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After the air has left the larynx, it passes into the vocal tract After the air has left the larynx, it passes into the vocal tract. Consonants are produced by obstructing the airflow through the vocal tract. There are a number of places where these obstructions can take place. These places are known as the articulators. CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place The articulators are: lips (labial); teeth (dental); alveolar ridge (alveolar); hard palate (palatal); soft palate (velar); throat (glottal). CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place Lips If both of the lips are used to articulate a sound, then it is said to be a bilabial sound. Examples of bilabial sounds include: /p/,/b/ and /m/. Two sounds use the lower lip together with the upper teeth and so are called labio-dental consonants. These sounds are: /f/ and /v/. CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place Dental The two 'th' sounds of English are formed by forcing air through the teeth. If you say the soft th in thin and then the hard th sound in then, you can feel the air being forced through the teeth. The tongue tip is articulating with the upper teeth. The upper teeth are also used when you say f and v. In this case however, air is being forced through the upper teeth and lower lip. CONSONANTS - Place

Alveolar An alveolar sound is when the tongue tip, or blade, touches the bony prominence behind the top teeth. The following sounds are alveolar:/t/,/d/,/s/,/z/,/l/,/r/,/n/. CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place Palate This is the hard bit of the arched bony structure that forms the roof of the mouth. The /j/ sound in yes is the clearest example of a palato sound in RP. You can feel the fricative sound being forced between the tongue and the very top of your mouth. CONSONANTS - Place

Four sounds are said to be palato- alveolar/alveopalatal Four sounds are said to be palato- alveolar/alveopalatal. This is partly because the blade of the tongue straddles both the alveolar ridge and the front of the hard palate as air is forced through to make the following sounds: The sh in sheep. The g in genre. The ch in cheap. And j the in jeep. CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place The Soft Palate - Velar The velar sounds are usually made when the back of the tongue is pressed against the soft palate. They include the k in cat, the g in girl and the ng in hang. /w/ is also regarded as a labio-velar sound, because it simultaneously uses both lips whilst raising the back of the tongue towards the velum. Try saying /wheel/ and /win/ and feel the position of your tongue. CONSONANTS - Place

CONSONANTS - Place Glottis Glottal sounds are those sounds that are made in the larynx through the closure or narrowing of the glottis. /h/ as in Helen is an example of a glottal sound. It is physically impossible to feel the process using your tongue. It is as far back as you can get in your mouth. CONSONANTS - Place

The glottal stop (a complete obstruction to the passage of air resulting in a period of silence – it is becoming more common in many non-RP accents in Britain as in bu'er, wa'er) is becoming a more widespread part of British English, but is still uncommon in R.P. You also use your glottis for speech when you whisper or speak in a creaky voice. CONSONANTS - Place