11 Consonant Phonemes

11. Consonant Phonemes No. Phonemes Helping Words 1. / p / p --- pen 2. / b / b --- bed 3. / t / t --- tea 4. / d / d --- desk 5. / k / c --- uncle / k ---ankle / ch --- mechanic 6. / g / g --- girl 7. / ∫ / sh -- she /t -- patient /c -- ocean 8. / Ӡ / s -- leisure 9. / t∫ / ch – chair 10. / dӠ / ge – orange /dge – bridge/ J -- June 11. / f / f – fly / gh – rough / ph – elephant 12. / v / v – vase 13. / s / s – sea / c – cell / x – box 14. / z / z – zoo / s – boys / es – houses 15. / θ / th – three 16. / ð / th – father 17. / h / h -- hat 18. / m / m – mother 19. / n / n – no / n – on 20. / ŋ / nk – sink / ng – sing 21. / l / l – all / l -- like 22. / r / r -- red 23. / j / y – yes 24. / w / w – we There are twenty-four consonant phonemes in the English language. The consonant phonemes are distinguished by the places and manners of articulation as well as the phonation. The consonant phonemes from No. 1 – 16 are in pairs. They have the same place and manner of articulation. The only difference to distinguish the two is the phonation. The odd numbers No. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 are voiceless and the even number No. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 are voiced. No. 17 is alone and also voiceless. The rest of the consonant phonemes from 18 to 24 are all voiced. The knowledge of the phonation helps learners distinguish the letter “s” to have speech sounds /s/ or /z/ in the words ended in voiceless or voiced consonants. For example, the plural noun “taps” has /s/ speech sound as the letter “s” is suffixed to the voiceless consonant /p/. The plural noun “tabs”, on the other hand, has /z/ speech sound as the letter “s” is suffixed to the voiced consonant /b/. There are nine word classes in the English language. Out of the nine, only Nouns and Verbs have the singular or plural forms. With the suffixes of “s” or “es” to Nouns, plural nouns are formed. On the other hand, with the suffixes of “s” or “es” to Verb in the Simple Present tense, singular forms of verbs are formed.