Plosives
How many plosive consonants exist in English?
6 plosive consonants: /p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /d/ /g/
What are the three ways to describe a consonant?
1. Manner: plosive, fricative, affricate, nasal, liquid, approximant, glides.
2. Place of articulation: bilabial, labiodental, interdental, alveolar, palatal, velar, etc.
3. Voicing quality: voiced or voiceless.
TRUE OR FALSE: The affricate /tʃ/ is often described as a palato-alveolar sound.
TRUE
What is the main difference between /t/ and /k/?
The place of articulation is the main difference. While /t/ is articulated in the alveolar ridge, /k/ is articulated in the velar.
How many voiceless fricatives exist in English?
It exists five in English.
/f/;/θ/;/s/;/ʃ/;/h/
Why does Peter Roach describe affricates as "complex sounds"?
Peter Roach describes Affricates as “complex sounds” because they begin as plosives and end as fricatives.
Why "plosives"?
Plosive consonants are called plosives because they are made by stopping the flow of air and then releasing it abruptly, which creates an explosive sound.
How many organs are involved in the production of the friction of these consonants?
"...refers to sounds made when two organs come so close together that the air moving between them produces friction."
Give two examples of the affricate /dʒ/ in middle position.
Budget, Region
/ˈbʌʤɪt/ /ˈriʤən/
Explain the different ways of pronunciation of “-ed” at the end of the words.
There are three ways to pronounce the -ed endings that involve some plosives consonants.
/t/ when the sound before -ed is voiceless. e.g asked, laughed, danced, watched.
/d/ when the sound before -ed is voiced. e.g called, used, loved, saved.
/id/ when the letter before -ed is "t" or "d". e.g decided, needed, activated, hated.
How are fricatives described according to Peter Roach?
Fricatives are consonants with the characteristic that air escapes through a narrow passage and makes a hissing sound.
TRUE OR FALSE: Affricates, as well as fricatives, are homorganic.
FALSE: The homorganic characteristic is only for affricates because they are formed from two consonants: one plosive and one fricative articulated, more or less, in the same place.
What are the phases in the production of plosives to give a complete description of them?
i) The first phase is when the articulator or articulators move to form the stricture for the plosive. We call this the closing phase.
ii) The second phase is when the compressed air is stopped from escaping. We call this the compression phase.
iii) The third phase is when the articulators used to form the stricture are moved so as to allow air to escape. This is the release phase.
iv) The fourth phase is what happens immediately after (iii), so we will call it the post-release phase.
What is the main difference between a fricative and a plosive consonant?
Fricatives are continuant consonants, which means that you can continue making them without interruption as long as you have enough air in your lungs. Plosives, are not continuants.
If affricates are phonemes made with a plosive and a fricative, why /kf/ in the word 'breaKFast' is not an affricate?
Very simple, because /k/ and /f/ they are NOT articulated in the same place. /k/ is velar while /f/ is labiodental; They are not homorganic, and if they are not homorganic, they are not affricates.