Consonants in the IPA
The technical names of consonants tell three things about a sound:
- The state of the vocal cords (voiced or voiceless)
- The place of articulation in the vocal tract (bilabial, etc.)
- The manner of articulation or the way the air moves through the vocal tract (fricative, etc.)
The technical names for the consonants follow the order listed above. Thus, for example, what a teacher traditionally would call “the f sound” in an elementary classroom is technically called a voiceless labiodental fricative. The terms used in the technical names, like many other scientific and technical terms, are frequently derived from Latin roots.
Activity: Learn the Technical Names
(Joe, Here students should be able to do something like mouse over a term and hear the sound that goes with the name and vice versa.)
b |
voiced bilabial stop |
d |
voiced alveolar stop |
f |
voiceless labiodental fricative |
h |
voiceless glottal fricative |
k |
voiceless velar stop |
l |
voiced alveolar lateral liquid |
m |
voiced bilabial nasal |
n |
voiced alveolar nasal |
p |
voiceless bilabial stop |
s |
voiceless alveopalatal fricative |
t |
voiceless alveolar stop |
v |
voiced labiodental fricative |
w |
voiced velar glide |
z |
voiced alveopalatal fricative |
Activity: Learn the Technical Names
The IPA symbols associated with many of the consonant speech sounds are already familiar symbols for native speakers of English, and they even represent the same sound that a NSE is accustomed to associate with that symbol. These include the following (make this interactive too somehow):
b |
voiced bilabial stop |
d |
voiced alveolar stop |
f |
voiceless labiodental fricative |
h |
voiceless glottal fricative |
k |
voiceless velar stop |
l |
voiced alveolar lateral liquid |
m |
voiced bilabial nasal |
n |
voiced alveolar nasal |
p |
voiceless bilabial stop |
s |
voiceless alveopalatal fricative |
t |
voiceless alveolar stop |
v |
voiced labiodental fricative |
w |
voiced velar glide |
z |
voiced alveopalatal fricative |
Activity: Learn the Technical Names
Other consonant sounds may be written with familiar symbols, but represent different sounds than a native speaker of English is accustomed to. Others may have more than one sound attached in English, but only one of the two in IPA. Finally, other consonants sounds are written with completely unfamiliar symbols. These need practice (make interactive).
g |
voiced velar stop |
j |
voiced palatal glide |
ŋ |
voiced velar nasal |
dʒ |
voiced palatal affricate |
tʃ |
voiceless palatal affricate |
ʃ |
voiceless palatal fricative |
ʒ |
voiced palatal fricative |
θ |
voiceless interdental fricative |
ð |
voiced interdental fricative |
ʍ |
voiceless velar glide |
Activity: Learn the Technical Names
Some other symbols may be used in addition to the basic sounds already listed. These symbols represent sounds in English that most native speakers are unaware that they are producing and that are not represented in the practical orthography of English. (Make interactive)
| ɾ | voiced alveolar flap |
| ʔ | glottal stop |
| _h | aspirated stop |
Finally, although the IPA includes a unique symbol [ɹ] for the voiced alveolar retroflex liquid, the Praxis does not use this symbol and instead uses the r from the Latin alphabet for the English retroflex.
The table below follows the standard IPA format by showing the terms associated with the front of the vocal tract (lips) on the left and moving back through the vocal tract in order until the sounds produced farthest back in the vocal tract are all the way on the right. This table only shows the consonants in English.
|
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Interdental |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
|||||||
|
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
v |
vls |
Stop |
b |
p |
|
|
|
|
d |
t |
|
|
g |
k |
|
ʔ |
Fricative |
|
|
v |
f |
ð |
θ |
z |
s |
ʒ |
ʃ |
|
|
|
h |
Affricate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
dʒ |
tʃ |
|
|
|
|
Nasal |
m |
|
|
|
|
|
n |
|
|
|
ŋ |
|
|
|
Liquid |
|
|
|
|
|
|
l r |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Glide |
w |
ʍ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
j |
|
w |
ʍ |
|
|
Activity: Go to Multiple Choice questions in Moodle to practice exercises on IPA consonants