Business English

1. PRONUNCIATION

17. DENTALS
 In a dental consonant, the tip or blade of the tongue
approaches or touches the upper teeth. English [θ] and
[ð] are dental fricatives. There are actually a couple of
different ways of forming these sounds:
 The tongue tip can approach the back of the upper
teeth, but not press against them so hard that the
airflow is completely blocked.
 The blade of the tongue can touch the bottom of the
upper teeth, with the tongue tip protruding between the
teeth -- still leaving enough space for a turbulent
airstream to escape. This kind of [θ] and [ð] is often
called interdental.
 The diagram to the right shows a typical interdental [θ]
or [ð].

18. ALVEOPALATALS
 Alveopalatals are consonants for which the flow of
air is stopped or impeded by creating a block or a
small aperture between the tongue and the region
of the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge.
Alveopalatals may be voiced (vocal cords vibrating
during the articulation of the consonant) or voiceless
(vocal cords not vibrating during the articulation of the
consonant). Here is a list of the alveopalatals in
Present-Day English.
 1. /c</ (the phoneme spelled ch in chip)
2. /j</ (the phoneme spelled g in gym
3. /s</ (the phoneme spelled sh in shore
4. /z</ (the phoneme spelled z in azure
5. /j/ (the phoneme spelled y in yard

19. GLOTTAL
 The glottis is the opening between the vocal
folds. In an [h], this opening is narrow
enough to create some turbulence in the
airstream flowing past the vocal folds. For
this reason, [h] is often classified as a glottal
fricative.