Consonants

The consonants /kɑnsənəns/ are:
/b/, /k/, /ʧ/, /s/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, /dʒ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /p/, /ʒ/, /∫/, /r/, /t/, /θ/, /ð/, /v/, /w/, /y/, /z/, & /ʔ/

Consonants, however, are written like this is English:
b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

Consonants have restricted airflow.
Some consonants are voiced and some are voiceless.

Consonants are relatively set sounds in English; this means you won't hear many differences in how different native speakers say the same consonants. However, you will hear variation in when native speakers reduce /t/ to Ø, /d/, or /ʔ/.

Written Form:
There are several consonant sounds that have either no written form or no standard written form in English. These are:
/ʔ/, /ʒ/, & /dʒ/

There is no written distinction between /θ/ and /ð/. What this means is, when you see a word with the letter "th", you cannot know based on the spelling if the word is pronounced as a voiced or voiceless th.

The letter c can be pronounced /k/, /s/, or Ø
cake- /keyk/
cell- /sɜl/
practice- /præk tIs/
indict- /In dayt/

If you'd like a couple of fun little videos about consonants, you can check out these songs on consonants: here and here.

/l/ & /r/

Remember, as we have talked in class, your tongue is flat and touching your upper teeth for /l/.
For /r/ your tongue is curved and not touching the roof of your mouth. There's a good drawing of these two different sounds on Learn English Free Online here.

If you find /l/ and /r/ challenging to do correctly, check out this video. This is a clip from a popular TV show called Glee. As he sings the song Hello, you can really see how he places his tongue for /l/ and you can see how round his lips are for /r/. As you can't see his tongue for the r, you can understand the placement is different. (Pay attention to how he sings hello, alone, and door.)



CONSONANT CLUSTERS
There are also consonant clusters in English. This is when two or more consonants are placed next to each other in a word. Let’s look at the list below of initial and final clusters.

Consonant Clusters- Teresa


Initial Consonant Clusters
br- brown, brew, braid
cl- clown, clue, clean
cr- crown, crew, crack
dr- draw, drink, drone
fl- flag, flood, flatter
fr- frank, France, from
gl- glass, glow, glance
gr- grass, grow, grab
pl- play, plate, please
pr- pray, practice, prank
scr- scream, scram, scrutiny
shr- shrine, shrub, shred
sk- skip, ski, skill
sl- slow, sleep, slip
sm- small, smooth, smile
sn- snore, snack, snail
sp- speed, spell, spend
spl- split, splash, splurge
spr- sprain, sprout, sprung
squ- square, squander, squat
st- stay, stage, stair
str- strange, straight, streak
sw- swim, sweep, sweat
thr- throw, thrust, three
tr- treat, treasure, trip

Final Consonant Clusters
-ct duct, act, fact
-ft left, deft, heft
-lb bulb
-ld child, build, world
-lf golf, gulf, self
-lk silk, bulk, milk
-lm helm, realm, film
-lt adult, belt, fault
-mp jump, lump, hump
-nd and, hand, land
-ng sing, bring, string
-nk think, link, brink
-nt tent, bent, lent
-pt apt, kept, Egypt
-sk ask, risk, disk
-sp grasp, crisp, rasp
-st best, east, rest



There are also 6 sibilants in English. To learn more about them, click here.



Homework practice:
Many students say they would like to hear a recording of the homework before they record it. You can find such a recording here. Enjoy and good luck!!

Consonants in Sentences- Teresa


Consonants in Sentences- Eric