1. Classification of English consonants

In classifying sounds, as in classifying items in any other group, all we need to do is to mention those features by which they differ. There are two major classes of sounds traditionally distinguished by phoneticians in any language: consonants and vowels. English consonants can be classified according to the following principles: 1) the manner of articulation and the type of obstruction (occlusive (in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed:p,b,t,d,k,g,m,n),constrictive (in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed:f,v,l,r,TH), and occlusive-constrictive (or affricates: tS,dG) which are produced by combination of complete and incomplete closure). 2) the place of articulation: - according to this principle all consonants are classed into labial (bilabial- cons. are produced with both lips:p,b,m,w, labio-dental-articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth: f,v), lingual (mediolingual- are produced with the front part of the tongue raised toward the hard palate:j and backlingual-are produced with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate: k,g; lingual-forelingual- a)interdental TH; b)alveolar:d,t,s,z; c)post-alveolar:r; palate-alveolar:tS,dG) and glottal (articulated with the glottis:h). 3) the force of articulation and the work of the vocal cords; according to the force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension all consonants are divided into fortis (voiceless) and lenis (voiced). 4) the degree of noise; on this ground English consonants are divided into noise consonants and sonorants (sonorants sound more like vowels than consonants:m,n,r,j,w,l); 5) the position of the soft palate; according to this principle consonants can be oral(b,t,k,f) and nasal – m,n)

2. Classification of English vowels

English vowels are classified according to the following principles:

1. stability of articulation (it specifies the actual position of the articulating organ in the process of the articulation of a vowel); according to this principle vowels are classed into monophthongs/i,e,a:/, diphthongs/ei,au/ and diphthongoids/i:,u:/;eng.Monophthongs are characterized by the relative stability of the tongue position and they are called pure vowels. In articulation of diphth. The tongue runs from 1 position to another). 2) tongue position. According to the horizontal movement vowels are classed into front(I,e,ea), front-retracted(I,ie), central(ə, Л), back(u:) and back-advanced(u,ue,a:).According to the vertical movement three classes of vowels are distinguished: high (or close:i:,u:), mid (or half-open: e,з:) and low (or open: a:, schwa,ae) vowels. 3) lip position: rounded – u,u:), unrounded –the rest.4) vowel length; on this ground the English monophthongs are traditionally divided into two varieties: short(I,schwa,e) and long(i:,a:,u:) vowels.5)character of the vowel end.it depends on the character of the articulatory transition from a vowel to a consonant. According to this principle vowels are divided into checked and unchecked (or free); all short vowels are checked when stressed, all long vowels are free.6)tensenesscharacterizes the state of the organs of speech at the moment of vowel production. We distinguish tense and lax vowels. Historically long vowels are tense, while historically short vow. are lax.