plosives

English Pronunciation

Produced by forming a complete obstruction to the flow of air out of the mouth and nose

Plosive of a voiceless sound is stronger than that of a voiced

Also called oral stops

Step 1	stop	a complete closure in mouth and velum no air can get out through either the mouth or the nose
Step 2	release	unblock the air passage compressed air rushes out with an explosive sound, called PLOSIVE.

There are 6 plosive consonants in English: p, b, t, d, k, g

Take the English /t/ as an example. The formation of /t/ is illustrated as follows:

(1) The STOP (2) The RELEASE

The English t-sound

The tip of the tongue is against the alveolar ridge.
The organs concerned are tense.
The tongue and the alveolar ridge are relaxed.
The vocal cords are NOT in vibration.

/t/ can be described as a voiceless alveolar plosive.

Note that the plosion of /t/ is stronger than that of /b/.

[ Pronunciation : Consonant : Plosive consonants]

Take the English /t/ as an example. The formation of /t/ is illustrated as follows:
(1) The STOP	(2) The RELEASE
	The English t-sound
The tip of the tongue is against the alveolar ridge. The organs concerned are tense.	The tongue and the alveolar ridge are relaxed. The vocal cords are NOT in vibration. /t/ can be described as a voiceless alveolar plosive. Note that the plosion of /t/ is stronger than that of /b/.