Research Procedure RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
71 place of articulation, manner of articulation, whether they are voiced or voiceless,
and whether they should or can be aspirated, or not.
4.1.1 Description of the Similar Consonants of English and Cantonese The rules of English and Cantonese phonetics are all agree that the speech
sounds of their languages can be identified and described according to two parameters, namely: based on its place of articulation and based on its manner of
articulation. The two languages also recognize yet another parameter that can be used in specifying their consonant speech sounds, that is the voicing dimension.
For example, from its place of articulation, the speaker of English, would identify the sound p as a bilabial according to the location this sound can be produced
within the oral cavity. The same sound p also occur in Cantonese, in which they also believe that according to its manner of articulation, this p sound is called as
a stop, or a plosive. In terms of voicing, both languages agree that p sound is a fortis, therefore voiceless.
Being produced by similar organs of speech production, and organs of articulation, also having similar sound classification system, both Cantonese and
English do share a large number of consonant that are similar articulation and acoustic wise. There are twelve groups of consonant speech sounds which are
shared by both languages. The discussion on each of them will be explained thoroughly in the next parts of the discussion. Prior to the description of the
groups, the phonemic inventory of the consonants of both English and Cantonese can be observed in the following tables.
72
[Table 4.1 English Phonemic Inventory]
Manner Plosive
Nasal Fricative
Affricate
Approximant Lateral
Approximant
Place
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
Bilabial
p b
- m
- -
- -
- -
- -
Labio- dental
- -
- -
f v
- -
- -
- -
Dental
- -
- -
θ ð
- -
- -
- -
Alveolar
t d
- n
s z
- -
- -
- l
Palato- alveolar
- -
- -
ʃ ʒ
t ʃ
d
ʒ -
r -
-
Palatal
- -
- -
- -
- -
- j
- -
Velar
k g
-
ŋ
- -
- -
- -
- -
Labio- velar
- -
- -
- -
- -
- w
- -
Glottal
- -
- -
h -
- -
- -
- -
As seen from Table 4.1 that English has a total of 24 chief consonants. It consists of six plosives, three nasals, eight fricatives, two affricates, three
approximants, and one lateral approximant. The plosives of English lie in three places of articulation, namely bilabial p,b, alveolar t, d, and velar k, g. English
has no voiceless nasals. The three nasals are the bilabial m, the alveolar n and the velar
ŋ. From the table it can be known that the fricative group has more members than the rests. English fricative minimal pairs are: the labio-dentals f,
v, dentals θ, ð
,
alveolars s, z, the palato-alveolars ʃ, ʒ, and the glottal fricative
h. Still on the palato-alveolars are the affricates t ʃ and dʒ. It has three voiced
approximants: r, j, w, and one voiced lateral approximant l.
73
[Table 4.2 Cantonese Phonemic Inventory]
Manner Plosive
Nasal Fricative
Affricate
Approximant Lateral
Approximant
Place
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
VCL VCD
Bilabial
p p
h
- -
m -
- -
- -
- -
-
Labio- dental
- -
- -
f -
- -
- -
- -
Dental
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Alveolar
t t
h
- -
n s
- ts
ts
h
- -
- -
l
Palato- alveolar
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Palatal
- -
- -
- -
- -
- j
- -
Velar
k k
h
- -
ŋ
- -
- -
- -
- -
Labio- velar
kw k
h
w
- -
- -
- -
- -
w
- -
Glottal
- -
- -
h
- -
- -
- -
-
Like its counterpart, Table 4.2 displays the phonemic inventory of one of the contrasted language. From the table, it can be comprehended that Cantonese
has a total of 19 chief consonants. Compared to English, Cantonese has more plosives. Besides the bilabial, alveolar, and velar plosives, Cantonese has a pair of
voiceless labio-velar plosive kw and k
h
w, both alien to English. The nasals of Cantonese are exactly similar to English, m, n,
ŋ. On the other hand, Cantonese has only three fricatives instead of nine. It only has the voiceless labio-dental
fricative f, the voiceless alveolar fricative s, and the voiceless glottal fricative h. In terms of the number of affricates owned, Cantonese and English are