Page:An outline of English phonetics ... with 131 illustrations (IA cu31924027389505).pdf/31

Rh should be noted that voiced consonants are usually pronounced with less force of the breath than breathed consonants.

60. The distinction between breathed and voiced consonants is of the utmost importance. Some foreigners have difficulty in recognizing the difference between breathed and voiced consonants, and in bringing out the distinction clearly in their speech.

61. It is a good phonetic exercise to deduce unfamiliar breathed consonants from familiar voiced ones, e, g. to deduce from m, which is a voiced consonant, the corresponding breathed consonant (phonetic symbol m̥), and to deduce from l the corresponding breathed consonant l̥. This is done by practising sequences such as vfvf.... zszs.... until the method of passing from voice to breath is clearly felt, and then applying the same method to m, l, etc., thus obtaining mmm.... llll... etc. (In practising these exercises, the sounds should follow one another continuously without break of any kind.)

62. The distinction between the voiced and breathed “plosives” (p, t, k, and b, d, g) offers special difficulty to some foreigners (particularly to Germans, Scandinavians, Chinese). The difficulty generally lies in the voiced sounds, for which “unaspirated” (§ 172) breathed sounds are commonly substituted. When the attention of foreigners is called to the nature of the fully voiced sounds, they sometimes imitate them by prefixing a nasal consonant, saying for instance mpɑ, ntɑ, instead of bɑ, dɑ. A true voiced b may be acquired by practising the exercise pmpmpm... pronounced without opening the lips, followed by the exercise bmbmbm... also pronounced without opening the lips, and taking care that voice is distinctly heard during the pronunciation of the b. The student should also practise repeating the “stop” (§ 168) of b, i.e. pronouncing bbbb... without separating the lips. (Take care that this exercise does not degenerate into mmmm....) Voiced d, ɡ may similarly be acquired by practising tntntn..., dndndn..., dddd..., kŋkŋkŋkŋ..., ɡŋɡŋɡŋ..., ɡɡɡɡ... without moving the tongue. These exercises present extraordinary difficulty to some foreigners, and they should be practised until thoroughly mastered. Besides being useful in teaching voiced sounds, they are of great value for obtaining control over the soft palate.

63. Apart from the division into the two groups “breathed” and “voiced”, consonants may be classified (i) according to the organs which articulate them, (ii) according to the manner in which the organs articulate them.

64. If we classify them according to the organs which articulate them, we distinguish six main classes.