Dr. Judith M. Newman

Spelling Patterns in English

 

  Sound Patterns Structural Patterns  Meaning Patterns  
 
 
    Prefixes   Assessment  
    Multi-Syllabic Words   1-1-1 Rule   References  

CONSONANTS

Consonant is the name given to a sound that is formed by the articulation of the tongue and lips/teeth closing off the flow of air. In written English each consonant is represented by one or more letters.

There are two kinds of consonants: stop (b, d, g, etc.) and continuant (l, m, n, w, h, s).

Consonants can also be voiced (using the larynx in the production of sound) or unvoiced (creating a whisper). You can tell whether a consonant is voiced or unvoiced by holding your fingers against your larynx while making the sound--you can feel a vibration against your fingers when you make a voiced consonant; you don't feel anything with an unvoiced one.

SINGLE CONSONANT SOUNDS

Single consonant sounds can require more than one letter of the alphabet to represent them.

  VOICED UNVOICED
  b

p

 

d

t

 

g

c, ck, k, ch

STOP

j, ge, dge

ch, tch

 

th

th

 

v

f

 

z

s

 

/zh/

s

     
  VOICED UNVOICED
    h
 

l

 
 

m, -mb, -mn

 
 

n, gn, pn, kn

 
CONTINUANT

-ng, -ngue

 
 

r, wr

 
 

w

 
 

y