[hw] vs. [w]

Which old witch?
[hwɪtʃ] vs. [wɪtʃ]

To help us all understand the point, our Diction class pointed me to this famous scene from "Family Guy."

So is it Cool [hwɪp] or Cool [wɪp] ?  The pertinent scenes start at :52.

Continuants

In diction, a continuant is a "consonants that can be sustained."

A list:

Cognates

According to dictionary.com, a "cognate" is related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc.

When we apply that to consonants in Diction for Singers, we are talking about consonants that are only differentiated by their voicing:

For example:
[p] and [b] have the same "middle name" and "last name" - they are only differentiated by their voicing so they are "cognates."

[p] is unvoiced - bilabial - plosive
[b] is voiced - bilabial - plosive

The two other pairs of cognates:

 [d] and [t]  (these are voiced/unvoiced - alveolar - plosives)

 [g] and [k]  (these are voiced/unvoiced - velar - plosives)

Recent presentations: diphthongs, triphthongs, consonants, glides

Diphthongs and Triphthongs - Samford Diction 2011

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Consonants and Singing

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Glides in English Diction

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