Now let's briefly discuss consonants. Much of the clarity of your speech depends upon your pronunciation of the 25 consonants in the English language. Consonants are speech sounds formed by first 1)blocking air off at some point in the vocal 2)tract. And then releasing the air stream at another point in the tract.

　Briefly there are at least three ways to classify consonants. But let's look at one of the simplest classifications, whether the consonants are voiced or unvoiced. For example consider the consonant [b] as in the word BABY and [p] as in PAPA, both sounds are formed in exactly the same way. The breath is first blocked by the lips then released as a quick puff of air. The difference is that the vocal chords vibrate or produce 3)phonation when [b] is produced, but they don't when [p] is formed.

　If you listen closely as you carefully produce the consonant [b] as in BABY, you'll heara small 4)grunting noise before the [b] sound is formed. That 5)buzzing noise was produced by the vocal chords. So [b] is a voiced consonant. Now once again form the consonant sound [p] as in PAPA. It's a puff of air. No phonation is present.

   As Betty said these speech sounds are classified according to several systems. Another 6)classification system involves the ways in which sounds are produced by the 7)articulators. [b] and [p] are also classified as 8)plosive consonants. Think of them as explosives, and you'll get the idea. They can sound like 9)miniature explosions especially if you are speaking into a microphone. And we’ll give you some tips about speaking in the microphones later in this programme. Suffice it to say, spoken, face to face plosive consonants can also produce a mini shower.

   So work on producing plosives in a less dramatic manner. That's simply involves releasing the air in a more controlled way.

   The consonant sound “s” [s] as in the word SNAKE is called a civilent. Make a 10)hissing sound with me, now [s]. That sound is produced by 11)friction as the air stream passes through the articulators, in this case your teeth. Notice that as you produce an [s] the tongue is slightly 12)cupped, with its tip very close to the front teeth. The teeth are almost touching, and the lips are slightly spread.

   Another group of consonants are called 13)semivowels because they include a vowel sound, but are used in speech as consonants. Produce the semivowel “r”[r] as in ROUGH, produce it again slowly, you’ll discover that this sound is actually [aur], a vowel sound starts it. However the speech sound [r] is used as a consonant. The alphabet letter “w”, the speech sound [w] as in WATER is classified as a consonant, but it uses as a vowel sound. Pronounce it slowly [w], WATER, WATER. You see the [w] sound actually starts with a vowel sound [u].

　And watch out for 14)nasals. There are only three primary nasals in the English language. [m], [n] and the -ing [] ending of any words, SWINGING, RUNNING. They may cause excess nasality if you prolong them.

The inaccurate or incorrect production of the consonant sounds of standard American English are omitting consonants from certain words also can lead to speaking in accented form of American English. For example a speaker may say [fa:m] instead of [farm] or [bidnis] instead of [biznis]. But it's also important to add that the educational level attained by a speaker, his or her social background, ethnic heritage and even age or 15)gender can lead to speaking standard American English with an accent or a dialect. In a study of working class laborers in America, woman were found to use the “-ing” ending on words more frequently than men. Another study found that people whose income fell below a certain level were more likely to omit the [r] from words.

流利美语训练妙方

　  现在我们来简要讨论一下辅音。语言的清晰很大程度上取决于英语中二十五个辅音的发音。辅音是这样发出的：首先在发音器官某一处位置阻住气流，然后在另一处呼出气流。

　  辅音主要有三种分类方法。我们来看最简单的一种-根据辅音是发声的还是不发声的来区分。例如，BABY这个词中的[b]和PAPA这个词的[p]的发音实际上是一样的。气流首先被嘴唇阻住，然后迅速呼出。区别是：在发[b]的时候声带振动发声，但在发[p]的时候却没有。

　  如果你仔细地听baby中的[b]，在发[b]前，你会听到一声小小的鼻音。这声鼻音是由声带发出的。所以[b]是发声的辅音。我们再来看PAPA中的[p]。气流呼出，不发声。

　  正如贝蒂所说，辅音有几种分类方法。另一种分类方法是根据发音器官来区分。如[b]和[p]都是爆破音。顾名思义，它们就像炸药一样，在发音的时候就像一次小小的爆炸，尤其是当你对着话筒说话的时候。下一节我们将告诉大家如何使用话筒的小诀窍。这么说吧，发爆破音时有时会唾沫四溅，要当心哦。

　  在发爆破音的时候不要发得太强烈。在呼气的时候要轻柔一些。

　  [s]，如SNAKE，被称作蚂蚁。现在和我一起发音，[s]。在气流通过发音器官--即牙齿时，由于摩擦而发音。这样在发[s]音时舌轻微卷曲，舌尖与前齿非常接近。上下齿几乎接触，唇微张。

　  另一组辅音被称作半元音，因为它们包括一个元音，但实际上却被用作辅音。如ROUGH中的[r]就是一个半元音。再慢慢读一遍，你会发现，实际上它读作[aur]，是以一个元音开头的，但[r]还是被用作辅音。字母W的发音[w]，如WATER被归为辅音，但它被用作元音。慢慢地读一遍[w]，WATER，WATER。你看，实际上，[w]是由一个元音[u]开头的。

　  注意鼻音，英语中只有三个鼻音：[m],[n]和以-ing结尾的词的[]，如SWINGING, RUNNING。如果你拖长发音，就会有额外的鼻音。

标准美语中不正确的发音即省略某些单词中的辅音，会导致方言的形成。例如，有人会把[farm]说成[fa:m]，或把[biznis]说成[bidnis]。有一点非常重要，即说话者的受教育程度、社会背景、种族、年龄甚至性别都会影响人说话的口音。根据一项美国劳工调查，女性使用“ing”结尾的词的频率要比男性多。另一项研究表明，工资处于某个特定程度以下的人喜欢省略[r]音。

　1) block   v. 阻碍    

2) tract   n. 行迹

3) phonation   n.（语音）为（某个连续浊辅音或元音）发音

4) grunt   v. 咕哝，嘟囔 

5) buzz   v. 嘤嘤声，嗡嗡声 

6)classification  n. 分类

7) articulator   n. 发音的人或物；（语音）发音器官   8) plosive   a. 爆破音的

9) miniature  a. 小规模的；小型的   10) hiss   v. 发出嘶嘶声  

11) friction  n. 摩擦

12) cup   v. 使成杯形  

13) semivowel  n. 半元音

14) nasal n.（语音）鼻音   

15) gender   n. （男性，女性的）性