English consonants

VELUM

• There is a further possibility for contact between the tongue and the roof of the mouth that is used in most languages. The back of the tongue body contacts the region near the back of the roof of the mouth, near the structure called the velum. This is called velar place of articulation. It is a feature of the first and last consonants in the word gag. the symbol for these stops is /g/, so the pronunciation of gag is written /gæg/. The position of the vocal tract for the pronunciation of /g/ is shown in the figure below.

So English distinguishes the stops /b, d, g/ along the dimension of place of articulation. Other places of articulation are utilized for other English consonants that are not stops and for consonants in other languages.

• So English distinguishes the stops /b, d, g/ along the dimension of place of articulation. Other places of articulation are utilized for other English consonants that are not stops and for consonants in other languages.
• Now notice what these three stops share. Like all stops, they are produced with complete contact between the articulators. In addition, all of them are accompanied by voicing, that is, vibration of the vocal cords, during the contact. Thus when they appear at the beginning of a word, the voicing starts before the contact is released (and continues through the following vowel), and when they appear at the end of a word, the voicing continues after the contact is made. (Note that the voicing can't start too much before the beginning of a word like bib or stop too much after the end of a word like bib because the air being passed through the vocal cords can't escape, and pressure builds up quickly behind the point of contact, preventing more air from being expelled from the lungs. You can verify this for yourself by trying to pronounce a long /b/, /d/, or /g/ sound without releasing the contact between the articulators.)