The Three Parameters Used to Describe Consonants.

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Consonants are generally an essential component of Articulatory phonetics which assess and consequently brings to remedy articulatory and phonological disorders. Kent (1997) advances that a consonant is a sound produced with a significant constriction in the oral and pharyngeal cavities. Thus the airstream from the vocal folds to the lips and nostrils encounters some type of articulatory abstraction along the way. Consonants in general operate within three parameters which embrace the place of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing features. However, it should also be noted that some linguistic scholars include a fourth parameter which is the organ of articulation and it has proved to be quite a viable incorporation if such arguments by Zemlin (1997) are to be considered. Consequently, this essay seeks to descriptively analyze consonant parameters under articulatory phonetics. Seikel and Drumwright (2005) propound that place of articulation denotes the area within the vocal tract that remains motionless during consonant articulation, that is the passive articulator, it is the part that the organ of articulation as active articulator approaches or contacts directly. Ultimately this conveys the notion that the place of articulation relates to where the oral tract is constricted to make a phone. Seikel and Drumwright (2005) go on to cite that in English there are 10 key places of articulation which would include the Bilabials, Labiodentals, Dental, Alveolar, Alveopalatal, Palatal, Velar, Uvular, Pharyngeal, and Gottal obstruction areas. These places of articulation can also be termed as phonetic descriptors. Labial is a general phonetic technical term related to the place of articulation and has two specific accompanying phonetic descriptors or places of articulation which are bilabial and labiodental. Bilabial sounds involve both lips as the
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