Consonants There are 24 consonants in English and they can be classified according to: 1. Place of articulation 2. Manner of articulation 3. Voicing 1. Bilabial : (upper lip + lower lip) 2. Labiodental: (lower lip + upper teeth) 3. Dental: (tongue + teeth) 4. Alveolar: (alveolar ridge + tongue) [ples v ¿:tkjU'leSn] [ples ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] 5. Palato-alveolar: (hard palate + alveolar ridge + tongue) 6. Palatal: (hard palate + tongue) 7. Velar: (soft palate + tongue) 8. Glottal: (vocal cords) 1. Stop (Plosive): (complete closure + sudden release) 2. Fricative: (Narrowing resulting in audible friction) , , 3. Affricate: (closure + low separation) ['mæn± ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] ['mæn± ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] 4. Nasal: (complete closure + air escape through nose) 5. Lateral: (closure in mouth centre + air escape at tongue sides) 6. Approximant: (slight narrowing but not enough to cause friction) voiced voiceless voiced voiceless Description of English consonants 1. 7. 13. 19. 2. 8. 14. 20. 3. 9. 15. 21. 4. 10. 16. 22. 5. 11. 17. 23. 6. 12. 18. 24. Classification of consonants Classification of consonants Bilabial Labio dental Dental Alveolar Palato- alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Stop - + - + - + Fricative - + - + - + - + - Affricate + - Nasal +m + + Lateral + Approximant +w + +