Consonants There are 24 consonants in English and they can be classified according to: 1. Place of articulation 2. Manner of articulation 3. Voicing 1. Bilabial : (upper lip + lower lip)               2. Labiodental: (lower lip + upper teeth)         3. Dental: (tongue + teeth)          4. Alveolar: (alveolar ridge + tongue)                    [ples v ¿:tkjU'leSn] [ples ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] 5. Palato-alveolar: (hard palate + alveolar ridge + tongue)                    6. Palatal: (hard palate + tongue)      7. Velar: (soft palate + tongue)            8. Glottal: (vocal cords)      1. Stop (Plosive): (complete closure + sudden release)  2. Fricative: (Narrowing resulting in audible friction) ,  , 3. Affricate: (closure + low separation)  ['mæn± ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] ['mæn± ±v ¿:tkjU'leSn] 4. Nasal: (complete closure + air escape through nose)  5. Lateral: (closure in mouth centre + air escape at tongue sides)  6. Approximant: (slight narrowing but not enough to cause friction)                  voiced          voiceless          voiced        voiceless  Description of English consonants 1.  7.   13.  19.   2.  8.  14.  20.   3.     9.    15.    21.   4.    10.  16.    22.    5.    11. 17.    23.   6. 12.    18.  24.     Classification of consonants Classification of consonants Bilabial Labio dental Dental Alveolar Palato- alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Stop - + - + - + Fricative - + - + - + - + - Affricate +  -  Nasal +m + + Lateral + Approximant +w + +