VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 578.

Speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants.

A vowel is a voiced sound in the articulation of which the air passes through the mouth freely (there is no obstruction to the stream of air).

A consonant is a sound in the production of which an obstruction is formed to the flow of the air by the active organs of speech. In the articulation of voiceless consonants the air stream is strong, while in voiced consonants it is weaker.

Vowels have no fixed place of articulation, the whole of the speaking apparatus takes part in their formation, while an obstruction or a narrowing for each consonant is formed at a definite place of the speaking apparatus .

In producing vowels all the organs o f speech are tense, while in making consonants the active organs of speech are tense only in the place of obstruction.

Vowels are sounds of pure musical tone while consonants may be either sounds in which noise prevails over tone (noise consonants) or sounds in which tone prevails over noise (sonorants).

An obstruction is formed in the articulation of sonorants as well, but the air- passage is wider than in the formation of noise consonants. This results in very little friction produced by the rather weak air-stream . That is why in the articulation of sonorants tone prevails over no is whereas in all the other consonants (both voiced and voiceless) noise prevails over tone. The English sonorants are /m/, /n/, /ή/ and /w/, /l/, /r/, /j/.