Consonant 5641 222343353 2008-06-28T20:59:27Z AlleborgoBot 3813685 robot Adding: [[hi:व्यंजन वर्ण]] {{for|the alternative rock group|Consonant (band)}} {{dablink|Not to be confused with the musical concept of [[Consonance and dissonance|consonance]].}} {{Place of articulation}} In [[articulatory phonetics]], a '''consonant''' is a [[speech sound]] that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper [[vocal tract]], the upper vocal tract being defined as that part of the vocal tract that lies above the [[larynx]]. Since the number of consonants in the world's languages is much greater than the number of consonant letters in any one alphabet, [[Linguistics|linguists]] have devised systems such as the [[help:IPA|International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) to assign a unique [[symbol]] to each attested consonant. In fact, the [[Latin alphabet]], which is used to write English, has fewer consonant letters than English has consonant sounds, so [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s like "ch", "sh", "th", and "zh" are used to extend the alphabet, and some letters and digraphs represent more than one consonant. For example, many speakers are not aware that the sound spelled "th" in "this" is a different consonant than the "th" sound in "thing". (In the IPA they are transcribed {{IPA|ð}} and {{IPA|θ}}, respectively.) ==Origin of the term== The word ''consonant'' comes from [[Latin]] oblique stem ''cōnsonant-,'' from ''cōnsonāns (littera)'' "sounding-together (letter)", a [[loan translation]] of Greek σύμφωνον ''sýmphōnon.''<ref>Robert K. Barnhart, ''ed.'', ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology'', Previously published as ''The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology'', originally ©1988 The H.W. Wilson Company; Edinburgh, reprinted 2001: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., p. 210.</ref> As originally conceived by Plato,<ref>Plato, ''Cratylus'' 424 C; ''Theaetetus'' 203 B.</ref> ''sýmphōna'' were specifically the [[stop consonant]]s, described as "not being pronounceable without an adjacent vowel sound".<ref>R.H. Robins, ''A Short History of Linguistics'', 2nd Ed.; ©1967 R.H. Robins, ©1979 Longman Group Ltd.; paper edition, 5th printing 1985, p. 23.</ref> Thus the term did not cover [[continuant|continuant consonants]], which occur without vowels in a minority of languages, for example at the ends of the English words ''bott'''le''''' and ''butt'''on'''.'' (The final vowel letters ''e'' and ''o'' in these words are only a product of orthography; Plato was concerned with pronunciation.) However, even Plato's original conception of consonant is inadequate for the universal description of [[Natural language|human language]], since in some languages, such as the [[Salishan languages]], stop consonants may also occur without vowels (see [[Nuxálk language|Nuxálk]]), and the modern conception of consonant does not require cooccurrence with vowels. ==Consonantal features== Each consonant can be distinguished by several ''[[Distinctive feature|features]]'':<ref name=SOWL/> * The [[manner of articulation]] is the method that the consonant is articulated, such as [[nasal consonant|nasal]] (through the nose), [[stop consonant|stop]] (complete obstruction of air), or [[approximant]] (vowel like). * The [[place of articulation]] is where in the vocal tract the obstruction of the consonant occurs, and which speech organs are involved. Places include [[bilabial consonant|bilabial]] (both lips), [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] (tongue against the gum ridge), and [[velar consonant|velar]] (tongue against soft palate). Additionally, there may be a simultaneous narrowing at another place of articulation, such as [[palatalisation]] or [[pharyngealisation]]. * The [[phonation]] of a consonant is how the [[vocal cords]] vibrate during the articulation. When the vocal cords vibrate fully, the consonant is called [[voiced]]; when they do not vibrate at all, it's [[voiceless]]. * The [[voice onset time]] (VOT) indicates the timing of the phonation. [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspiration]] is a feature of VOT. * The [[airstream mechanism]] is how the air moving through the vocal tract is powered. Most languages have exclusively [[pulmonic egressive]] consonants, which use the lungs and diaphragm, but [[ejective]]s, [[click consonant|click]]s, and [[implosive]]s use different mechanisms. * The [[gemination|length]] is how long the obstruction of a consonant lasts. This feature is borderline distinctive in English, as in "wholly" {{IPA|[hoʊlli]}} vs. "holy" {{IPA|[hoʊli]}}, but cases are limited to morpheme boundaries. Unrelated roots are differentiated in various languages such as Italian, Japanese and Finnish, with two length levels, "single" and "[[geminate]]". [[Estonian language|Estonian]] and some [[Sami languages]] have three phonemic lengths: short, geminate, and long geminate, although the distinction between the geminate and overlong geminate includes suprasegmental features. * The articulatory force is how much muscular energy is involved. This has been proposed many times, but no distinction relying exclusively on force has ever been demonstrated. All English consonants can be classified by a combination of these features, such as "voiceless alveolar stop consonant" {{IPA|[t]}}. In this case the airstream mechanism is omitted. Some pairs of consonants like ''p::b'', ''t::d'' are sometimes called [[fortis and lenis]], but this is a [[phonology|phonological]] rather than phonetic distinction. {{Manner_of_articulation}} ==Consonant as a symbol== {{main|Writing system}} The word '''consonant''' is also used to refer to a [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of an [[alphabet]] that denotes a consonant sound. Consonant letters in the English alphabet are [[B]], [[C]], [[D]], [[F]], [[G]], [[H]], [[J]], [[K]], [[L]], [[M]], [[N]], [[P]], [[Q]], [[R]], [[S]], [[T]], [[V]], [[X]], [[Z]], and usually [[W]] and [[Y]]: The letter Y stands for the consonant {{IPA|[j]}} in "yoke", and for the vowel {{IPA|[ɪ]}} in "myth", for example; W is almost always a consonant except in rare words (mostly [[loanword]]s from [[Welsh language|Welsh]]) like "crwth" "cwm". ==Consonants and vowels== Consonants and vowels correspond to distinct parts of a [[syllable]]: The most sonorous part of the syllable (that is, the part that's easiest to sing), called the ''syllabic peak'' or ''[[syllable nucleus|nucleus]],'' is typically a vowel, while the less sonorous margins (called the ''[[syllable onset|onset]]'' and ''[[syllable coda|coda]]'') are typically consonants. Such syllables may be abbreviated CV, V, and CVC, where C stands for consonant and V stands for vowel. This can be argued to be the only pattern found in most of the world's languages, and perhaps the primary pattern in all of them. However, the distinction between consonant and vowel is not always clear cut: there are syllabic consonants and non-syllabic vowels in many of the world's languages. One blurry area is in segments variously called ''[[semivowel]]s, semiconsonants,'' or ''glides''. On the one side, there are vowel-like segments which are not in themselves syllabic, but which form [[diphthong]]s as part of the syllable nucleus, as the ''i'' in English ''boil'' {{IPA|[ˈbɔɪ̯l]}}. On the other, there are [[approximant]]s which behave like consonants in forming onsets, but are articulated very much like vowels, as the ''y'' in English ''yes'' {{IPA|[ˈjɛs]}}. Some phonologists model these as both being the vowel /i/, so that the English word ''bit'' would [[phoneme|phonemically]] be {{IPA|/bit/}}, ''beet'' would be {{IPA|/bii̯t/}}, and ''yield'' would be phonemically {{IPA|/i̯ii̯ld/}}. Similarly, ''foot'' would be {{IPA|/fut/}}, ''food'' would be {{IPA|/fuu̯d/}}, ''wood'' would be {{IPA|/u̯ud/}}, and ''wooed'' would be {{IPA|/u̯uu̯d/}}. However, there is a (perhaps allophonic) difference in articulation between these segments, with the {{IPA|[j]}} in {{IPA|[ˈjɛs]}} ''yes'' and {{IPA|[ˈjiʲld]}} ''yield'' and the {{IPA|[w]}} of {{IPA|[ˈwuʷd]}} ''wooed'' having more constriction and a more definite place of articulation than the {{IPA|[ɪ]}} in {{IPA|[ˈbɔɪ̯l]}} ''boil'' or {{IPA|[ˈbɪt]}} ''bit'' or the {{IPA|[ʊ]}} of {{IPA|[ˈfʊt]}}. The other problematic area is that of syllabic consonants, that is, segments which are articulated as consonants but which occupy the nucleus of a syllable. This may be the case for words such as ''church'' in rhotic dialects of English, although phoneticians differ in whether they consider this to be a syllabic consonant, {{IPA|/ˈtʃɹ̩tʃ/}}, or a rhotic vowel, {{IPA|/ˈtʃɝtʃ/}}: Some distinguish an approximant {{IPA|/ɹ/}} that corresponds to a vowel {{IPA|/ɝ/}}, for ''rural'' as {{IPA|/ˈɹɝl/}} or {{IPA|[ˈɹʷɝːl̩]}}; others see these as the a single phoneme, {{IPA|/ˈɹɹ̩l/}}. Other languages utilize fricative and often trilled segments as syllabic nuclei, as in [[Czech language|Czech]] and several languages in Congo and China, including [[Mandarin Chinese]]. In Mandarin, they are historically allophones of {{IPA|/i/}}, and spelled that way in [[Pinyin]]. Ladefoged and Maddieson<ref name=SOWL>Ladefoged, Peter & Ian Maddieson (1996). ''The sounds of the world’s languages''. Oxford: Blackwells. ISBN 0-631-19814-8</ref> call these "fricative vowels" and say that "they can usually be thought of as syllabic fricatives that are allophones of vowels." That is, phonetically they are consonants, but phonemically they behave as vowels. Many [[Slavic languages]] allow the trill {{IPA|[r̩]}} and the lateral {{IPA|[l̩]}} as syllabic nuclei (see [[Words without vowels]]), and in languages like [[Nuxálk language|Nuxalk]], it is difficult to know what the nucleus of a syllable is (it may be that not all syllables have nuclei), though if the concept of 'syllable' applies, there are syllabic consonants in words like {{IPA|/sx̩s/}} 'seal fat'. ==See also== *[[Articulatory phonetics]] *[[Table of consonants]] *[[List of consonants]] *[[List of phonetics topics]] *[[Words without vowels]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Spoken Wikipedia|Consonant.ogg|2005-07-20}} *[http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html interactive manner and place of articulation] {{Consonants}} ==References== Ian Maddieson, ''Patterns of Sounds'', Cambridge University Press, 1984. ISBN 0-521-26536-3 [[Category:Consonants|*]] [[als:Konsonant]] [[frp:Consona]] [[ast:Consonante]] [[bn:ব্যঞ্জনধ্বনি]] [[br:Kensonenn]] [[ca:Consonant]] [[cv:Хупă сасăсем]] [[cs:Souhláska]] [[cy:Cytsain]] [[da:Konsonant]] [[de:Konsonant]] [[el:Σύμφωνο]] [[es:Consonante]] [[eo:Konsonanto]] [[fa:صامت]] [[fr:Consonne]] [[gl:Consoante]] [[ko:닿소리]] [[hi:व्यंजन वर्ण]] [[hr:Suglasnik]] [[io:Konsonanto]] [[id:Konsonan]] [[is:Samhljóð]] [[it:Consonante]] [[he:עיצור]] [[jv:Konsonan]] [[ka:თანხმოვანი]] [[kk:Дауыссыз дыбыстар]] [[kw:Kessonenn]] [[sw:Konsonanti]] [[ht:Konsòn]] [[lv:Līdzskanis]] [[ln:Molelisi]] [[hu:Mássalhangzó]] [[nl:Medeklinker]] [[ja:子音]] [[no:Konsonant]] [[nn:Konsonant]] [[pl:Spółgłoska]] [[pt:Consoante]] [[ro:Consoană]] [[qu:Kunkawaki]] [[ru:Согласные]] [[simple:Consonant]] [[sk:Spoluhláska]] [[sl:Soglasnik]] [[fi:Konsonantti]] [[sv:Konsonant]] [[th:พยัญชนะ]] [[uk:Приголосний звук]] [[wa:Cossoune]] [[zh:辅音]]