English consonant sounds. Consonant sounds In the house of consonants live noisy and sonorous sounds

The consonants of the English language are classified according to the following principles:

• place and active organ of articulation
• type of obstacle
• method of noise generation
• number of noise-generating barriers
• vocal cord work
• the power of utterance.

Labial consonants

Depending on which mobile and fixed organs of speech are involved in the articulation of speech sounds, consonants are divided into labial, lingual and laryngeal.

Labial consonants can be

• labiolabial, articulated by both lips – [w], [m], [p], [b] and
• labiodental pronounced with the lower lip and upper teeth – [f], [v].

Linguistic consonants

Linguistic consonants are divided into frontal, midlingual and posterior lingual.

Forelingual consonants can be

• interdental (predorsal-dental)– [θ], [ð] (the surface of the front part of the tongue forms an incomplete barrier with the upper teeth);
• apical-alveolar– [t], [d], [n], [l], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], , (the anterior edge of the tongue is raised to the alveolar arch);
• cacuminal-retroalveolar– [r] (the anterior edge of the tongue is raised up and slightly bent towards the posterior slope of the alveoli).

IN middle-language consonants, the barrier is formed by raising the middle part of the tongue to the hard palate. This is how the only one is articulated in English dorsal palatal sound [j].

Rear lingual consonants are articulated by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate - [k], [g], [ŋ]. This dorsal-velar sounds.

Glottal consonant

The only one in English language guttural sound[h] is formed in the larynx: the exhaled air flow with a slight friction noise passes through the narrowed glottis, vocal cords do not vibrate, the speech organs in the supraglottic cavities occupy the position necessary to pronounce the vowel sound following the laryngeal consonant.

Stop/Friction Consonants

According to the type of noise-producing barrier, consonants are divided into stops, when pronounced in the oral cavity, a complete barrier is formed, and fricative, when articulated in the oral cavity, an incomplete barrier is formed.

Stop consonants: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], [m], [n], [ŋ], , .

Friction consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h], [w], [l], [r] ,[j].

Noisy consonants

Both stop and fricative consonants can be noisy and sonant.

Stop noisy consonants are divided into explosive And affricates. When pronouncing plosive consonants, the complete barrier opens, air leaves the oral cavity, producing the sound of an explosion: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g]. Affricates are sounds in which there is a close fusion of a stop with a fricative. The opening of the speech organs, forming a complete barrier, occurs smoothly, sounds are articulated with 1 effort: , .

Fricative consonants

When articulating fricative noisy consonants (fricatives), air escapes through a narrow gap, creating friction noise. The shape of the slit can be flat, as in [f], [v], or round, as in [s], [z]. Fricative consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h].

Nasal sonants

Stop sonants are nasal. A complete obstruction forms in the oral cavity, the soft palate descends, and air escapes through the nasal cavity. Nasal sonants: [m], [n], [ŋ].

Mouth sonants

Slit sonants are oral. They are divided into median sonants, during the formation of which the lateral edges of the tongue are raised and touch the lateral teeth, and the air exits along the central part of the tongue - [w], [r], [j], and lateral, when pronounced, the front edge of the tongue is raised to the alveoli and touches them, and the side edges are lowered, the air exits through the side passages - [l].

1/2 focal consonants

Most English consonants are 1-focal, as they have one place of formation, i.e. 1 noise-generating focus. However, in some cases, in addition to the main, noise-generating barrier, a second barrier is observed, giving the sound an additional shade. Such consonants are 2-focal. A secondary or additional obstruction can be formed by raising the middle part of the tongue towards the hard palate. In this case, the sound takes on a soft tone. This is the second middle focus in the sounds [∫], [ʒ], and in the so-called “light” version of the sound [l]. If a secondary obstruction is formed by raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate, then an acoustic velarization effect is created, the sound acquires a hard, unsoftened hue. This is the second back focus, observed in the sounds [w], [r] and in the so-called “dark” version of the sound [ł].

Voiced/voiceless consonants

Based on the presence/absence of vibrations of the vocal cords, consonants are voiced, accompanied by vibrations of the vocal cords, and voiceless, during the pronunciation of which the vocal cords are passive and do not vibrate. The first includes voiced noisy consonants and sonants, the second includes voiceless noisy consonants.

Strong/weak consonants

In English, voiceless consonants are pronounced energetically, they are called strong. Voiced English consonants are accompanied by weak muscle tension, they are called weak. In Russian these differences are insignificant.

English Joke

Mrs. Herman from London was visiting some friends in Florida when she saw a little old man rocking merrily away on his front porch. He had a lovely smile on his face. She just had to go over to him.
“I couldn’t help noticing how happy you look. I would love to know your secret for a long and happy life."
“I smoke four packets of cigarettes a day, drink five bottles of scotch whiskey a week, eat lots and lots of fatty food and I never, I mean never exercise.”
“Why, that’s absolutely amazing. I've never heard anything like this before. How old are you?”
"I'm twenty six," he replied.

Where does the sound come from?

The formation of any sound that a person can pronounce begins in the breathing apparatus: air enters the lungs and then leaves them towards the larynx - this process is called initiation. From the lungs, air enters the larynx, where the vocal cords are located. Depending on whether the ligaments vibrate or not, the process of phonation occurs there or does not occur. The ligaments oscillate - the sound is voiced (any vowel or voiced consonant), if they do not oscillate - the sound is dull (voiceless consonant).

From the larynx, air enters the oral cavity, in which a process occurs that determines all other characteristics of sound, except deafness/voice, - articulation, i.e., the adoption of that position by the speech organs (tongue, lips, palate, teeth, small uvula - uvula) , which is needed to produce a specific sound. So, for example, to pronounce the sound [p], we must close our lips tightly, and for the sound [k], we must touch the back palate with the back of our tongue.

Vowels and consonants

Like all other languages ​​of the world, Russian has vowels and consonants. Their total number is slightly over forty and is average (neither large nor small) compared to other languages ​​of the world. We have six times more consonants than vowels - Russian is a consonantal language (languages ​​in which the set of vowels is larger and more varied are called vocal).

We are all still in primary school learned to distinguish vowel sounds from consonants: vowels - those that can be sung, consonants - those that cannot be sung. In fact, we can hiss [w] for a long time, whistle [c], and if we try really hard, we can moo [m], pull [n], etc. How can this be explained? Are there other ways to distinguish between vowels and consonants?

The main difference between a vowel and a consonant is their method of formation, namely the presence or absence of an obstruction in the vocal tract. A vowel sound is one that we form by removing air from the lungs through the larynx and oral cavity, without building any barriers in the speech apparatus, but simply changing the volume of the oral cavity. A consonant is a sound that, in order to come out, must overcome some kind of barrier (closed lips, touching the teeth or palate with the tongue). But the quality of this barrier (or, in other words, narrowing) and the method of overcoming it may vary, so some consonant sounds can actually be “stretched,” for example, like [w], [c], [m] or [n].

Classification of consonants

Place of education

Since an obstruction is necessary for the formation of a consonant sound, the area of ​​the vocal tract where this narrowing occurs is where the consonant is formed. It is usually called by the two organs that form it: active and passive. Active organs include:

· the tongue, or rather its front part, i.e. the tip (then the frontal consonant), middle part(middle lingual), and back, i.e. root (back lingual consonant);

· lower lip (labial consonant).

To passive:

· palate, namely: the anterior palate - the alveoli (consonantal anteropalatine or alveolar), the middle - the hard palate (midpalatine) and the posterior - the soft palate (postopalatine);

· upper teeth (consonantal dental), since the lower ones simply do not participate in articulation;

· upper lip (labial consonant). Of course, it also moves during articulation, but only together with the lower one and much less. The lower lip can participate in the formation of sounds without the participation of the upper, for example, [v] or [f].

When combining some active and some passive articulating organs, we get a classification of consonant sounds according to the place of formation:

· labiolabial (bilabial), for example, [m], [p], [b];

· labial-dental (labiodental), for example, [v], [f];

· front-lingual dental (dental), for example, [t], [d], [s], [n], [l];

· anterior lingual anteropalatal (alveolar), for example, [w], [zh], [r];

· middle-language mid-palatal (palatal), for example, [j];

· back-lingual mid-palatal, for example, [k’], [g’], [x’];

· posterior lingual posterior palatal (velar), for example, [k], [g], [x].

Method of education

We have already talked a little about the difference between the ways of forming vowels and consonants. Vowels are formed without an obstacle in the vocal tract, and therefore when complete absence noise. For consonants, on the contrary, a barrier is necessary. The types of this obstacle (or narrowing) can be different, as well as the ways to overcome it.

The closest to vowels in terms of formation are approximant consonants: their degree of narrowing is insignificant, and therefore noise is formed only in the absence of voice (that is, when the vocal cords do not vibrate). Approximant in Russian include consonants such as [l], [l‘] and [i̯] (“and non-syllabic”).

A significant, but not yet complete narrowing, i.e., a gap, is necessary for the formation slotted, or fricatives, consonants. According to the shape of the slot, they are divided into flat slot (for example, [w], [z], [x], [j]) and round slot (for example, [c] and [z]). We call the anterior lingual flat fissures hissing: [w], [sh'], [zh], [zh'], [h], [h'], and the anterior lingual round fissures - whistling: [s], [s'], [z ], [z'], [ts], [ts'].

The next level of constriction is a full bow, i.e., a tight contact of the active articulating organ with the passive one, which leads to blocking of the air flow. Consonants formed in this way are called stops. Depending on how the sound overcomes the resulting stop, several types of stop consonants are distinguished:

· explosive - the air rests against the bow, excess pressure is created, which leads to a sharp opening of the organs, i.e. to the so-called explosion (for example, [t], [b], [k], etc.);

Lifehack! Plosive sounds are easy to distinguish from other consonants: this is the only type of consonant that cannot be drawn out, whistled, hummed, etc. Try to draw out, for example, the sound [b] for a long time: you will not succeed, even despite its sonority. You can only gradually apply pressure to the bow, delaying the moment of explosion.

· affricates - the air rests against the bow, which under pressure does not open sharply, but simply turns into a gap. Thus, affricates, roughly speaking, consist of two sounds: a stop plosive and a fricative (for example, [ts] = [t͡s] and [ch’] = [t͡sh‘]);

· nasal - the bow is in the oral cavity, but the air is not closed, but passes through the nasal cavity due to the raising of a small tongue - the uvula (for example, [m], [n]);

Lifehack! If it is very difficult to remember which sound is nasal, you can put your hand to your nose when pronouncing it. The vibration is felt - nasal, but not felt - not nasal.

· tremulous - consist of several bows with vocal elements between them ([p]).

Sonorant and noisy consonants

Another classification applicable to consonants is dividing them into sonorous And noisy consonants. The following consonants of the Russian language are sonorant: [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [r], [r'], [l], [l'], [j], [i̯ ]. All other consonants are noisy. You may notice that the list of sonorants contains those consonant sounds that, as we are accustomed to thinking, are always voiced, i.e., do not have a voiceless pair. Let's try to find out how this happened.

The fact is that sonorant consonants are the middle link between vowels and noisy consonants: despite the fact that when they are pronounced, an obstacle is also formed, it does not impede the passage of air. So, with nasal consonants [m], [m'], [n] and [n'] the air leaves through the nasal cavity. When the approximant [l] and [l‘] are formed, the lateral edges of the tongue are lowered and air passes along the sides of the oral cavity (therefore these sounds are called lateral approximant, and the approximant opposed to them [th] - median). With trembling [p], the barrier is formed for too short a time, so that the noise does not have time to arise.

By the way, it would be more correct to classify the sounds [в] and [в‘] as sonorants, because when in contact with other consonants they behave exactly like sonorants, and not like noisy ones. For example, when a voiceless noisy consonant in a word is followed by a voiced noisy consonant, the second one affects the first and the voiceless one becomes voiced (for example, selection[adbor]). If the subsequent consonant is sonorant, then this does not happen (for example, separation[atryf]). Note that before voiced [в] and [в‘], voiceless noisy ones are also not voiced: girth[apkhvat], answer[atv’et]. It turns out that [v] and [v‘] are also sonorant.

Sound is the smallest indivisible unit of voiced speech flow that has no meaning. Study sound system The branch of linguistics called phonetics is devoted to the language, all its manifestations and functions.

The phonetic system of the Russian language contains 42 sounds, 6 of which are vowels, and the remaining 36 are consonants. Sonorant sounds in Russian deserve special attention. As a rule, the pronunciation of some of them causes the greatest difficulties in children who are just learning to speak. To understand what sonorant sounds are, it is necessary to consider the system of sounds of the Russian language as a whole.

Each sound has the following characteristics:

• acoustic;
• articulatory;
• functional (semantic).

Acoustic characteristics

To characterize a sound in terms of acoustics is to characterize the way it sounds. This can be done by its sonority, strength and height.

Sonority allows you to separate vocal and non-vocal sounds. All noisy consonants are nonvocalic. Vocal sounds include all vowels and sonorant consonants.

In terms of strength, sounds can be consonant or non-consonant. All consonants are consonant, i.e. weak, and non-consonant, i.e. strong - all vowels.

From the position of height, the sound can be high or low, respectively. High are the front vowels, front-lingual and middle-lingual consonants. All other vowels and consonants are low sounds.

Concept of articulation

Articulation is the process of producing sounds. The human speech apparatus, with the help of which sounds are formed, is represented by a fairly large set of organs. These include the lungs, larynx, vocal cords, nasal cavity, hard and soft palate, mandible, lips and tongue. The stream of exhaled air leaves the lungs and passes through the gap formed by the vocal cords in the larynx. When the vocal cords are tense and vibrating, a voice (tone) is formed. It serves as the basis for vowels, voiced and sonorant consonants. If the vocal cords are relaxed, the voice does not form, and noise occurs, which underlies noisy consonants.

Further differentiation of sounds occurs in the oral cavity, depending on what obstacle the air stream encounters on its path.

Characteristics of vowels

The main feature of vowel sounds is that when they are formed, a stream of air, having formed a tone in the vocal cords, no longer encounters any obstacles in the oral cavity. That is, they consist of only tone (voice) without added noise.

The vowels are the sounds a, o, u, i, ы, e. The articulation of each vowel sound depends only on the position of the active organs of speech (lips, tongue, soft palate and lower jaw).

The functional feature of vowel sounds is that they form a syllable, i.e. play a syllabic role.

Characteristics of consonants

When a consonant sound is formed, the air stream encounters various kinds of obstacles on its path. When overcoming an obstacle, noise occurs. Therefore, the main difference between a consonant sound and a vowel is the presence, in addition to tone (voice), also of noise. The occurrence of a specific consonant sound depends on the location of the obstacle formation and the method of overcoming it. Thus, they are all divided depending on the ratio of tone and noise, place and method of formation.

According to the ratio of tone and noise, consonants are divided into sonorant sounds, voiced and voiceless consonants. Voiced and voiceless consonants are noisy because In their formation, noise participates either on an equal basis with the voice (voiced), or predominates over the voice (deaf).

When pronouncing a consonant sound, a barrier can be formed by the tongue or lips, therefore all consonants are divided according to the place of formation into labial and lingual.

According to the method of formation, or according to the method of overcoming an obstacle, they are occlusive, fricative, occlusive-frictional (affricates), occlusive-transitive and tremulous.

Another characteristic of consonants is palatalization (hardness/softness). Hardness/softness pairs do not have only a few consonant sounds: zh, ts (always hard) and ch, j (always soft).

Characteristics of sonorous sounds

What a sonorous sound is becomes clear from the translation this definition. The word "sonorant" comes from the Latin sonorus. It means "resonant". Indeed, when such a sound is formed, the voice predominates, and the noise is so minimal that sonorant sounds become close to vowels. Sonorant sounds in Russian are m, m", n, n", l, l", r, r", j.

Note. The main thing that is special about sonorous sounds is that when passing through an obstacle in the oral cavity, the air that forms the sound finds a way around it. So, for example, when the sound l and its soft pair are formed, the air bypasses the bow formed by the tongue and upper teeth on the sides. Accordingly, according to the place of formation, this sound is lingual-dental. And according to the method of formation - occlusive-passage. When the sound p and its soft pair are formed, the flow of air causes the bow formed by the tongue and the hard palate to vibrate. Thus, it is lingual-alveolar according to the place of formation, and tremulous (vibrant) according to the method of formation. It is interesting that such a sonorant sound as j (th) is very similar in its formation to the vowel i. However, during its pronunciation, a significant narrowing occurs as the air flows through. Because of this, a slight noise arises, which allows us to classify this sound as a consonant. According to the place of formation, j is lingual-mid-palatal, according to the method of formation - fissural, and can only be palatalized (soft).

All sonorant sounds in the Russian language do not have a voiced/voiced pair and are only voiced. At the end of a word, deafening of sonorant sounds does not occur, as happens with other voiced consonants.

Oral and nasal sonorities

Depending on the position of the velum, different consonant sounds are formed. If the velum is lifted and pressed against the back wall of the pharynx, the passage into the nasal cavity for the air stream is closed. The sounds produced in this way are called oral sounds. Or clean. If the velum is lowered, the passage into the nasal cavity for the air stream opens, and the nasal cavity serves as an additional resonator for the formation of sound. In this way, sounds called nasal or nasal are formed.

There are only four nasal sounds in the Russian language: m, m", n, n". According to the place of formation, the m and its soft pair are labial-labial, and according to the method of formation, it is occipital. The sound n and its soft pair are lingual-dental according to the place of formation, and octocental according to the method of formation.

So, understanding what a sonorous sound is is possible only with a full understanding of the mechanism of sound formation. That is, their articulation. Knowing the characteristics of sonorant consonant sounds helps determine their place in phonetic system Russian language.

In this article we will talk about consonant sounds, their quantity, types (soft, hard, voiceless and voiced) and other features and interesting facts.

There are 33 letters in the Russian language, of which 21 are consonants:

b - [b], c - [c], g - [g], d - [d], g - [g], j - [th], z - [z],
k - [k], l - [l], m - [m], n - [n], p - [p], p - [p], s - [s],
t - [t], f - [f], x - [x], c - [c], h - [h], w - [w], sch - [sch].

All named consonant letters represent 36 consonant sounds.

The Russian language also has 10 vowel letters and only 6 vowel sounds.

A total of 33 letters (10 vowels + 21 consonants + “ь” and “ъ”), denoting 42 sounds (6 vowels and 36 consonants), not all sounds of speech, but only the main ones.

The difference between the number of letters and sounds is due to the peculiarities of Russian writing, because, for example, hard and soft consonant sounds are indicated by one letter.

Consonant sounds are divided into:

• voiced and voiceless,
• hard and soft,
• paired and unpaired.

There are a total of 36 different combinations of consonants by pairing and unpairing, hard and soft, voiceless and voiced: voiceless - 16 (8 soft and 8 hard), voiced - 20 (10 soft and 10 hard).

Hard and soft consonants

Consonants are divided into hard and soft, this division is due to the difference in the position of the tongue when pronouncing them. When we pronounce soft consonants, then the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. We also note that in addition to the fact that consonants are divided into hard and soft, they can be paired and unpaired.

For example, the letter “k” can denote both a hard sound [k], for example, in the word cat, and a soft sound [k`], for example, in the word glasses. We get that the sounds [k] and [k’] form a pair of hardness and softness. For consonant sounds that have a pair of hardness and softness, the following rule applies:

• a consonant sound is hard if it is followed by vowels: a, o, u, s, e;
• and is soft if it is followed by vowels: e, e, i, yu, i.

In the Russian language there are letters in which the sound they denote can only be hard ([ш], [ж], [ц]), or only soft ([й], [ч`], [ш`]). Such sounds do not belong to paired sounds, but are unpaired.

Voiceless and voiced consonants

Consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless sounds. In this case, voiceless consonants are pronounced with the mouth practically covered and the vocal cords do not work when pronouncing them. Voiced consonants require more air, and the vocal cords work when pronouncing them. That is, voiced consonants consist of noise and voice, and voiceless consonants consist only of noise.

Lifehack for determining the deafness or voicedness of consonants for schoolchildren

To determine whether a sound you encounter is dull or voiced, and children often have difficulty with this, you should cover your ears with your hands and pronounce the sound. When pronouncing dull sounds, they will be heard somewhere in the distance, but when pronouncing voiced sounds, your ears will actually ring! This way you can determine what sound was encountered. Especially during phonetic analysis words

Some consonant sounds are similar both in their sound and also in the way they are pronounced. However, such sounds are pronounced with different tonality, that is, either dull or loud. Such sounds are combined in pairs and form a group of paired consonants. There are 6 such pairs in total, each of them has a voiceless and a voiced consonant sound. The remaining consonants are unpaired.

• paired consonants: b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, z-s, zh-sh.
• unpaired consonants: l, m, n, r, y, c, x, h, shch.

Sonorant, noisy, hissing and whistling consonants

In the Russian language, sonorant, noisy, as well as hissing and whistling consonant sounds are also distinguished. We will give a definition of each of the named types of consonants, and also list which consonants belong to one or another type.

Sonorant consonants

Sonorant consonants - these are voiced unpaired consonants.

There are 9 sonorant sounds in total: [y’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’].

Noisy consonants

Noisy consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiceless noisy consonants include 16 sounds: [k], [k'], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f '], [x], [x'], [ts], [ch'], [sh], [sh'], and noisy voiced consonants include 11 sounds: [b], [b'], [ c], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [g], [h], [z'].

Hissing consonants

There are a total of 4 hissing consonant sounds in the Russian language: [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sch’]. They all resemble hissing to the ear, which is why they are called hissing consonants.

Whistling consonants

Whistling consonant sounds [з] [з’] [с] [с’] [ц] are, in their pronunciation, front-lingual, fricative. When articulating hard sounds [z], [s] and [ts], the teeth are exposed, the tip of the tongue leans against the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue is slightly arched, the lateral edges of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars. The air passes through, creating frictional noise.

When articulating soft sounds[s'] and [z `] also happen, but the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate.

When spoken sonorous sounds[z] and [z`] vocal cords are closed and vibrate, but the palatal curtain is raised.

According to the noise level (degree of its intensity), consonants are divided into sonorant [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [l], [l '], [p], [j] and noisy [n ], [p'], [b], [b'], [f], [f'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [c],[s' ], [z], [z'], [c], [h'], [w], [w'], [g], [z'], [k], [k'], [g] , [g'], [x], [x'], etc.

Noise intensity noisy consonants are significantly higher than those sonorous. This is explained by differences in the tension of the speech organs and in the strength of the air stream when pronouncing sonorant and noisy consonants.

Noisy consonants are formed when there is greater muscle tension than in sonorous ones in the place of the oral cavity where an obstruction to the air stream occurs. Therefore, the force of the air stream emerging from the oral cavity during speech when pronouncing noisy consonants is much greater than when pronouncing sonorous ones.

Voiceless and voiced Consonants are determined by the absence or presence of voice (tone) when they are pronounced. The voice occurs as a result of the fact that the vocal cords are brought together and tremble when a stream of air passes. This is how voiced consonants are formed: [p], [l], [m], [n], [j], [b], [c], [g], [d], [z], [z], etc. The difference between voiced sonorants and voiced noisy ones is that in voiced sonorants the voice significantly predominates over the noise, and in voiced noisy ones the noise predominates over the voice. Without a voice, with the help of noise alone, voiceless consonants are formed: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [ch'], [sh], etc. When pronouncing them, the glottis is open and the vocal cords are relaxed.

According to deafness/voicedness, consonant sounds form pairs [p] - [b], [f] - [v], [d] - [t], [s] - [z], [sh] - [zh], etc. The sound [ts] is unvoiced, but it has a paired voiced [dz], which is pronounced in place of [ts] before the voiced consonant: pla[d]darm, Spi[d]bergen, kone[ dz ]of the year. The same pair is made up of a voiceless [ch’] and a voiced [d’zh’]. Before a voiced noisy with a vowel in place of [ch’] is pronounced [d’zh’]: on [d’zh’]base me[ d'j' ] scored, do[d’zh’] spoke. The sound [γ] makes up a voiced pair [x] and is pronounced, for example, in the words two[y] year, mo[γ ] green, and[γ] waited.

Sonorant consonants also have voiced and voiceless pairs, etc. Voiceless sonorants can appear, in particular, at the end of a word after a voiceless consonant: meth[R], vortex[r’], meaning], cape[l’], dog[n’], braid[m]. Voiceless - a pair of voiced sonorant [j] - is possible at the end of a word, especially in emotional speech: From there !; Open!; Spo[j]!

Articulatory characteristics and classification of consonant sounds by place, by method of formation, by hardness-softness (velarization and palatalization)

Place of education I of a consonant depends on which active organ does the main work and with which passive organ it closes or approaches. This is the place in the mouth where the air stream meets an obstacle. If the active organ is the lower lip, then the consonants can be

- labiolabial : [p], [p’], [b], [b’], [m], [m’] (passive organ - upper lip) and

- labiodental : [v], [v’], [f], [f’] (passive organ - upper teeth).

If the active organ is the tongue, then the characteristic of the consonant depends on which part of the tongue - anterior, middle or posterior - is involved in creating an obstruction and with which passive organ - the teeth, the anterior, middle or posterior part of the palate - the tongue approaches or closes.

Front lingual consonants there are

- dental , when the front part of the tongue is directed towards the teeth: [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [n], [ n'], [l], [l'], [ts], and

- anteropalatal , when it is directed to the front of the palate: [p], [p’], [w], [w’], [w], [z’], [h’].

Middle language at the same time always and midpalatal: [j], .

Rear lingual or postopalatine: [k], [g], [x], [γ], [ҥ], or mid palatal: [k’], [g’], , [γ’]. The sound [ҥ] - nasal back-lingual - is rare in the Russian language. It is pronounced in place of [n] before [k], [g], usually in cases where a consonant follows: pu[ҥ]ktyr, fr[ҥ]kskiy, ko[ҥ]gress.

Method of consonant formation- this is a characteristic of an obstacle in the oral cavity in the path of an air stream and a method of overcoming it. This obstacle comes in three types:

A narrow gap between the adjacent organs of speech,

Full of their bow and

An active organ trembling in the flow of speech.

Therefore, all consonants are divided into slotted, stops And trembling.

Slotted(or fricatives, from lat. fricatio– ‘friction’) are formed as a result of friction of an air stream against the edges of the adjacent organs of speech, forming a narrow gap.

Slit median are formed in the middle of adjacent speech organs: [v], [v'], [f], [f'], [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [w], [w'] , [zh], [zh'], [j], [x], [x'], [γ], [γ'].

When articulating slotted side air flows along the sides of the oral cavity, between the sides of the tongue and the teeth: [l], [l’].

Stop consonants include the moment of complete cessation of the flow of air through the oral cavity. Depending on the nature of overcoming the stop, consonants are divided into nasals, plosives, affricates, implosives .

Nasals consonants are characterized by complete closure of the oral cavity and simultaneous lowering of the palatine curtain, as a result of which air flows freely through the nasal cavity: [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [ҥ]. Other consonants nonnasal, oral . When pronouncing them, the velum palatine is raised and pressed against the back wall of the pharynx, so that the air stream exits through the mouth.

During education plosive consonants first, there is a complete delay of the air stream and an increase in intraoral pressure as a result, and then a sharp opening of the speech organs and the breakthrough of the air stream into the resulting passage with a characteristic noise: [p], [p'], [b], [b'], [ t], [t'], [d], [d'], [k], [k'], [g], [g'].

Education affricate (or occlusive consonants, fused consonants ), like plosives, begins with a complete closure of the speech organs. But in the last phase, the closed organs do not suddenly open, but only open slightly, forming a gap for air to escape. These are, for example, [ts], [h’]. They are sometimes designated differently in transcription: [ts] as, [h’] as. This designation indicates the heterogeneity of sound. However, it is not equal to [t+s] (just as it is not equal to [t’+w’]): - one continuous sound, and [t+s] - two sounds. Combinations o are pronounced differently target And from saline, O chain And dump, O chick And backfill: in the first example of these pairs the sound is [ts] (=), in the second example there are two sounds corresponding to it. The initial and final phases of the affricate only resemble the sounds [t], [s], but do not completely coincide with them.

Implosive (or closed) consonants contain only the stop phase. They do not have a second phase, like plosives and affricates. Implosives appear in place of plosives in front of plosives and affricates of the same place of formation and in place of affricates in front of the same affricates

Trembling consonants, or vibrants, are formed by vibration, trembling of the tip of the tongue in the outgoing stream of air. Usually there is also closure and opening with the alveoli or the postalveolar part of the palate: [p], [p’]. Trembling ones are characterized by point contact of the tongue with the passive organ and the short duration of the stop, in contrast to stop consonants, in which this stop is denser and longer.

Hard and soft consonant sounds differ in the articulation characteristic of each of these groups. When soft consonants are formed, the tongue is concentrated in the front part, and when hard consonants are formed - in the back part of the oral cavity; cf.: [v’]il - [v]yg, [p’]il - [p]yl; [l’]yog- [l]og, [r’]yad - [r]ad.

This basic tongue position is accompanied by additional articulation. When soft consonants are formed, as a result of the tongue shifting forward, palatalization- raising the middle part of the back of the tongue towards the hard palate (from the Latin palatum - palate), as well as expanding and increasing the volume of the pharynx. Therefore, soft consonants, except [j], are palatalized.

In [j], the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the middle part of the palate is not additional, but the main articulation, therefore [j] - palatal consonant.

When hard consonants are formed, as a result of the tongue shifting back, a narrowing occurs in the pharynx and a decrease in its volume - pharyngealization(from Greek pharinx- pharynx). Therefore, hard consonants are pharyngealized.

In addition, when forming hard consonants, there may be velarization- raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate (from Lat. velum palat i - ‘curtain of the palate’), such consonants - velarized.

In the back-linguals [k], [g], [x], [γ], the rise of the back of the tongue to the soft palate is the main articulation, without which the back-linguals cannot be pronounced, while velarization is an additional articulation to the main focus of the consonants. Therefore, back-lingual consonants are not velarized, but velar.

Consonant sounds form pairs based on hardness/softness: [p]-[p'], [b]-[b'], [f] - [f'], [v]-[v'], [m]-[ m'], [t]-[t'], [d]-[d'], [s]-[s'], [z]-[z'], etc.

The sound [ts] is hard, and the soft [ts’] is pronounced, for example, in place of [t’] before [s’]: pya [ts']sya, lady [ts’] Seryozha. The sound [ch’] is soft, its hard pair is [ch], which occurs before [sh], including in place of [t], [d]: better(cf. lu[ h’]), o[h]stagger, joke. The hard sound [w] has a soft pair [sh’]: [sh’] tea, mo[w’] ny![sh’:]uka. The sound [zh] has a pair [zh’], which is almost always double, long: vo[zh’:]i, dro[zh’:]i, vi[zh’:]at. This is how words are pronounced reins, yeast, squeal many speakers literary language(pronunciation [zh:] in place of [zh’:] is also acceptable).

If, for example, we compare the initial sounds of words garden And court, I'll give And doom, pelvis And ace, then you can notice the difference in their articulation. Before [a] the consonants are pronounced without tense lips, and before [y] - with rounded and elongated lips. We are just getting ready to say the words court, doom, ace, and the lips have already taken this position. This additional articulation is called labialization(from Latin labium - ‘lip’), and consonant sounds [с°], [д°], [т°], etc. - labialized(or rounded). These sounds differ from [s], [d], [t] in articulation and hearing. (You can hear this difference if you start pronouncing the word garden and stop after the first consonant, then start pronouncing the word court, but pronounce only the first consonant.) In Russian, the labialization of consonants is always associated with their position before [u] or [o], as well as before labialized consonants: [с°т°ул], [с°т°ол], but [became]. There are no exceptions, so it is usually not noted in the transcription.

Specifics of functioning and sound embodiment

Only the sound [j] cannot have a solid pair. For the remaining soft consonants, the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue towards the hard palate is an articulation additional to the main method of formation of the consonant. In [j], the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the middle part of the palate is the main articulation, without which no consonant sound arises at all.