Phonetics Definitions Quiz: Plosives, Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

Consonant Sounds and Their Characteristics

• Close Together or Touching: Bilabial consonant sounds are produced with the lips either close together or in contact.
• Stopping and Releasing Air: Plosive consonant sounds are created by stopping airflow from the mouth and then suddenly releasing it.
• Partial Blockage of Airstream: Fricative consonant sounds are produced by partially blocking the airflow, allowing air to pass through a narrow channel without complete closure.
• Lip-to-Teeth Contact: Labiodental consonant sounds are pronounced by bringing the bottom lip into contact with the upper teeth.

Terminology and Consonant Types

• Minimal Pairs: Two words that vary by only a single sound are known as minimal pairs, often posing confusion for language learners.
• Affricate Sounds: Affricate consonant sounds are made by starting with a plosive and immediately blending into a fricative sound.
• Voiceless Affricate Phoneme: The voiceless affricate consonant sound in English pronunciation is /tʃ/.
• Plosive Phonemes Count: There are six plosive phonemes in English pronunciation: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.
• Voiced Fricative Phoneme: The voiced fricative phoneme in English pronunciation is /v/.
• Glottal Replacement of /t/: The voiceless alveolar plosive sound /t/ may be replaced with a voiceless glottal plosive in connected speech, particularly in casual or rapid conversation contexts.

Test your knowledge of phonetics with this quiz defining terms like plosives, voiced, voiceless, bilabial, fricatives, and alveolar sounds. Check if you can identify the characteristics and production techniques of these speech sounds.