On the articulatory level every consonant can be characterized by 2 facts:
1) in what articulatory position are organs of speech while pronouncing this consonant;
2) where in the mouth this consonant is formed.
Also a lot of other factors can influence the pronunciation of this consonant, for example:
 by what organ of speech the obstruction is made;
 in what position are “ vocal cords ” (голосовые связки);
 with what power this consonant is pronounced and so on …
All consonants can be classified in different ways.
1.
Classification of Vassilyev
There are 2 main factors according to which all consonants can be classified:
1) the type of obstruction
2) the manner of production of noise
There are 2 classes of consonants:
1) occlusive (смычные), in the production of which a complete obstruction is made;
2) constrictive (щелевые), in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is made. смычной щелевой t ea see d s ea sea s p ull b oat f ull v ote
Each of these 2 classes is subdivided into noise consonant and sonorant. The factors of dividing these sounds is prevailing of noise or tone (голоса) in characteristics of a sound. In their turn noise consonants are divided into plosive (взрывные) [d] [tʃ] and affricates [ʤ] [ʧ].
2.
Classification of Sokolova and Tikhonov
The factor of their classification is the degree of noise. There are 2 classes of consonants:

 noise
 sonorants
Sonorants are the most debated consonants. The point is (факт в том) that they are pronounced differently from all other consonants. There air passage (поток воздуха) between organs of speech is very wide, much wider than in the production of other consonants. As a result we hear not noise but tone so sonorants sound more like vowels than consonants. Some British phoneticians refer them to the class of semivowels [w] [j] [r]. Soviet and Russian phoneticians think that these are consonants.
Resume: there are 2 factors that are most important in classification of sounds
 degree of noise
 manner of articulation
The place of articulation is another very important characteristic of English consonants.
According to it all English consonant can be classified into:
 labial (губные)
 lingual (смычные)
 glottal (гортанные)
Labial can be subdivided into:
 bilabial
 labio-dental
Lingual are subdivided into:
 forelingual (передне-язычный)
 mediolingual
 backlingual

3) The next point should be made in connection with another sound property, that is voiced and voiceless characteristic which depends on the work of vocal cords. It has been long believed that from the articulatory point of view there is a distinction on the absence or presence of vibrations of vocal cords between such pairs of sounds as: p-b; k-g; t-d; v-f; s-z; ʃ-ʒ; ʧ-ʤ, but this not the only difference between them. It is obvious that there is also energy difference. All voiced consonants are weak, all voiceless consonants are strong.
4) There is one more articulatory characteristic according to which English consonants can also be classified, that is the position of the soft palate (мягкое небо). According to it consonants can be oral (ротовые) and nasal (носовые). Only some consonants demand the lowed position of the soft palate. They are nasal occlusive sonorants . They differ from oral plosives in which the soft palate is lowed (опущен) or risen (приподнят).
In the English system of consonants there is a problem of affricates. That is their status and number. There two debated question:
1.
are the English sounds [ʧ] [ʤ] monophonemic or biphonemic combinations.
2.
if they are monophonemic then how many phonemes of this kind exist in the system of
English consonants and can such combinations [tr] [dr] [ts] [dz] [tƟ] [dð] be considered as affricates?
One thing is clear: that is all these sounds are complexes because articulatorily and acoustically we can to elements. The articulatory difference between [ʧ] and [ʤ] on the one hand and [t] [d] on the other hand is based on the speed of releasing the obstruction. When [ʧ] and [ʤ] are pronounced the obstruction is released slower than in case of [t] [d]. But it isn’t the only difference between affricates and plosives. There is no synchrony in releasing the obstruction by the central part of the tongue and its sides. Considering phonetic duality of affricates it is necessary to analyze the relation of affricates to other consonants. Traditionally it is the type of obstruction that serves the bases for comparison. There are 2 types of obstruction: complete and incomplete . According to this it is impossible to refer affricates to any group because they consist of 2 types of obstructions: complete and incomplete. So they are singled out
(выделяются) in a separate group – affricates or occlusive/constrictive consonants .
The problem of affricates is a debated problem among phoneticians. According to Russian phoneticians there are 2 affricates - [ʧ] and [ʤ]. An English phonetician D. Jones says there are

six affricates: [ʧ] [ʤ] [tr] [dr] [ts] [dz]. An English phonetician A. Gimson increases their number to eight adding two more affricates: [tƟ] [dð]. To understand if they are affricates or not we must define their articulatory in divisibility. This procedure is usually fulfilled according to principles of Trubetskoy. According to his point of view a sound complex can be considered monophonemic if:
1) its elements belong to one syllable;
2) they are produced by one articulatory effort;
3) its duration doesn’t exceed normal duration of its both elements.
Rule 1 Syllabic indivisibility butcher [ˈbʊʧ-ə] — lightship [ˈlaɪt-ʃɪp] mattress [ˈmætr-ɪs] — footrest [ˈfʊt-rest] curtsey [ˈkɜ:-tsɪ] eighth [eɪtƟ]
—
— out-set [ˈaʊt-set] whitethorn [ˈwaɪt-Ɵɔ:n]
We can see that in the words in left column the sounds belong to one syllable and can not be divided.
Rule 2. Articulatory indivisibility
All sound complexes have many features in common: unlike separate sounds in the beginning of their articulation organs of speech are not in the position to pronounce the first element but in the position of the second fricative element. But there is a complete obstruction formed by the tip of the tongue and by the sides of the tongue.
By conclusion we can say that there are two approaches to the problem of affricates:
1.
British phoneticians say that there are 8 affricates;
2.
Russian phoneticians say that there are 2 affricates.
Summering what has been said we can state relevant phonetic characteristics to classified consonants:
1) type of obstruction;
2) place of obstruction;
3) force of articulation;
4) position of soft palate.
5.2 Modifications of consonants in connected speech
Till now we have looked at sounds individually but in everyday speech sounds are very seldom pronounced as separate units. Speech is performed in larger units: words, phrases and texts.
There are very big differences between pronouncing a word in isolation and a word in connected speech. There is a problem of defining the phonetic status of sounds in connected speech. As a result there are some processes of phonetic changes in connected speech:
1) assimilation;
2) accommodation;
3) vowel reduction;
4) elision.
Assimilation is the adaptive modification of a consonant by neighboring sound: eighth - at three alveolar [t] becomes dental [Ɵ]
Accommodation is the adaptation of sounds combinations of vowel-consonants

type and consonant-vowel type: n ever - m an (consonant-vowel type) nasal pronunciation of vowels б ольно
- к онь - д умать
Labialization of consonants is before labialized vowels.
Vowel reduction is a quantitative or qualitative weakening of vowels in unstressed positions: b oa rd - blackb oa rd m a n - postm a n
Elision is a complete loss of sounds, both vowels and consonants. In informal speech we can lose many sounds. The process cannot be neglected in defining the phonemic status of speech sounds. These phenomena represent the economy of energy from the part of the speaker.
Usually the listener doesn’t even notice this because these changes don’t influence the meaning.
The target of listener is usually to understand the meaning but sometimes the meaning can also be influenced, for example [z] can represent has, is, does, plural, possessive, third person singular. Now let us consider which qualitative characteristics of consonants can be changed in connected speech. Consonants can be modified according to the place of articulation: assimilation takes place when a sound changes its character in order to look like a neighboring sound and the characteristic which is involved in this is almost always a place of articulation:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5) eighth - at the -
[t] [d] alveolar + [Ɵ] [ð] interdental = dental [t] [d]
Partial regressive assimilation tree - true - dry -
[t] [d] alveolar + post alveolar [r] = post alveolar [t] [d] said that dream
Partial regressive assimilation horseshoe - this shop
[s] [z] alveolar + [ʃ] post alveolar = post alveolar [s] [z]
Complete regressive assimilation graduate did you
-
-
[t] + [j]; [d] + [j] = affricates [ʧ] [ʤ] congratulate could you
Partial regressive assimilation symphony
[m] bilabial + [f] labiodentals = [m] labiodentals
Partial regressive assimilation
-
Manner of articulation is also changed as a result of assimilation.