Which sounds are called plosives and why? Write a note on the manner of their articulation.
Ans. Sounds articulated with a stricture of complete closure and sudden release are called plosives. In British R.P. there are six plosive consonants: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/. During the articulation of these sounds the active and passive articulator come into firm contact with each other and thus the lung-air cannot escape through the mouth. Again, simultaneously there is a velic closure. The soft palate is raised and touches the back wall of the pharynx and thus completely blocks the nasal passage of air. On account of the oral and nasal closure the lung-air is blocked in the mouth. But when the active articulator is suddenly separated from the passive articulator, the air escapes with a small explosive noise.
/p/, as in the English word 'pin', is a voiceless bilabial plosive. It is voiceless because during its production the vocal cords are wide apart and the glottis is wide open. /p/ is a bilabial sound because its place of articulation is the labial region. The active articulator is the lower lip which is raised to touch the passive articulator, the upper lip. /b/, as in the English word 'bin', is the voiced counterpart of /p/. The only difference between them is that while for /p/ there is no vibration of the vocal cords, for /b/ the vocal cords vibrate.
While /t/, as in the English word 'tin', is a voiceless alveolar plosive, /d/, as in the English word 'din', is a voiced alveolar plosive. During the articulation of these two sounds the active articulator, the tip or blade of the tongue, comes into firm contact with the passive articulator, the teeth ridge. The manner of articulation is complete closure and sudden release as in the case of other plosives.
While /k/, as in the English word 'kin', is a voiceless velar plosive, /g/, as in the English word 'give', is a voiced velar plosive. During the production of these two sounds the back of the tongue, which is the active articulator, comes into firm contact with the soft palate, which is the passive articulator and the soft palate is also raised blocking the nasal passage of air.
