Questions tagged [consonants]
This tag is for questions about the pronunciation and orthographic representation of consonants.
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Aspirated voiceless plosives after consonants at the end of words
It is my understanding that:
Voiceless stops are aspirated at the beginning of a word, and at the
beginning of a stressed syllable.
Voiceless stops are unaspirated at
the beginning of an unstressed ...
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1
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Are there more than 44 phonemes in English?
I was using English words to teach Malayalam consonants when I noticed that Malayalam has separate characters for the alveolar and retroflex versions of the same consonant. But I also noticed that ...
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Have difficulty in pronouncing /g/
I noticed myself have this problem recently. When I pronounce /g/, I get a result like a mix of /g/ and /d/, is there any suggestions on how to train and improve this point?
I can hear the sound ...
Hotaru
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Why is editted wrong?
The general rule is that when we have vowel + consonant + vowel we should double the consonant, in order to properly pronounce the whole word.
The examples include: submitted , shipping, etc.
So why ...
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Which of the two different pronunciations of /z/ is correct?
When I was learning the English phonemes, I noticed that the phoneme represented by /z/ was pronounced significantly differently in the two tutorials I had purchased.
I had thought that maybe one of ...
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How to pronounce words starting with a "v" fast?
I just learned that recently from this video, how do words like "one" are pronounced differently from "van", the latter need to using the bottom lip to touch the upper teeth to ...
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Can any native English speakers hear the flap t sound in "But I..." in the clip?
There are five segments in the clip. Are all the ts in "But I..." pronounced out the flap t sound? I personally can hear the flap t sound in the second and third segments. The first and ...
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How to pronounce "Attached to"?
I pronounce "attached to" like "attach to" when the two words are linked and spoken a little fast ([əˈtætʃ.tə]). Is this OK? Or do I have to say [əˈtætʃt.tə]?
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Pronunciation of 'pronunciation' with an intrusive T
According to the dictionaries, pronunciation is pronounced pruh-nuhn-see-ey-shuhn. However, do native English speakers really say [see] instead of [tsee] even when talking fast? For instance, I hear [...
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Why are "LOse" and "LOOse" pronounced differently?
I know that both the words are pronounced and used differently. I also found another question on this site: "Use of loose and lose [closed]", but that is about the usage of the word. My ...
user128441
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Pronunciation of [bunch'ed' together]: "ch+ed+t" cluster
The sheep "bunched together" as soon as they saw the dog.
VERY HARD to pronounce [~ed t~] together
"~ed" here is like "t" or "d"?
There are many [ch+ed] words. ...
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Why is this so that some consonants take final or front position in words?
I noticed this in many words e.g. puLP, the cluster /lp/ can take place in final position but not front.
e.g. 2. paRT but /rt/ can't take first place why?
user126417
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Why "admit" with T but "admissible" with SS?
I just noticed that when the suffix -ible is added to "admit", it becomes "admissible" rather than "admittible".
There are few other examples:
"omit" = "...
user119042
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What's the consonant in the word "you"?
Some dictionaries say the IPA of the word "you" is "yu", some say the IPA is "ju", which is the correct consonant?
"y" or "j"?
Dictionary.com says it'...
user125741
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Does the word "discharge" sound more like /dɪstʃɑːʳdʒ/ or /dɪsdʒɑːʳdʒ/?
Does the word discharge sound more like /dɪstʃɑːʳdʒ/ or /dɪsdʒɑːʳdʒ/?
How about exchange or disproportion?
Do they sound more like /ɪkstʃeɪndʒ/ or /ɪksdʒeɪndʒ/?
/dɪsprəpɔːʳʃən/ or /dɪsbrəpɔːʳʃən/?
I ...
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How to pronounce "changed"?
When pronouncing the word changed, how to do that? It is giving me a hard time because of the G and D part. It is so difficult to pronounce. Can I skip the G and pronounce chaned or what is the ...
user125295
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General spelling rule: no double (repeated) consonant after another consonant?
Is it correct to tell ESL students that there aren't any words in English that have a double repeated consonant after another consonant?
For example:
Sttrugle
Inffection
dispposal
Thanks!
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Is / l / in “whole” dark or clear?
Is / l / in “whole” dark or clear?
I know that a clear ( or palatalised ) / l / is in a prevocalic position; nonetheless, I also know that the dark / l / ( or velarised ) is usually at the end of ...
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Do English language consonants soften?
Bonk's English course book states that they didn't at all. Where could someone obtain this necessary knowledge? Do you soften the first letter of DID rather than first of DO?
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How to pronounce unaspirated stop sound properly? Such as the /t/ in " let me", is it just/lɛ/ /mi/?
I'm not a native speaker, and I feel difficult to pronounce unaspirated stop sound properly, such as the /t/ in "let me". I found some learning materials on internet, but they are not sophisticated ...
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Final consonants: ways of compensating for the lack of voicing in initial and final position. [closed]
this question (Final consonants: ways of compensating for the lack of voicing in initial and final position.) is part of my exam but I fully don´t understand what it means.
Please can someone tell ...
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Can I make an unaspirated /t/ sound in the words like "best", "chest", "belt" etc. in American English?
As far as I know, if there is a vowel before the final /t/ or if there is the letter /n/ before the final /t/, we can make an unaspirated /t/ sound in American English. For example: "hot", "cut", "...
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Are there words with the letter C in which its pronounced like Z?
Are there words in English with the letter C in which it's really pronounced as Z?
By googling I found an old book which counts these words as in which letter C sounds like Z: suffice, discern, ...
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Is letter Y in "Guyana" a vowel or a consonant?
Despite not being perfect, I do have some basic knowledge about consonants and vowels. From textbooks and internet, I know that, for example, C, Q and X are always consonants; A, E, I, O, U are always ...
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'an' or 'a' before the word 'user'? [duplicate]
We learn in English grammar class to use 'a' before words starting with consonants and 'an' before words starting with vowels.
Since for the word 'user' which starts with a vowel, are we supposed to ...
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Where to find X-ray videos of the vocal track for all the English vowels? [closed]
I've found this web page that makes a convincing case for teaching/studying the cardinal vowel quadrilateral in language learning. Apparently it is taught to improve the accent to actors, and in some ...
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Does English language have a voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate sound [t͡s]?
This affricate is not present in consonant tables for English language found in my textbooks. I do not trust them too much, because they omit some other English sounds too.
I wonder mainly about ...
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The TH sound seems to be silent just after the S sound
When enjoying this beautiful song, I can't help but ask a question just like why the TH sound of that seems silent when used after the S sound. In my brain, the sound formed itself "recklessat" just ...
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Are English consonant sounds [p], [t], [k] aspirated before another consonant?
Most sources which I encountered say that English consonants [p], [t], [k] are aspirated before a vowel but not after [s], and become unaspirated after [s]. Canonical example: [p] is strongly ...
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Does an (optionally) parenthesised word influence choice of article “a” vs “an”, or ðə vs ðiː?
The title sentence could be rendered in two ways: the one above, or
Does a (optionally) parenthesised word...
This might be more appropriate since the "optionally" has a kind of “removable” ...
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Pronunciation of "met her" in American English
According to what I have been taught about American English:
Consonant /t/ becomes flap between vowels (when not being onset of stressed syllable)
Consonant /h/ becomes silent (when not [same as ...
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Should the last letter 'd' pronounced in word 'independent'?
I've got to know that the 'T' sound in American English has various pronunciation rules.
For example, flap T. And also one of the rule is when T sound followed by an 'n' sound or 'ən' sound, the 'T' ...
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Does "shore" require the "r" sound in the pronunciation (UK pronunciation)?
In the Cambridge Dictionary I see the pronunciation of the word shore is represented by /ʃɔːr/. In the WordReference dictionary it is instead pronounced as /ʃɔː/. The "r" sound is silent in the last ...
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Double consonant: when should I use them?
I would like to know a clear rule about when should I use double consonant.
For example: intelligent (yes), little (yes), collapse (yes), elegant (no).
Not just about double l, but in general, is ...
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Use of "an" for a word not starting with a vowel [duplicate]
I've encountered this quite a few times now. I'm aware that usually words, starting with a vowel require an "an", words not starting with a vowel are preceded by an "a".
Sometimes words start with a ...
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What does Ann Margret say, "Oh, dream maker" or "Old dream maker" in the song "Moon River"?
The song "Moon River" has been sung by many singers.
I particularly like Ann Margret's version.
There are several videos on YouTube with this version; one of them is at this link.
You can easily find ...
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AmEng: Is the T tapped (flap) in the compound noun heart attack?
Is the T tapped (flap) in the compound noun: heart attack? I'm talking about the T in the word "heart".
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Do Americans remove the "t" in "wanted"?
When you pronounce the phrase "I got a message you wanted to see me", is the "t" usually deleted in the word "wanted"? Thank you.
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Do native speakers distinguish well the pronunciations of "L" and "R"?
Sometimes I have a problem in distinguishing "L" and "R" in spoken English.
I wonder if native speakers distinguish well the pronunciations of "L" and "R".
For example, how about "leave" and "reave" ...
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Aspirated T in unstressed syllable
I read that p, t, and k are aspirated at the beginning of words, but are they aspirated in an unstressed syllable?
For example, the first syllable in the word "today" is unstressed.
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Question about assimilation
Good day [ɡʊd deɪ] and at time [ət taɪm] - is it a partial assimilation(loss of plossion), or maybe complete assimilation like in horse-shoe?
And what about don’t you ? I know there's a form doncha ...
user11312
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Modifications of consonants
Could you help me to figure out one thing?
My task is to comment on the modifications of consonants by the neighbouring sounds(assimilation,ellision). But there are some words in the task where I don'...
user11312
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Thoracic: Why are two differing types of c pronunciations used?
In the English language, the word thoracic is pronounced as "thorasik." (I know that's not the proper way to show pronunciation, but I'm interested (for this question) in the two c's.
Why would it ...
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a-an consonant starting words [duplicate]
Is there some special rule regarding articles for words starting with two consonants? I was taught to use a when a word starts with consonant (or an otherwise). I just wrote "a mPOS device" but MS ...
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do you release the air from nose when say cotton?
I am trying to learn how to pronounce words like cotton, written, mountain.
in general, the t, then n (between them will not be pronounced)
so i learned that i have to cut the t. in other words, make ...
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Why connection is "pronounced" as C while "concert" is pronounced as K [duplicate]
I was wondering why connection is pronounced with C while concert is pronounced with K.
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Why do Americans pronounce the word "shorter" differently from the British?
While I am learning the American pronunciation, I find that the Americans pronounce the word "shorter" quite differently from the British. Specifically, the "t" sound in the word ...
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Is there a rule to know when to pronounce letter c as a "soft c" (s) or "hard c" (k)?
Is there a rule that would help me to learn when to pronounce the letter c as an "s" sound or a "k" sound?
For example:
- cat (kat)
- center (sinter)
Are there any rules, or is it all memorization?...
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How to pronounce P, T and K after an "s" in certain words? [duplicate]
I have been taught that the pronunciation the letters after /s/ should be changed.
e.g.
school: ch reads /g/ (as in grow)
stay: t reads /d/ (as in day)
But I'm not sure these words:
describe: ...
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What is the difference in pronunciation between "rider" and "writer"?
In the following sentence:
Jack London and Charles Dickens were both great writers.
How do you pronounce the "w" in "writer" to distinguish it from "rider"?
...
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