3 Secrets to Pronouncing Consonant Sounds the American way

Did you know that there are 24 different consonant sounds in American English? No wonder English learners have such trouble articulating these sounds!

When you make these consonant sounds your mouth narrows and the air flow is obstructed by your tongue, teeth and lips. There is a lot of action happening in your mouth when you pronounce consonants so let’s talk more about this.

When you make any consonant sound there are three things that you need to be aware of - the Place, the Manner and Voicing. These are the 3 'secrets' for making English consonant sounds correctly that you need to know.

 The Place: Where is the air flow obstructed in your mouth, at the teeth, at the lips, behind the tooth ridge, at the roof of the mouth, at the back of the tongue?

 

 The Manner: How is the air flow obstructed, is it stopped, partially stopped, does it pass through the nose or through the mouth?

 

 Voicing: Do the vocal chords vibrate or are they relaxed?

Read on and I’ll give you some examples of place, manner and voicing.

1. Place

When you pronounce English consonants you stop the airflow in different places in your mouth. Some of the places where you stop the air are: at your lips, with your lips and teeth, at the gum ridge, and at the roof of your mouth.

2. Manner

When you make some English consonants you completely block the air with your lips or tongue and then release it. These types of consonants are called stops and they are:

• /p/, /b/, the air is stopped at the lips
• /t/, /d/, the air is stopped behind the gum ridge
• /k/, /g/, the air is stopped at the back of the throat

When you make other English consonants you constrict the air flow before it continues through your mouth and nose. These type of consonants are called continuants. Continuant consonants include /s/, /z/, /f/, /v/, /r/, /l/.

3. Voicing

Some consonants will cause your vocal chords to vibrate when you say them. These types of consonants are called voiced consonants. Other consonants will not cause your vocal chords to vibrate when you say them. These are called voiceless consonants.

Non-native English speakers often have problems telling the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants. They also have trouble pronouncing the /r/ sound, the /f/ and /v/ sounds, the /s/ and /z/ sounds and /n/ and /ng/ sounds.

Mini Lesson: Minimal Pairs

One method that pronunciation teachers use to help students learn to hear and pronounce different vowels and consonants is called minimal pairs. In minimal pair activities students are presented with a pair of words that have one different sound that is typically difficult for students to differentiate.

Look at the two columns of words below. What is the one sound that is different in each pair? ….That’s right, the words in column A have the /n/ sound, the words in column B have the /ng/ sound.

Click the Play button below to listen and repeat each pair of words.

Now say each pair of words on your own. Can you tell the difference between each pair of words?

Listening Exercise

Here is a minimal pair listening discrimination exercise for you to take. I will say one word from each pair. You listen and choose the word I said. I will say seven words in all. The answers can be found below. *

Click the Play button below to listen, then choose the word you hear me say.

*(Answers: 1. rang, 2. kin, 3. thin, 4. wing, 5.sung, 6. things, 7. sinning)