Short Essay: Explain in articulatory terms the features of plosives consonants Prepared by: Syafiqah binti Hasram Plosives

or stops are consonants in which the airstream is completely blocked in the oral cavity for a short period of time (Victoria Fromkin, 2011). The blockage or occlusion may be done with the tongue (front tip [ t ], [ d ], or middle/ body [ k ], [ g ], lips [ b ], [ p ], or glottis [ ]).

According to Peter Roach in 2009, there are four stages in which the plosives are produced. The first phase is the closing phase in which the articulator or articulators move to form the stricture for the plosive. The second phase is called the compression phase; in which the compressed air is stopped from escaping. The third phase is when the articulators used to form the stricture are moved as to allow air to escape. This phase is known as the release phase. The fourth phase is what happens immediately after the release phase and is called post-release phase.

There are also types of stops or plosives. [ p ] and [ b ]are bilabial plosives in which the airstream stopped at the mouth by the complete closure of the lips. [ t ] and [d] are produced with the constriction of the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth; thus are known as alveolar plosives. While, [ k ] and [g] are produced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate or velum. They are known as velar plosives.

To define a consonant, we must also be familiar with the voicing. A pair of words such as rope and robe is sufficient to establish that English has contrastive voicing in plosives, since the final consonants in these two words are both bilabial plosives and they only differ in one being voiceless and the other voiced (Maddieson, 2011). The

plosives [ p ], [ k ] and [ t ] are unvoiced or voiceless which is determined by the lack of vibration in the vocal folds as compared to [ b ], [ g ] and [ d ] plosives which are voiced.

Voiced plosives are characterized by complete closure in the oral cavity, a buildup of pressure during which vibration of the vocal folds continues, and sudden release (Kaiser, 2004). In initial position, the release of [ p ], [ k ] and [ t ] is followed by audible plosion or a burst of noise that is a period during which air escapes through the vocal folds. This is called aspiration. On the other hand, the release of [ b ], [ g ] and [ d ] is followed by a weak plosion and thus is characterized as not aspirated.

As a conclusion, we classify plosives consonants according to where in the vocal tract the airflow restriction occurs which is called the place of articulation; and voicing.