According to manner of articulation consonant sounds are classified as _______.

• A. The lips shape the sound
• B. The vocal cords vibrate as the sound is produced
• C. The air flows through the nasal cavity
• D. The tongue position does not affect sound

Answer: (B)

Voicing is the feature used to distinguish consonants in terms of how they’re produced. Whether the vocal cords vibrate during articulation changes the sound from voiceless to voiced. This distinction runs across all the manners of articulation, so you hear pairs like b vs p, z vs s, and g vs k as differences in voicing. The other aspects describe different articulation properties: lip shaping points to place of articulation, not how the air is vibrated; air flowing through the nasal cavity relates to nasal sounds, a specific type of production rather than the general voicing distinction; and tongue position clearly affects sound production, so it isn’t a universal criterion used to classify consonants by manner.