Page 13 - 663

and noise combined, while vowels arc sounds consisting of voice
only. From the articulatory point of view the difference is due to
the work of speech organs. In case of vowels no obstruction is
made. In case of consonants various obstructions are made. So
consonants are characterized by so-called close articulation that is
by a complete, partial or intermittent blockage of the air-passage
by an organ or organs. The closure is formed in such a way that the
air-stream is blocked or hindered or otherwise gives rise to audible
friction. As a result consonants are sounds which have noise as
their indispensable and most defining characteristic.
What we have said makes it logic enough to consider each class of
sounds independently. So we shall start with consonants.

Consonants

On the articulatory level each consonant may be identified
by stating two general facts about it:
1) what sort of articulatory posture it is formed by;
2) whereabout in the mouth (or pharynx) it is
produced.
Beside these major characteristics the particular quality of a
consonant may depend on a lot of other factors, that is by what
articulatory organ (or organs) an obstruction is made, how vocal
cords work at the moment of production, what cavity is used as a
resonator, what is the force of articulatory effect and many others.
So in our view the particular quality of a consonant would be best
thought of as a complex bundle of features. Each sound is known
to have three aspects: acoustic, articulatory and auditory and
therefore can be studied on these three levels. Here phonological
description of sounds will be made in terms of articulatory level.
As to the classification of English consonants there are few
ways of seeing the situation. Thus, according to some scientists,
English consonants are classified on the ground of the type of
obstruction and the manner of production of noise. So, two large

10