Cicely Berry Vocal Work- Consonants

Continuant Consonants: can be both breathed and voiced. The passage of air or
sound is only partially stopped by the tongue or lips so that its possible to say them
for as long as your breath lasts, which is why they are continuant!
Nasal Continuants to practice:
NG-

made with the back of the tongue and the soft palate.

M-

made by the lips being pressed together.

N-

made by the tongue tip pressing against the ridge at the back of the teeth.

In these 3 sounds continuants the sound escapes by the soft palate coming down
and allows the sound to come through the nose. Put your hand under your nose and
feel the air coming out of the nose while doing these exercises. If you can feel the
air you will know you are making these noises correctly.

Other continuant consonants:

L-

made by placing the tip of the tongue against the ridge behind the teeth,
stopping the sound there, but with the sides of the tongue lowered, allowing
the sound to continue out.

R-

again made with the front of the tongue, but this time with it curved up and
slightly back, so that it is almost in contact with the curve of the hard palateenough to give it friction and vibration, but not enough to stop the sound.
There are also different ways of producing the R sound- the rolled R (rapid
bouncing of the tongue), and the one-tap R (Scottish R)

The rest of the continuant consonants go in pairs:

s-z-

made with the jaw more or less closed and the tip of the tongue pressed
against the teeth- the sound escapes down the channel in the centre of the
tongue and through the teeth.

f-v

these are made with the top teeth biting against the lower lip so that there is
friction between the teeth and the lip as breath escapes.

th-th the first one as in thin, the second as in this- the same sound, one
breathed and other voices. These are made with the tongue tip slightly
through the teeth and friction is created.