[General] Consonant and vowel sounds?

[Geek]

Dear teachers,

I have a doubt which i would like to clear..
What is the difference between consonant sounds and vowel sounds?

Your help will be very much appreciated.
Thank you :-D

 

[lauralie2]

A simple test to determine whethe a sound is a consonant or a vowel is to sing it. You can sing a vowel but you can't sing a consonant. Exceptions are sonorous sounds, like l, n, m, y, w.

 

[Johnson_F]

I am not quite sure what is meant by 'singing' a sound, but it seems to me that you can 'sing' such sounds as /z/ and /v/.

Vowel sounds are those in which the flow of air from the lungs is not obstructed in any way. Movement of the tongue and lips may change the quality of the sound, but do no hinder it. Such sounds are the first sounds in, for example: an, egg, in, on, under.

With consonants the air-flow is blocked or restricted in some way.

The restriction may be by the lips: pea, boy, my; the teeth and lips: foe,very; the teeth and tongue: the, thick, lie; the tongue and part of the roof of the mouth: tea, day, sea, zoo, she, chew, jay, key, go, sing.

The sounds you hear in yes, we and (in some dialects) ray are generally considered as consonants in English, though they are quite like vowels in that the air-flow is not really restricted.