节选我向大家推介的那本书第三章最后一节，但是我明显做得还是不好，象sport是应该发的
Stops and Continuants
There is another important way that consonants are categorized, besides whether they are
voiced or voiceless. Consonants can either be “stops” or “continuants,” depending on
whether the airflow is stopped or if it is continued. For example, when we say the /s/ sound
we can prolong it by saying “yessssssss.” The /s/ sound is considered a continuant because
the air flow can continue as long as we have air in our lungs. But if we say a word like “job,”
we cannot continue the final consonant, /b/. We stop the airflow by closing our lips. Therefore,
/b/ is a stop. If we quickly open our lips, we can then “release” the stop and say job.
Holding Final Stops
Americans generally do not release many of the final stops. For example, when they say the
sound /p/ in the word stop, the lips stay closed. No air comes out. This creates almost a silent
version of the sound /p/, or a half p. We know the p is there, but we don’t hear all of it. If
the lips were released, there would be a slight puff of air.
Let’s try another stop: the sound /g/. When you say the word big, don’t release the /g/. Make
sure that your tongue remains up in the back of your mouth when you are done saying the
word.
Words for Practice
Pay special attention to the final consonants as you pronounce the words in each column.
Final Stops Followed by Consonants
The final stop is always held when the next word within the same sentence begins with a consonant.
However, when a word with the final stop is at the end of a sentence, the rule is
much more flexible. The final sound can either be held or released.
