Download consonant classification tips

CONSONANT CLASSIFICATION TIPS
CONSONAN
T SOUND
/p/
SPELLING
CASES
STUDENS’ DIFFICULTIES
Arabic and Vietnamese speakers tend to substitute
/b/ for /p/.
p, pp, silent p
/b /
b, bb, silent b
/t/
t, tt, th, silent t
/d/
d, dd, silent d
/k/
k, c, cc, ck, ch,
x, xc, gu, silent
k
People form Asia may confuse /p/ and /f/.
Speakers of Greek, Italian, Spanish, French,
Dutch, Japanese, and Slavic and Indian
language fail to aspirate /p/ at the
beginning of a word or a stressed syllable.
Thus, it sounds like /b/ for speakers of
English.
Speakers of Arabic may confuse /p/ and
/b/.
Spanish and Portuguese speakers tend to
pronounce /b/ like /v/.
Speakers of Dutch, German, Danish,
Turkish, Russian, Chinese, West African
languages, sometimes replace voiced /b/
with voiceless /p/
Japanese speakers may pronounce /t/ as
/ʧ/.
Portuguese students may also substitute
/ʧ/ before /iy/or /I/.
Speakers of Indian languages often
substitute a retroflex /t/
OTHER FEATURES
Spelling
Double p after short vowels(/æ/,
/ɛ/, stressed schwa, a with the
letter /o/, /i/)
Examples: Happy vs paper
Supper vs supermarket
Hopping vs hoping
Spelling
The letter /b/ always has the sound
/b/, except for a few words in
which it is silent.
For notes on doubling of
consonants like rubber and silent
letters.
Spelling
The doubling of /t/ after the
vowels / æ, ɛ, I, Ʌ/ spelled with the
letter o, especially when ending
like –er and –ing.
For example: hot – hotter
Sit – sitting.
Speakers of Chinese, Portuguese, and
Spelling
Swahili may confuse the sound /t/ and /d/. The spelling dd is use in the middle
Russian, Thai, Turkish, German, Dutch,
or at the end of words after the
Danish, and West African language, tend
vowels / æ, ɛ, I, Ʌ/ and /ɑ/.
to pronounce /d/ as its voiceless
For example: middle, suddenly,
equivalent /t/ at the end of the words.
add.
Japanese and Portuguese speakers may
pronounce /d/ close to /ʤ/.
Spanish and Portuguese speakers tend to
pronounce /d/ more like /ð/ in the middle
of the word.
Speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Greek,
Spelling
Russian, Dutch, and Indian, do not aspirate Some of the letters used to spell /
the sound /k/ at the beginning of words.
k/ are also commonly used for the
Turkish speakers may have some difficulty other sounds:
with /k/ before the sounds /iy/ or /I/.
C has the sound /s/ before the
letters e, I, and y.
Some Arabic speakers may confuse /k/
and /g/ in all positions.
Ch is usually pronounced /ʧ/
Note the silent k in word like know.
/g/
g, gg, gh, x
/s/
s, ss, se, c, ce,
cs, x, cc, ps, st,
sw, silent s
/z/
z, zz, se, ss, x
/ʃ /
sh, ti, ci, ssi, s,
ch, ce, xi
/ʒ/
s, si, ge, ti, z
Vietnamese speakers may have difficulty
with /g/ as the beginning of a word.
Thai speakers sometimes replace it with
/k/.
Some speakers of Arabic have difficulty
with /g/ and substitute either /k/ or /ʤ/.
Some speakers Japanese may pronounce
/g/ as /ŋ/ between vowels.
Greek and speakers may use a softer nonEnglish sound rather than the hard stop
sound /g/ in some words.
Speakers of Greek, Italian, and Spanish
may replace /s/ with /z/ before /m/. for
example: saying “zmall” for small
Garman speakers may substitute /z/ a
vowel. For example saying “zo” for so.
Some speakers of European, Spanish and
Portuguese, confuse /s/ and /ʃ/.
Japanese speakers may replace /s/ with
/ʃ/.
Speakers of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese,
Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Turkish,
German, Dutch, and Scandinavian, West
African, and Indian languages, have
difficulty with the sound /z/. The most
common error is to replace this sound with
/s/.
Spanish, Chinese, Thai, And Scandinavian
speakers tend to have difficulty with /z/ in
al positions in words.
Japanese speakers may replace /z/ with
/ʤ/ or, before the vowels /iy/, /I/, with
/ʤ/.
The sound /s/ and /ʃ/ are confused by
speakers of Greek and by some speakers
of Korean, Dutch, Swahili, European,
Spanish, and Indian Languages.
Japanese and Chinese speakers may
confuse /ʃ/ and /h/
The speakers form Dutch, Japanese, Thai,
Chinese, Korean, Indian language,
Scandinavian language, and sometimes
Spelling
Note that the letters ng at the end
of a word does not have the sound
/g/.
Spelling
The fact that /s/ has so many
spelling may be confusing to
students. Point out that most of
the spelling contains the letter s or
the letter c.
Is also a common spelling for the
sound /z/.
At the beginning of a word,
however, s always has the sound
/s/, except in the spelling sh.
Spelling
Spelling for the sound /z/ that uses
the letter s often cause difficulty.
The letter /s/ has the sound /s/ at
the beginning of a word. It also
usually has the sound /s/ when it is
next to a voiceless sound.
The letters s commonly has the
sound /z/ when is comes between
two voiced sound.
Spelling
The variety of spelling in addition
to sh for the sound /ʃ/ may cause
confusion.
The other spellings tend to occur in
certain ending. For example: -ion, ial, -and, -ious.
Spelling
The spelling for the sound /ʒ/ may
cause difficulty, since they are all
Arabic, many speakers also find the sound
/ʒ/ difficult.
Students tend to replace the sound /ʒ/
with sounds close to /ʤ/, /ʃ/, or /z/.
/ʧ/
ch, tch, t, ti, c
/ʤ/
j, g, ge, dge, dj,
d
/y/
y, u, i, ew, iew,
ean
French, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek,
Scandinavian and some Vietnamese
speakers have difficulty with the sound
/ʧ/. Many of these students replace it
with /ʃ/ or /ts/.
Chinese speakers may use a foreignsounding pronunciation of the sound /ʧ/.
Italians do not have trouble pronouncing
/ʧ/, but may make mistakes because of
spelling pronouncing the spelling c or cc
before e or i.
Spanish speakers do not have difficulty
with /ʧ/, but need practice in learning to
discriminate /ʧ/ from /ʃ/.
Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, and
sometimes Dutch speakers may pronounce
it as /ʒ/.
Thai speakers often replace it with /ʧ/.
Korean speakers may confuse /ʤ/ and /z/.
Speakers of Greek substitute /ʃ/ or /dz/.
Spanish speakers may confuse /ʤ/, /y/ or
may substitute /ʧ/, for /ʤ/ especially at
the end of the words.
German and Swedish speakers often
substitute /y/ for /ʤ/.
The sound /y/ is pronounced as /ʤ/, or a
sound close to /ʤ/, by many Spanish
speakers.
Some Portuguese speakers may tend to
omit the sound /y/.
Chinese and Japanese speakers may find
the consonant /y/ difficult before the
sound /iy/ or /I/, as in year.
regular spellings for the other,
more common sounds.
Note: That the letter s has the
sound /ʒ/ only before the letters i
or u
Spelling
Student often find the spelling t for
the sound /ʧ/ confusing.
For example: mixture, future,
furniture, natural, actually,
century, literature, culture.
Spelling
The letter g before e, i, or y usually
has the sound /ʤ/, but there are
some common exceptions in which
it is pronounced /g/, including,
get, forget, give, begin, and
together.
Spelling
The sound /y/ as part of spelling u
is confusing for many students,
who often find it hard to know
when to use a /y/ sound and when
not to, The spelling u has the
sound.
In the middle of a word, also after
the consonants /n/ and /l/, if the u
vowel does not have strong stress:
January, annual, continuo, menu,
value, volume.
The /y/ sound also occurs, but
more rarely, with a few other
consonant sound.
These speaker use the sound /y/ in
more places, for example, after the
consonants /t/, /d/, and /n/, as in
/f/
f, ff, ph, gh
/v/
f, v
/w/
w, wh, o, u
/h/
h, wh, silent h
It is difficult for speakers of Korean,
Tagalog, Indian language, and some other
Asian languages.
Speakers usually confuse /f/ with the
sound /p/.
Japanese speakers, often confuse it with
/h/.
The sound /v/ is difficult for speakers of
Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Punjabi
and other Indian language, Korean,
Spanish, Thai, Lao, and Khmer.
Many students, such as speakers of Arabic,
tend to substitute /f/ for /v/. Chinese
speakers may also substitute /w/.
Japanese, Korean, and Spanish speakers
often replace /v/ with /b/.
Dutch, German, and Turkish speakers may
also have difficulty with the sound,
especially at the end of words, where /v/
is likely to be replaced by /f/.
Many students, including speakers of
German, Indian language, Russian, Thai,
Farsi, Turkish and Scandinavian languages,
confuse /v/ and /w/.
Speakers many languages, including
German, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian,
Turkish, Farsi, Japanese, Spanish,
Portuguese, Greek, and Indian, Slavic, and
Scandinavian language, tend to have
difficulty with this sound.
Many learners, including speaker of
German, Slavic, and Scandinavian
language, Turkish, and sometimes Italian,
replace /w/ with /v/.
Dutch, Lao, and Farsi speakers also confuse
/w/ and /v/ or make an intermediate
sound for both.
Spanish and Greek speakers may replace
/w/ with /gw/, /g/ or similar sound.
Some students may confuse /w/ with /r/
or use a sound resembling /b/.
Speakers of French, Portuguese, Italian,
Hebrew, and some African language, as
well as some speaker of Turkish, tend to
omit the sound /h/.
Learners tend to put /h/ in the wrong
student, due or news.
Spelling
The pronunciation of the vowel in
words that end with the spelling gh
pronounced as /f/.
In the words above, the letters gh
spell the sound /f/, but many
others words, gh is silent.
The sound /v/ is written with the
letter v, except in the word of.
Note that the letter v is never
doubled, even after a vowel like
/I/, /ɛ/, or /æ/, as in river, giving,
never, or having.
When the sound /v/ comes at the
end of a word, the letter e is added
in the spelling, even in words with
the vowels, /I/, /æ/, /Ʌ/.
Note: that the words have is
pronounced with the sound /f/ in
have to.
Spelling
Students may find the spelling of
/w/ a vowel letter (u or o).
Note: That the u in qu regularly
represents the sound /w/, but that
the u in gu and su has the sound
/w/ only in a few words.
The letter w is silent in some
common words.
For example: sweater, two,
answer.
Spelling
The sound /h/ is usually spelled
with the letter h.
The letter h also occurs in the
combinations sh, ch, th, ph, and
/θ/
th
/ð/
th
/m/
m, mm, mn,
silent m
/n/
n, nn, kn, gn
/ŋ/
place more frequently as they get more
self-conscious about not saying this sound
when they should.
Speakers of Greek, Spanish, Slavic
language, Arabic, and Chinese tend to
pronounce /h/ as a harsh sound, like the
non-English sound /x/ in Bach
Japanese speakers tend to confuse the
sound /h/ with /f/.
Chinese speaker also often confuse the
sound /s/, / ʃ/ and /h/.
Speakers of Greek, and Castilian Spanish,
have great difficulty with the sound /θ/,
usually replacing it with /s/, /t/, or /f/.
Even native English speakers often simplify
these in some way, for example,
pronouncing fifth as /fIθ/
Students have great difficulty with the
sound /ð/.
They usually replace it with /z/, /d/ or /v/.
Japanese speakers may also substitute
/ʤ/.
Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese
speakers may confuse /m/ with /n/ or /ŋ/
at the end of words.
Chinese speakers may also nasalize the
vowels before /m/ and either drop the
/m/ itself or replace it with /n/ or /ŋ/
Speakers of Greek, Italian and Spanish,
may tend to voice /s/ when it is followed
by /m/, as in small, pronouncing the /s/
more like a /z/.
Students have difficulty with /n/ at the
ends of words.
Speakers of Spanish, Portuguese,
Japanese, and Turkish, do not pronounce
final /n/ clearly enough.
Many students have difficulty with syllabic
/n/, in words like garden or written,
usually inserting a vowel before the /n/.
The sound /ŋ/ occurs frequently,
wh, where it does not usually have
the sound /h/.
Spelling
Since the letters th can spell either
/ð/ or /θ/.
At the beginning of content words,
th is pronounced /θ/.
Example: think, thing, thirsty,
three, thank.
Spelling
Since the letters th can spell either
/ð/ or /θ/.
At the beginning of words, the
spelling th is almost always
pronounces /ð/
Examples: the, this, these, that,
than
Spelling
The sound /m/ is written with the
letter m.
Note: the doubling of m in words
like summer and swimming to
preserve the lax pronunciation of
the vowel.
Student often pronounce
consonant letters that should be
silent.
Note: The silent b in the spelling
mb.
The silent n in the spelling mn.
Spelling
Note: The doubling of n in words
like funny, dinner, and beginning to
keep the lax sound of the vowels.
Syllabic /n/ is commonly spelled: n(didn’t, couldn’t, isn’t) –en
(garden, listen, student) –on
(person, lesson)
Spelling
/l/
l, ll, silent l
/r/
r, rr, wr, rh
especially in the -ing from of verbs.
Arabic, French, some German, Farsi,
Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Turkish, West
African and Slavic speakers may have
difficulty with this sound usually
pronouncing it /ŋg/, /ŋk/ or /n/.
While some student tent to add a /g/ after
every /ŋ/ sound.
Speakers of Vietnamese, Thai, and Lao
have difficulty distinguishing /n/ and /l/ at
the end of words.
Speakers of some Chinese dialects also
confuse /n/ and /l/.
Speakers of Japanese, Chinese, Korean,
Thai and other Asian language, as well as
speakers of some African language, tend to
confuse /r/ and /l/.
Many students pronounce /l/ with the
tongue in a slightly different position than
for English /l/
Speakers of many Asian languages,
including Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean,
and Lao, confuse /l/ and /r/.
French, German, Danish, Hebrew, some
Portuguese, and many Dutch speakers
often make a sound produced too far back
in the mouth.
Many students, including speakers of
Arabic, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish,
Turkish, Farsi, Norwegian and Swedish, as
well as African, Indian, and Slavic language,
trill /r/ or pronounce it a short flap sound
resembling the /d/ sound in ladder.
Students tend to have particular difficulty
when /r/ is in a consonant cluster or in a
word that also has a /l/ sound.
Serrano Tobar, Cindy Yamileth
The sound /ŋ/ is usually written
with the letters ng. Before a /k/ or
/g/ sound, it is spelled with the
letter n.
Spelling
Doubling of /l/:
Note: that the letter l is often
doubled at the end of a word after
the vowels /ɛ, I, Ʌ, ɑ, ɔ, Ʊ/
In American English, when –ed or –
ing is added to a verb ending in l,
the l is doubled only if the vowel
before it is stressed.
In British English, the l is doubled
even if the vowel is not stressed.
Syllabic /l/ is spelled: -le (little,
candle) –al (final) –el (travel) –il
(pencil), or –ol (symbol)
Silent l: many students pronounce l
where it should be silent.
Spelling
The sound /r/ is usually written
with the letter r or, in the middle of
a word it is sometimes spelled wr
or r, with the w or h silent.
31-4355-2009
Section 02
Phonology