English phonetics and phonology (Peter Roach)

7 Nasals and other consonants

7.1 Nasals

The basic characteristic of a nasal consonant is that the air escapes through the nose.

We will now look at some ways in

which the distribution of ŋ is usual.

i) In initial position we find m and n occurring freely, but ŋ never occurs in this position.

ii) Medially, ŋ occurs quite frequently

iii) A third way in which the distribution of ŋ is unusual is the small number of vowels it is found to follow,

It never occurs after a diphthong or long vowel, and in fact there are only five vowels ever found preceding this consonant: I, e, æ, Λ and D.

7.2 The consonant 1

A lateral consonant is one in which the passage of air through the mouth does not go in the usual way along the centre of the tongue;

7.3 The consonant r

This consonant is  a post-alveolar approximant.

The tongue is slightly curled backwards with the tip raised; consonants with this tongue shape are called retroflex.

7.4 The consonants j and w

The most important thing to remember about these phonemes is that they are phonetically like vowels but phonologically like consonants