English Language: Consonants

 

                                                    

English Language: Consonants

    Dear readers, in the previous post we discussed vowels and their phonetic transcription. We learnt that there are 20 vowel sounds with 12 monophthongs and 8 diphthongs. In this post, let us learn about consonant sounds. 

What is a consonant sound? 

A sound that is produced with some friction in the vocal cords is called consonant sound. When the air flow from the lungs passes through the vocal cords, it creates an obstruction, sometimes a little obstruction.  Usually, a consonant sound is produced by the movement of the tongue towards the organs of speech. There are 24 consonant sounds in English. 

The consonants are named as they are pronounced as the following:

1. Plosive

2. Affricate

 3. Fricative

4. Lateral

5. Nasal

6. Semi-vowel

The table indicates the list of consonant sounds and how they are pronounced with examples.

Oral practice is required to improve one's pronunciation in English. In the next post let us learn about Minimal Pairs in English language.

Author: 

K. Nandhakumar

Assistant Professor of English

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science (Autonomous)

Coimbatore-641 020