Phonetics

The study of the sounds of language: articulation, acoustics, and audition.

The consonants of American English

The IPA recognizes ~110 basic sounds. How many consonants are there in english? 25 basic ones and two marginal ones.

• /p/: voiceless bilabial stop.
• /b/: voiced bilabial stop.
• /m/: voiced bilabial nasal stop.
• /f/: voiceless labiodental fricative.
• /v/: voiced labiodental fricative.
• /O-/: voiceless interdental fricative
• /d-/: voiced interdental fricative.
• /t/: voiceless alveolar stop.
• /d/: voiced alveolar stop.
• /n/: voiced alveolar nasal stop.
• /z/: voiced alveolar fricative.
• /s/: voiceless alveolar fricative.
• /l/: voiced lateral alveolar approximant.
• /3/: voiced postalveolar fricative

Terminology

• Voiced: using voice
• Bilabial: made by closing lips together
• Stop: constriction the vocal tract followed by release
• Nasal: with a raised velum, which allows air to escape through the nose.
• Fricative: passing air through a near-total constriction.
• Interdental: made with the tip of the tounge between the teeth.
• Alveolar: made with the tounge close to the alveolar ridge (bony bit behind teeth).
• Approximant: a consonant produced with minimal closure.
• Lateral: the airstream goes down the sides of the vocal tract, not the middle.
• Postalveolar: constriction farther back than the alveolar ridge.

lots more…