Consonants are a crucial component of
speech sounds in the English language. They are produced when the airflow is
either completely blocked or partially restricted as it moves through the mouth
or throat. Unlike vowels, which are voiced without obstruction, consonants
involve some form of contact between different parts of the vocal tract. These
speech sounds can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of words and help form
the structure and rhythm of language. Consonant articulations are
relatively easy to feel and, as a result, are most conveniently described in
terms of places and manners of articulation. It is often necessary to specify
the duration of the sound, the airstream mechanism involved, and the direction
of air flow.
From the phonological point of
view, consonants are those units that function at the margins of syllables,
either singly or in clusters. Briefly, consonants can be defined as the speech
sounds articulated with interruption in the lung air and/or some obstacles in
the vocal tract.
Places
of Articulation of Consonants
Consonants are speech sounds in
which the air from the lungs is seriously obstructed by the different
articulators at different places in the vocal tract, and then goes out through
the oral passage and, in some cases, through the nostrils. According to their
places of articulation, English consonant phonemes can be divided into nine types
as discussed below.