Manners of Articulation
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Distinguish complete closure, turbulent constriction, and open approximation as the three basic degrees of constriction.
- Distinguish central and lateral airflow.
- Explain nasal versus oral release.
- Classify major consonant manners: stop, nasal, trill, tap or flap, fricative, lateral fricative, approximant, lateral approximant, and affricate.
- Combine place, manner, and voicing into a single standard consonant description.
- Locate manner rows on the official IPA chart.
- Explain why affricates require more than one static constriction label.
An Observable Problem
Say the English words sue, too, and Sue followed immediately by true slowly, paying attention only to what your tongue does right after it leaves the alveolar ridge, not to the letters on the page. In too [tʰuː], the tongue tip seals completely against the ridge and then releases all at once. In sue [suː], the tongue tip never makes complete contact — it narrows the passage just enough to force air through with audible friction. In a rhotic-r variety's true [tɹ̥uː], the second sound is narrower still than a vowel but never closes completely and never produces friction.
All three consonants — the [t], the [s], and the [ɹ] — can be made at very similar places in the mouth. What makes them sound so different is not where the tongue goes but how much it closes off the airflow and what kind of release follows. Chapter 7 gave you the vocabulary for where. This chapter gives you the vocabulary for how.
- Before reading further, say too, sue, and (if your speech has an approximant r) the second sound of true several times in a row. Write one sentence describing, in your own words, the difference in how much the airflow is blocked in each case.
The Constriction Continuum
Purpose: establish the organizing dimension that the rest of the chapter builds on.
Every pulmonic consonant can be placed somewhere along a continuum of how narrow the vocal tract becomes at the point of constriction:
- Complete closurethe active and passive articulators seal off the airflow entirely, at least briefly
- Turbulent constrictionthe articulators narrow the passage enough that air forced through it becomes audibly turbulent, producing friction noise
- Open approximationthe articulators approach one another but leave a passage too open for friction noise to be produced
Manner of articulation classifies a consonant according to where it falls on this continuum, together with two further questions: does air escape down the center of the tongue or around one or both sides, and does it escape through the mouth, the nose, or both? Answering all three questions for a given consonant — degree of constriction, central versus lateral airflow, and oral versus nasal release — produces the manner labels introduced in this chapter.
Manner is independent of place. The same manner label can apply at many different places of articulation, and the same place can host consonants of many different manners. A bilabial stop [p] and a velar stop [k] share a manner but not a place; a bilabial stop [p] and a bilabial nasal [m] share a place but not a manner. A full consonant description always needs both, plus voicing.
Stops (Plosives): Complete Closure
Purpose: introduce the manner produced by total, momentary blockage of the airstream.
A stop, also called a plosive, involves a complete closure somewhere in the vocal tract, a brief buildup of air pressure behind that closure, and a release. Stops can occur at many places of articulation and with either voicing:
- [pʰɪn]pin — voiceless bilabial stop
- [bɪn]bin — voiced bilabial stop
- [kʰæt]cat — voiceless velar stop
- [dɔɡ]dog — voiced alveolar stop onset, voiced velar stop coda
Chapter 9 develops stops in much greater detail, including their internal phases, aspiration, and voice onset timing. For now, the essential point is that stop names a manner, not a place: a bilabial stop and a velar stop share the same manner of complete closure and release, even though they happen at opposite ends of the vocal tract.
Nasals: Closure with Nasal Release
Purpose: show that a complete oral closure does not always mean the airstream stops.
A nasal consonant also involves a complete closure in the oral cavity, but the velum lowers and allows air to escape continuously through the nose instead of building up pressure for an oral release. Because the airflow is continuous rather than blocked, nasals behave very differently from oral stops even though both involve complete oral closure.
- [mæp]map — bilabial nasal, oral closure at the lips, air escaping through the nose
- [nɛt]net — alveolar nasal
- [sɪŋ]sing — velar nasal
You can confirm the nasal release for yourself with a simple test: say [m] and hold it, then pinch your nostrils shut. The sound stops almost immediately, because the only escape route for the air has been blocked. Chapter 11 returns to nasals in full, including nasal place assimilation.
Trills and Taps or Flaps: Repeated or Single Brief Contact
Purpose: distinguish manners defined by the timing and repetition of contact rather than by a single static constriction.
Two further manners involve brief contact between an active and a passive articulator, but they differ in how many times and how that contact occurs.
A trill involves an articulator set into vibration by the airstream, striking the passive articulator several times in rapid succession. A tap or flap involves a single, very brief contact, with no sustained vibration.
- [r]an alveolar trill, found for example in many varieties of Spanish in words such as ⟨perro⟩ "dog"
- [ɾ]an alveolar tap, found for example in the same variety of Spanish in words such as ⟨pero⟩ "but," and as a common realization of intervocalic t or d in many varieties of North American English, as in butter
Chapter 12 treats trills, taps, and the broader family of rhotic consonants in much greater depth. For now, the key distinction is repetition: one brief strike is a tap or flap, several rapid strikes in a row is a trill.
Fricatives: Turbulent Constriction
Purpose: introduce the manner produced by forcing air through a narrow but unsealed passage.
A fricative involves a constriction narrow enough to force the airstream through turbulently, producing continuous friction noise, but never narrow enough to stop the airflow completely. Fricatives can be sustained for as long as the airstream lasts, unlike stops.
- [fæn]fan — voiceless labiodental fricative
- [væn]van — voiced labiodental fricative
- [suː]sue — voiceless alveolar fricative
- [zuː]zoo — voiced alveolar fricative
Chapter 10 develops fricatives across the full range of places where they occur and introduces the sibilant versus nonsibilant distinction in detail.
The defining auditory cue for a fricative is continuous, noisy turbulence with no silent gap and no sudden release burst. Compare [s] in sue, which you can sustain indefinitely with steady hissing, against [t] in too, which has a brief silent closure followed by a single sharp release. Try sustaining each sound for two full seconds and notice that only the fricative can be held without interruption.
Lateral Fricatives: Turbulence Around the Side of the Tongue
Purpose: introduce lateral airflow through the turbulent-constriction manner before extending it to approximants.
So far, every manner described has involved air escaping over the center of the tongue, which is called central airflow. A lateral consonant instead directs air around one or both sides of the tongue, while the center of the tongue maintains contact with the roof of the mouth. A lateral fricative combines lateral airflow with a constriction narrow enough to produce audible friction.
- [ɬ]a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative, found for example in Welsh, where it is spelled ⟨ll⟩, as in ⟨llan⟩ "church"
Lateral fricatives do not occur in most English varieties, which makes this an opportunity to practice a genuinely unfamiliar manner-place combination using the production guidance below, rather than relying on an English keyword that does not exist for this sound.
- Place the tip and blade of your tongue against the alveolar ridge, exactly where you would for an English [l].
- Keep that central contact in place — do not release it.
- Lower one or both sides of your tongue away from your back teeth, opening a narrow side passage.
- Push air through that narrow side passage without voicing, so that you hear a soft hissing sound coming from the side of your mouth rather than the center.
- If voicing creeps in, you are producing [ɮ], the voiced counterpart, instead — pull the voicing back and let the sound stay breathy and voiceless.
- Compare your result against the central fricative [s]: the air should clearly be escaping from the side, not the center, of your mouth.
Stop immediately if this produces any strain or discomfort; a soft, breathy side-hiss is the target, not a forced or scraped sound.
Approximants: Open, Frictionless Constriction
Purpose: introduce the manner produced by a constriction too open for friction.
An approximant involves articulators that approach each other, narrowing the vocal tract, but never narrow enough to generate the turbulent friction noise of a fricative. Approximants are voiced in the great majority of the world's languages and often resemble vowels acoustically, but function as consonants in syllable structure.
- [jɛs]yes — palatal approximant
- [wɪn]win — labial-velar approximant
- [ɹɛd]red, in many rhotic English varieties — alveolar or postalveolar approximant
Chapter 12 returns to approximants in detail, including the relationship between glides such as [j] and [w] and the high vowels they closely resemble.
Lateral Approximants: Open Constriction Around the Tongue
Purpose: complete the central/lateral and stop/fricative/approximant grid with the manner most familiar to English speakers from spelled ⟨l⟩.
A lateral approximant combines lateral airflow with a constriction open enough to avoid friction. The central contact at the alveolar ridge is the same kind of contact found in [ɬ] above, but the side passage is wider, so no turbulence is produced.
- [lɛt]let — alveolar lateral approximant
- [fʊɫ]full, in many varieties — a velarized alveolar lateral approximant, previewed further in Chapter 11
This pair of consonants — [ɬ] and [l] — illustrates manner classification cleanly: identical place and identical lateral airflow, but a different degree of constriction separates a lateral fricative from a lateral approximant.
Affricates: A Coordinated Contour
Purpose: show why some consonants resist a single static manner label.
Every manner described so far names a single, relatively stable configuration. An affricate is different: it begins as a complete closure, like a stop, and then releases not suddenly but into a brief period of fricative-style turbulence at essentially the same place of articulation. An affricate is best described as a stop-to-fricative contour rather than as a single static manner.
- [tʃɪp]chip — voiceless postalveolar affricate, beginning as a stop closure and releasing into postalveolar frication
- [dʒʌmp]jump — voiced postalveolar affricate
Because an affricate is a single sound functioning as one unit in the language's sound system, not a sequence of an independent stop plus an independent fricative, the two symbols are often joined with a tie bar ͡ to show that they form one coordinated event: [t͡ʃ]. Some transcription traditions omit the tie bar when the affricate analysis is unambiguous from context; this chapter introduces the tie bar for recognition and uses it in worked examples so you can interpret it, but does not yet require you to decide independently when omission is defensible. That decision is developed further in Chapter 9.
Error: Treating any stop immediately followed by any fricative as an affricate, for example analyzing the ts sequence in English cats the same way as the ch in chip.
Correction: An affricate requires the stop and fricative portions to share essentially the same place of articulation and to function as a single unit in the language's sound system. Cats [kʰæts] is generally analyzed in English as a stop plus a separate fricative across a morpheme boundary, not as a unitary affricate, even though it sounds superficially similar to [t͡ʃ]. Place and function, not just adjacency, determine the analysis.
Place, Manner, and Voicing Together
Purpose: combine the three independent dimensions into the standard format for describing any pulmonic consonant.
Chapters 6 and 7 introduced voicing and place of articulation. This chapter completes the third dimension. A standard consonant description states all three, conventionally in the order voicing, place, manner:
| Symbol | Standard description | Example word |
|---|---|---|
| [p] | voiceless bilabial stop | spin |
| [m] | voiced bilabial nasal | map |
| [s] | voiceless alveolar fricative | sue |
| [l] | voiced alveolar lateral approximant | let |
| [t͡ʃ] | voiceless postalveolar affricate | chip |
This three-part format is the basic descriptive unit you will use for the rest of the consonant chapters and again when you classify vowels using a different set of dimensions beginning in Chapter 14.
Guided Observation
Complete this self-observation task before the classification lab. No audio recording is required — you are listening to and feeling your own speech.
For each pair below, say both words slowly and decide whether the first consonant involves complete closure, turbulent constriction, or open approximation. Write your classification before reading further.
- tip vs. sip
- nap vs. tap
- led vs. red (in a rhotic-r variety)
Now repeat each word and add a second judgment: for the first consonant, is the airflow central or lateral, and does it escape orally or nasally? Note any case where you are uncertain, and identify what additional test — such as the nostril-pinch test for nasals — could resolve the uncertainty.
Classification Lab
Purpose: apply the full set of manner categories, combined with place and voicing, to a small verified dataset.
The forms below are verified phonetic transcriptions of English words, General American reference variety, spoken in careful citation style. Use only the dataset and the categories introduced in this chapter to answer the questions that follow.
| Orthographic form | Phonetic transcription | Target consonant |
|---|---|---|
| ⟨nose⟩ | [noʊz] | [n] |
| ⟨zone⟩ | [zoʊn] | [z] |
| ⟨light⟩ | [laɪt] | [l] |
| ⟨right⟩ | [ɹaɪt] | [ɹ] |
| ⟨джоб⟩-style judge⟩ | [dʒʌdʒ] | [dʒ] |
| ⟨yet⟩ | [jɛt] | [j] |
Source: forms checked against a standard American English pronouncing reference for General American citation pronunciation. One transcription above contains an unintended typographical artifact in the orthographic column; identifying it is part of Step 1 below.
Step 1 — Audit the table
One orthographic entry above contains stray characters that do not belong in an English spelling. Identify the entry and state what the correct English spelling should be. This is a reminder that every table, including this one, should be checked rather than trusted automatically.
Step 2 — Classify by manner
For each target consonant, state its manner (stop, nasal, trill, tap or flap, fricative, lateral fricative, approximant, lateral approximant, or affricate) and identify whether its airflow is central or lateral.
Step 3 — Build full three-part descriptions
Combine each consonant's voicing and place — drawing on Chapters 6 and 7 — with the manner you identified in Step 2 to produce a complete description, for example "voiced alveolar nasal."
Step 4 — Explain the affricate
Using [dʒ] from the dataset, explain in two to three sentences why a single static manner label is insufficient and what two manners the affricate moves between.
Common Mistakes
Error: Assuming that "approximant" means quiet or weak rather than referring to a specific degree of constriction.
Correction: Approximant is a precise articulatory category defined by an open constriction that produces no friction, not a vague description of loudness. Approximants can be perceptually quite prominent, as in the strong glide onset of yes.
Error: Calling every English ⟨l⟩ sound identical in manner and place across all positions in a word.
Correction: While both are lateral approximants, many English varieties realize ⟨l⟩ differently depending on position, as previewed earlier in this chapter and developed fully in Chapter 11. Manner classification tells you the broad category; it does not by itself capture every detail of a variety's allophonic pattern.
Error: Assuming a sound is rare or unusual simply because it does not occur in English, as with the lateral fricative [ɬ].
Correction: Manners and places that are absent from one language are often common elsewhere. Treat unfamiliar manner-place combinations as ordinary parts of the world's sound systems, not as exotic exceptions.
Chapter Review
Part A — Definitions
1. Define stop, fricative, and approximant in terms of degree of constriction, and explain how they relate to one continuum.
2. Explain the difference between central and lateral airflow.
3. Explain why a nasal involves complete oral closure but is not classified the same way as a stop.
Part B — Classification
1. Give the manner of each: [f], [ŋ], [w], [ɾ].
2. Build a complete three-part description (voicing, place, manner) for [v] and for [ɫ].
Part C — Affricates
1. Explain why affricates are described as a contour rather than a single static manner.
2. Explain what the tie bar in [t͡ʃ] communicates.
Cumulative Review
1. Using Chapter 5's phone-phoneme-allophone framework, explain whether the manner label "stop" by itself tells you whether [pʰ] and [p] belong to one phoneme or two in English.
2. Using Chapter 6's voicing categories and Chapter 7's place categories together with this chapter's manner categories, write a complete three-part description for the first consonant of go.
Chapter Performance Task
Performance Task
A Personal Manner Inventory
Working independently or with a partner:
- Select eight English consonants you can produce confidently, covering at least five different manners introduced in this chapter.
- For each, give a verified example word, a phonetic transcription in square brackets, and a complete three-part description.
- Identify which of your eight consonants involve lateral airflow and which involve nasal release.
- State which manner from this chapter you found hardest to identify by ear, and explain what listening strategy helped you the most.
Answer Key (click to expand)
Classification Lab
Step 1: The entry for judge contains stray non-English characters; the correct English spelling is ⟨judge⟩.
Step 2: [n] — nasal, central; [z] — fricative, central; [l] — lateral approximant, lateral; [ɹ] — approximant, central; [dʒ] — affricate (stop-to-fricative contour), central; [j] — approximant, central.
Step 3: [n] voiced alveolar nasal; [z] voiced alveolar fricative; [l] voiced alveolar lateral approximant; [ɹ] voiced alveolar or postalveolar approximant; [dʒ] voiced postalveolar affricate; [j] voiced palatal approximant.
Step 4 (model answer): [dʒ] begins with a complete closure at the postalveolar region, exactly like a stop, but instead of an instantaneous release it opens into a brief period of postalveolar frication, exactly like a fricative. A single manner label such as "stop" or "fricative" alone would only capture one half of the event, which is why affricates are described as a coordinated stop-to-fricative contour and often written with a tie bar, [d͡ʒ].
Chapter Review — Part A (model answers)
1. A stop involves complete closure of the vocal tract; a fricative involves a constriction narrow enough to cause audible turbulence but not complete closure; an approximant involves a constriction open enough to avoid turbulence altogether. The three sit at decreasing degrees of constriction along one continuum. 2. Central airflow passes over the center of the tongue; lateral airflow passes around one or both sides of the tongue while the center maintains contact with the roof of the mouth. 3. A nasal shares complete oral closure with a stop, but the lowered velum allows continuous airflow through the nose, so the airstream is never blocked the way it is for an oral stop; this continuous airflow, not the oral closure alone, is what defines the manner.
Chapter Review — Part B
1. [f] fricative; [ŋ] nasal; [w] approximant; [ɾ] tap or flap. 2. [v] voiced labiodental fricative; [ɫ] voiced (velarized) alveolar lateral approximant.
Chapter Review — Part C
1. Affricates move from complete closure to turbulent frication at essentially the same place of articulation, so no single static manner label such as "stop" or "fricative" alone captures the whole event; describing the contour requires referencing both manners. 2. The tie bar shows that the stop and fricative portions function together as one coordinated speech sound in the language's sound system, rather than as two independent, separately analyzed segments.
Cumulative Review
1. No: the manner label "stop" applies equally to both [pʰ] and [p] and does not by itself determine whether they are separate phonemes or allophones of one phoneme in English; that question requires the contrast and distribution tests from Chapter 5, which show they are allophones of a single phoneme, /p/. 2. The first consonant of go is a voiced velar stop.
Looking Ahead
What You Can Now Do
You can now classify any pulmonic consonant by degree of constriction, central or lateral airflow, and oral or nasal release, combine that classification with place and voicing into a complete three-part description, locate manner rows on the official IPA chart, and explain why affricates require a coordinated rather than a static label. These skills are the foundation for the detailed sound-class chapters that follow.