocking the airstream, building up pressure behind the closure, and then releasing it in a burst. English has six plosive phonemes:

Voiceless	Voiced
/p/ (bilabial) — pat	/b/ (bilabial) — bat
/t/ (alveolar) — tin	/d/ (alveolar) — din
/k/ (velar) — cap	/g/ (velar) — gap

Plosives have three phases: the approach (articulators move toward closure), the hold (complete closure, air pressure builds), and the release (closure is opened, producing a burst of air).

Fricatives