3. The Classification of Consonants according to the Work of the Vocal Cords

According to this principle consonants are divided into two groups – voiceless and voiced.

Voiceless consonants are those in the production of which the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate.

The English voiceless consonants are: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, / θ /, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /h/.

The Ukrainian voiceless consonants are: /П/, /Ф/, /Т/, /Т׳/, /С/, /С׳/, /Ц/, /Ц׳/, /Ч/, /Ш/, /Ш׳/, /К/, /Х/.

Voiced consonants are sounds in the production of which the vocal cords are brought close together and vibrate.

The English voiced consonants are: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, / ʒ /, / dʒ /, /m/, /n/, /w/, /l/, /r/, /j/.

The Ukrainian voiced consonants are: /Б/, /М/, /М׳/, /В/, /Д/, /Д׳/, /Н/, /Н׳/, /ДЗ/, /ДЗ׳/, /З/, /З׳/, /ДЖ/, /ДЖ׳/, /Ж/, /Ж׳/, /Р/, /Р׳/, /Л/, /Л׳/, /Г/.

According to the force of articulation consonants are divided into relatively strong, or fortis and relatively weak, or lenis. English voiced consonants are lenis. English voiceless consonants are fortis. They are pronounced with greater muscular tension and a stronger breath force.

4. The Classification of consonants According to the position of the Soft Palate.

According to this principle consonants are divided into two groups : oral and nasal.

Oral consonants are sounds in the production of which the soft palate is raised and the air passes only through the mouth cavity as in the case of English /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/, /v/, / θ /, / ð /, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, / ʒ /, /h/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /w/, /l/, /r/, /j/, and the Ukrainian /П/, /Б/, /Т/, /Т׳/, /Д /, /Д׳ /, /К/, /Г/, /В/, /С/, /С׳/, /З/, /З׳/, /Ш/, /Ш׳/, / Ж/, /Ж׳/, /Ч/, /Ц/, /Ц׳/, / ДЖ/, /ДЖ׳/, /ДЗ/, /ДЗ׳/, /Л/, /Л׳/, /Р/, /Р׳/.

Nasal consonants are sounds in the production of which the soft palate is lowered, and the air passes out through the nasal cavity as in the case of the English /m/, /n/, / ŋ /, and the Ukrainian /М/, /М׳/, /Н/, /Н׳/.

ENGLISH CONSONANT PHONEMES IN DETAIL

Phonemes /p/, /b/.

In pronouncing the English consonants /p/ and /b/ a complete obstruction is formed by the lips which are slightly spread and pressed together. The air-passage through the mouth cavity is completely blocked for a short time. Then the tension in the place of obstruction is released. Under the pressure from the lungs the air breaks the obstruction and escapes with a kind of plosion. The soft palate is raised and the air passes through the mouth cavity.

In pronouncing the English /p/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of the English /b/ they are drawn together and vibrate.

The English /p/ is a bilabial plosive voiceless consonant phoneme.

The English /b/ may be defined as a bilabial plosive voiced consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

p – cap, port

pp – apple, supper

Repeat these words starting with /p/:

Pea peek peal

pill pit pin

paid paste pane

pet peck pen

pad pat pack

Here are some words with /p/ in the medial position. Notice that there is little or no aspiration:

Happy rapid hoping

Sloppy vapour soupy

Ripen piper supper

Now repeat these words ending with /p/:

hoop loop coop

rope dope soap

cop stop mop

type gripe ripe

cup pup sup

Repeat these sentences:

Peggy ripped her pink pinafore by leaping up the steps. Patrick pointed at the powder that Patsy was mopping up. In his pursuit of peace, he appeared to pardon people on pot.

Graphic notations:

b – baby, cab

bb – bobby, rubber

Repeat these words starting with /b/:

Bathe bait bay

Best Ben bed

Been beef beam

Bite bind bile

Book boot boor

Now repeat these words with /b/ in the medial position:

Robber blatter rubber

Chubby shabby hobby

Fibbing probing wobbing

Ruby cabby bribery

Repeat these words ending with /b/:

Fib rib nib

Jab scab dab

Cub grub rub

Lobe probe robe

Knob sob job

Repeat some short phrases:

a blue bottle cops and robbers

bear berries a boom town

a rubber ball the bubble burst

Repeat these sentences:

Betty bought a beautiful bright blue blouse. Barbara dabbed boiled berries on her biscuits. The batter banged his bat against the ball. The clock in the big brick building went Bong Bong.

Boyd boasted about the boys on the ball team.

Phoneme /m/

In pronouncing the English /m/ the lips are spread, tense and pressed together, forming a complete obstruction to the flow of the air through the mouth cavity. The soft palate is lowered. The air passes out through the nasal cavity. The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate. The English /m/ is a bilabial occlusive nasal sonorant.

Graphic notations:

m –merry, time

mm – common, dummy

mn – autumn, hymn

Repeat these words starting with /m/:

mill mix miss

men mesh met

mice mile mine

mop moth mock

much mud mull

Repeat these words with /m/ in the medial position:

famous blaming tamer

steamer stemming Sammy

Timmy similar famished

coming plumber tummy

roomy gloomy blooming

Repeat these words ending with /m/:

beam theme gleam

stem phlegm them

fame lame shame

ham jam lamb

comb dome roam

Repeat some short phrases:

many mansions make merry

madman mad money

mix and match name the game

Repeat these sentences:

The mob massed for a meeting in the middle of the town.

Tim blamed the groom because the mare missed the mile race.

Phoneme /w/

In pronouncing the English /w/ the lips are tense, rounded and slightly protruded, forming a rounded narrowing (the primary focus) while the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate, forming a back secondary focus.

The sides of the tongue are raised, the air-passage is open along the central part of the tongue. The soft palate is raised. The air passes through the rounded narrowing between the lips without any audible friction. As the air-passage is rather wide, in the articulation of this sound voice prevails over noise.

The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate.

From this initial position of the tongue and the lips immediately glide into the position necessary for the production of the following vowel.

The English/w/ is a bilabial constrictive medial sonorant with a back secondary focus.

/w/ is often called a semi-vowel because, while it functions as a consonant, it consists of a combination of two vowels in sound. To form it, push the lips forward and say /u/; then, let the tongue and a lower lip drop and say /ə/. When you allow the first sound to glide into the second sound, /w/ is produced.

Graphic notations:

w – water, well

wh – wheel, when

/u / after g or q – language, square

Repeat these words starting with /w/:

week weed we’re

with will wind

wage waif ways

web well west

wax wagon word

woo wool wood

woke woven woe

wad wash wall

wise wipe wide

one was worry

Repeat these sentences:

Wesley worries about his wife’s work.

I wish you wouldn’t waste the fire wood.

Walter wound his watch when he woke.

The waif wailed and wept as he waited in the wind.

The candle will burn well if the wick is trimmed.

One of the spider webs woven strongly and well.

Phoneme /f/, /v/.

In pronouncing the English phonemes /f/, /v/ the lower lip is raised to the upper teeth, forming a flat narrowing. The soft palate is raised and the air passes through the narrowing producing audible friction.

In the production of /f/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of /v/ they are drawn near together and vibrate.

Thus the English /f/ may be defined as a labio-dental constrictive fricative voiceless consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

f – beef, future

ff – traffic, office

ph – alphabet, photo

gh – laugh, enough

Repeat these words starting with /f/:

Fame phrase faith

Fad fan fat

Food foot fool

Foe phone foal

fall fawn far

Repeat these words with /f/ in the medial position:

riffle piffle sniffle

duffle waffle snaffle

toffee coffee Mafia

wafer safer stiffer

offing coughing puffing

Repeat these words ending with /f/:

thief chief brief

if cliff tiff

half graph chaff

buff cuff enough

life wife rife

Repeat these sentences:

The fog made him cough and sniffle.

Flora is fasting – coffee and wafers for breakfast.

Fanny laughed at the calf frolicking in the field.

Jeff’s father fought the foe for four years.

The chef phoned for fresh fowls and half a beef steer.

Graphic notations:

v –very, devote

ph – nephew, Stephen.

Repeat these words starting with /v/:

vest vent vex

van vat valve

void voice voile

verse verbe verge

vim vivid villa

Repeat these words with /v/ in the medial position:

Mervin Melvin Vivian

raven even craven

never sever several

havoc flavour saviour

drivel navel devil

Repeat these words ending with/v/:

leave Steve heave

wave save pave

chive alive drive

love dove

rove mauve wove

Here are some short phrases:

vim and vigour visiting VIP’s

live and let live haves and have-nots

vanilla flavour venomous vipers

Repeat these sentences:

Victor divided his vineyard very evenly.

They’ve invested in a villa in a village.

Merve devised a verse about verbs and vowels.

Vera will wear mauve velvet or violet voile.

The volume of lava played havoc in the vicinity of the volcano.

Phonemes /t/, /d/.

In pronouncing the English /t/, /d/ the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli forming a complete obstruction.

The air-passage through the mouth cavity is blocked for a short time.

Then the tension in the place of obstruction is released. Under the pressure from the lungs the air breaks the obstruction and escapes with a kind of plosion. The soft palate is raised.

In the production of /t/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of /d/ they are drawn near together and vibrate.

The English /t/ is a forelingual apical alveolar occlusive (plosive) voiceless consonant phoneme.

The English /t/ is pronounced with aspiration in a stressed syllable, when followed by a vowel and not preceded by /s/.

The English /d/ is a forelingual apical alveolar occlusive (plosive) voiced consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

t – text, cat

tt – Betty, letter

ed after voiceless consonants – looked, stopped

th in proper names – Thames, Thomas

Repeat these words with /t/ in the initial position:

team teeth teal

tame take tape

tax tap tack

tile tight tire

toy toys

Here are some words with /t/ in the medial position:

litter bitter sitting

hooter footing tooted

writing lightest fighter

potter dotted hottest

dirty Myrtle hurting

Repeat these sentences:

Butter tarts will titillate your taste buds.

Two capital cities are Toronto and Ottawa.

The poet wrote about twinkling stars in the bright sky.

Toby knitted winter sweaters and mittens for tiny tots.

Tilly told a terrible tale about toppling towers.

Graphic notations:

d – dear, sad

dd – middle, Teddy

ed after vowels and voiced consonants – played, turned.

Repeat these words with /i/ in the initial position:

deem dear deep

dice dye dike

door dome dose

dale Dane dare

dip dig dim

Repeat these words with /d/ in the medial position:

loading coded modal

Roddy body toddy

radar hooded mody

loudest prouder rowdy

reader medial leader

These words have /d/ in the final position:

bead need speed

mad sad had

led red said

kid did lid

toyed Boyd Lloyd

Repeat these sentences:

Do as you would be done by.

The child dabbled in the dirty puddle.

The loud sound echoed down the dale.

Doris’ donkey did as it was told.

The gong went Ding Dong.

Devil’s food cake is dark and delicious.

Phoneme /n/

In pronouncing the English /n/ the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli, forming a complete obstruction. The soft palate is lowered and the air passes out through the nasal cavity.

The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate.

Thus /n/ may be defined as a forelingual apical alveolar occlusive (nasal) sonorant.

Graphic notations:

n – never, send

nn – Ann, penny

en, on – forgotten, reason

gn – reign, sign

kn – knife, know

pn – pneumonia, pneumatic

Here are some words which start with /n/:

kneel niece knees

nave nape nail

now noun noise

knife nine Nile

nob notch gnaw

Repeat these words with /n/ in the medial position:

manner banner tanner

funny money honey

spinner winner skinny

many penny Benny

bony loner bonny

Repeat these words ending with /n/:

sin fin thin

cane gain vain

man ran fan

loon soon rune

fawn gone lawn

Repeat these sentences:

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Nell needs money for buns and honey.

Nora has seen that funny film many times.

The bony gunner knelt near his gun in the noonday sun.

The lone runner ran nineteen miles in ninety-nine minutes.

Ben’s niece and nephew climbed to the notch in the nut tree.

Phonemes /s/, /z/

In pronouncing the English /s/, /z/ the tip and the blade of the tongue are raised towards the teeth-ridge, while the sides of the tongue are raised. Thus a rounded narrowing is formed between the tip of the tongue and the teeth-ridge. The soft palate is raised, the air passes through the narrowing with friction. In the production of /s/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of /z/ they are drawn near together and vibrate.

Thus the English /s/ may be defined as a forelingual apical alveolar constrictive fricative voiceless consonant phoneme.

The English /z/ is a forelingual apical alveolar constrictive voiced consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

s in the initial and medial positions – basket, sea,

s in the final position after a voiceless consonant – books, lamps.

c before e, i, y – bicycle, certain, cinema

sc – scene, science

ces – in the middle of place-names – Gloucester, Leicester, Worcester

ps – pseudonym, psychology

Repeat these words starting with /s/:

sill sin sieve

sign sight size

suit soup soon

soak soul soar

sage safe sail

Repeat these words with /s/ in the medial position:

fasten hasten glisten

chaser presser looser

lassy bossy messy

pricing crossing greasing

cases faces crisis

Repeat these words ending with /s/:

peace niece geese

guess legs mess

pass brass ass

sauce loss toss

house mouse louse

Repeat some short phrases:

a seesaw seasickness

soap ends sob sister

safe and sound smoke screen

sunstroke sterling silver

Repeat these sentences:

Sam said that he set the salt on the sill.

He tossed the bass on the grass in the sun.

The price of grass seed is so high it is out of sight.

The saffron sail glistened in the sunset.

Sue sewed a seam in her silk stocking.

Graphic notations:

z – citizen, lazy

zz – drizzle, puzzle

s – between vowels – poison, resist

s – in the final position after vowels and voiced consonants

-days, gives.

Repeat these words starting with /z/:

zeal zero zebra

zed zest Zelda

zipper zinc zither

zoo zoom zone

Zion zodiac zombie

Here are some words with /z/ in the medial position:

easy cozy dizzy

fuzzy cousin nuzzle

noisy nosy posing

wiser houses visor

prizes pauses blouses

Repeat these words ending with /z/:

does buzz fuzz

eyes prize wise

goes woes hose

haze gaze maze

poise noise boys

Repeat these sentences:

The visitor is dozing in the cozy chair as he always does.

The zealous student studied zebras in zoology.

Please zip up the zipper of my blouse.

He zig-zagged through the zoo like a zombie.

He says he froze his nose and ears at zero degrees.

The bees buzzed among my cousin’s roses and zinnias.

The zeppelin zoomed around and zeroed in on the zealot’s zone.

Phonemes / θ /, / ð/

In pronouncing the English / θ /, / ð/ the tip of the tongue is flattened and slightly projected out between the upper and the lower teeth. The soft palate is raised. The air passes through the flat narrowing formed between the teeth and the tongue with friction.

In the production of / θ / the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of / ð/ they are drawn near together and vibrate.

The English / θ / may be defined as a forelingual inter-dental aical fricative voiceless consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

th in the initial and final positions – thin, teeth

th in the middle of words of Latin and Greek origin – author, method

Repeat these words starting with /θ/:

theme thief thesis

thick thin think

thole thorn thorp

thug thumb thud

third thirsty Thursday

Repeat these words with / θ / in the medial position:

zither breath Seth

ether lath path

nothing oath growth

mythical Ruth booth

pathos broth quoth

Repeat this tongue twister:

She sifted thistles, thick twisted thistles.

Sifting the thick twisted thistles sat she;

She sifted thistles thick twisted thistles.

And with strong string strung them in sheaves sheepishly.

She sifted thistles, thick twisted thistles.

And Cissy, her sister, assisted in sifting.

The thick thistles her sister twisted.

The English / ð/ is a forelingual interdental apical fricative voiced consonant phoneme.

Graphic notations:

th between vowels – father, weather

th in pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions – this, there, than, with

th in the final position before e – bathe, lathe

Repeat these words starting with / ð/:

thee these this

them then they

that than thy

those though thou

there their they’re

Repeat these words with /ð/ in the medial position:

weather leather whether

other mother brother

lather rather father

either neither wither

worthy southern northern

Repeat these words ending with /ð/:

teethe seethe seathe

wreathe writhe tithe

soothe mouthe loathe

lathe swathe lithe

Repeat these sentences:

A northern wind will with those blooms.

We can say, either or either, neither or neither.

They tell us the nether regions seethe with wreathing smoke.

Mother soothed the teething baby.

Although the soap is good, it doesn’t lather.

The leather workers would rather live in southern Canada.

The knight tethered his horse and unsheathed his sword.

They’re putting their books over there on that table.

The weather determines whether my father’s back will ache.

I loathe seeing thugs smash things to smithereens.

Thou hast thy hat; put it on thyself.

Get thee thither and defend thine own.

Phonemes /ʃ/, / ʒ /

In pronouncing the English /ʃ/, / ʒ / the tip and the blade of the tongue are raised towards the black of the teeth-ridge, forming a flat narrowing. The distance between the front of the tongue and the hard palate is rather narrow and a front secondary focus is formed there. The soft palate is raised, the lips are rounded and slightly protruded. In the production of /ʃ/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of / ʒ / they are drawn near together and vibrate.

The English /ʃ/ may be defined as a forelingual palato-alveolar apical fricative voiceless consonant with a front secondary focus.

The English /ʒ / is defined as a forelingual palate-alveolar apical fricative voiced consonant phoneme with a front secondary focus.

Graphic notations:

sh – fish, ship

ch in word of French origin – champagne, machine

ci, si, ti in the medial position – ancient, Asia, inpatient

ss before – ion – discussion, expression.

Here are some words starting with /ʃ/:

She sheep sheath

shave shale shame

shed chef shell

shook sure should

show shore shoal

shy shine shies

Repeat these words with /ʃ/ in the medial position:

mission fishing fissure

passion fashion ration

luscious mushy conscious

nation	satiate		machine
ocean	motion		potion
Repeat these words ending with /∫/ :
dish	fish		wish
dash	cash		hash
rush	gush		hush
bosh	cosh		gosh
Try to repeat this tongue twister:
She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashore shells.
She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashells, I’m sure.
Graphic notations:
s before -ion – allusion, division
s before -ure – measure, pleasure
g before e, i – genre, regime
Repeat these words ending with /ʒ/ :
rouge	beige		prestige
garage	loge		menage
barrage	liege
Repeat these words with /ʒ/ in the medial position :
leisure	treasure		pleasure
measure	seizure		casual
Frisian	decision		precision
usual	fusion		confusion
erasure	unusual		azure
Repeat these sentences :
Please measure the garage door.
The Frisian language is related to Dutch.
Will you sit in the lodge, my good liege.
She applied her rouge leisurely and with composure.
Phonemes /t∫/, /dʒ/

In pronouncing the English /t∫/, /dʒ/ the tip and the blade of the tongue touch the back part of the teeth-ridge. The air-passage through the mouth cavity as completely blocked for a short time. The front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate, and the tip of the tongue is slowly removed from the teeth-ridge forming a flat narrowing through which the air passes with friction. The soft palate is raised. In the production of /t∫/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the articulation of /dʒ/ they are drawn apart near together and vibrate.

The English /t∫/ may be defined as a forelingual palato-alveolar voiceless affricate with a front secondary focus.

The English /dʒ/ may be defined as a forelingual palato-alveolar apical voiceless affricate with a front secondary focus.

Graphic notations:
ch – cheap, chin
tch – catch, match
t before –ure – lecture, nature
Repeat these words starting with /tS/ :
chess	chest	cheque
chafe	chain	chase
chime	chide	child
chew	choose	chewed
chaff	chat	chap
Repeat these words with /tS/ in the medial position :
creature	preacher	teacher
sketching	techy	Fletcher
natural	patches	hatching
churches	nurture	searcher
Repeat these words ending with /tS/ :
peach	leech	reach
ouch	couch	pouch
batch	much	touch
which	ditch	rich
birch	perch	search
Repeat some short phrases :
Charlie Chaplin	cheeping and chirping
church arches	chattering chatterboxes
chubby children	chocolate chip cookies
pick and choose	watch chain

Repeat these sentences :

Charlie chopped a branch off the beech tree.

I choose potato chips and chubby chicken.

The children cheered when they reached the beach.

The chickadees chirped cheerfully in the birch tree.

Graphic notations:
g before e, i, y – age, giant, gym
dg(e) – budget, lodge
j – joke, majority
Repeat these words starting with /dʒ/ :
Jean	jeep	jeer
jade	Jane	Jake
juice	June	jewel
joy	joist	join
jaw	job	John
Here are some words with /dʒ/ in the medial position :
Reggie	edging	hedges
Roger	lodger	lodging
raging	wages	gauging
badger	budget	midget
Repeat these words ending with /dʒ/ :
ridge	bridge	midge
edge	ledge	wedge
fudge	nudge	budge
urge	merge	dirge
badge	cadge	Madge
Repeat these short phrases :
jumbo-jet	jolly jelly-beans
judge and jury	a jar of jam
orange juice	just a jiffy
hodge-podge	journalists’ jargon

Repeat these sentences:

Jenny joked and jested with the juggler.

Jack went by jumbo-jet to Jamaica in January.

Jessie was jealous and went to Japan in June.

Jed generally drives his jeep to Jasper.

The joggers will enjoy the orange juice.

Don’t jiggle or joggle or jump or budge.

The judge and jury were gentle with the juvenile.

Madge’s jewellery is not just junk; she has jade and gem stones.

Phoneme /l/

In pronouncing the English /l/ the tip of the tongue touches the teeth-ridge. The sides of the tongue are lowered forming rather wide passages. The air passes along these channels without audible friction. The soft palate is raised. The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate.

The English /l/ is a forelingual alveolar apical constrictive lateral sonorant.

The consonant /l/ has the two varieties in English. Before vowels and /j/ there appears a ‘clear’ variant of /l/. In pronouncing the ‘clear’ /l/ a secondary focus is formed by the front of the tongue raised towards the hard palate, e.g. lesson, value. At the end of words and before consonants there appears a ‘dark’ variant of /l/. In pronouncing the ‘dark’ /l/ a secondary focus is formed by the back of the tongue raies towards the soft palate, e.g. bell, children.

Graphic notations:
l – lump, little
ll – bell, collar
g before e, i – genre, regime
Repeat these words in which light /l/ occurs at the beginning of the word :
leech	league	lease
lick	lift	limb
late	lace	lame
leg	led	lest
laugh	lath	latch
lose	loose	lure
loaf	loam	loathe
lot	law	lost
love	lush	lull
Repeat these words with dark /l/ in the medial position :
silly	hilly	Billy
yellow	jelly	jealous
Alan	callous	stallion
golly	wallow	sully
Repeat these words with dark /l/ at the end of the word :
heel	kneel	zeal
quill	rill	frill
well	shell	quell
tail	fail	kale
pal	Hal	Sal
cull	dull	mull
full	spool	wool
soil	boil	toil
aisle	mile	pile
owl	fowl	howl

Repeat these short phrases :
lads and lasses	hill-billy
life and limb	pell-mell
live and let live	a tall tale

Repeat these sentences containing /l/ :

Lily likes to look for little shells.

Larry looks lonely; let’s tell him a tall tale.

It’s cruel to fight a duel with a fool.

Saul will broil the loin in the broiler.

The Isle of Mull lies across the Kyle of Lochalsh.

The elderly lady likes shawls of silk and wool.

Paul fiddled with the dial before calling Sally in Lawrenceville.

Golly, Sally is trying to pull that full load to the pool.

Bill failed to lead the bull to its stall on the hill.

Phoneme /r/

In pronouncing the English /r/ the tip of the tongue is raised towards the back of the teeth-ridge, forming a rather wide narrowing. The front of the tongue is to some extent depressed (cacuminal articulation). The sides of the tongue are raised and the air escapes along the central line of the tongue without audible friction.

The English /r/ may be defined as a forelingual, post-alveolar cacuminal constrictive medial sonorant.

Graphic notations:
r – before a vowel – rest, tree
rr – before a vowel – carry, merry
wr – wrestle, write
rh – rhyme, rhythm
Repeat these words starting with /r/ :
rib	rig	rich
ruff	rum	rush
rock	wrath	raw
rile	rise	writhe
raft	ran	rap
Repeat these words with /r/ in the medial position :
carriage	marriage	tarry
merry	berry	mirror
starry	sparring	warrant
curry	hurry	worry
hoary	quorum	currant
Here are some short phrases :
bright and early	draft beer
curry powder	river current
worry wart	ruby red
Repeat these sentences :
Roses and carnations are my favourite flowers.
Ron drove his car along rural route fourty-four.
Elderberries and red currants are used in preserves.
Roy remarked rudely that the room reeked of beer.
Are ripe berries red and round and firm.