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Concept
Laminal consonant
Summary
A laminal consonant is a phone (speech sound) produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue in contact
with upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, to possibly, as far back as the
prepalatal arch, although in the last contact may involve parts behind the blade as well. It is distinct from an apical consonant, produced by creating an obstruction with the tongue apex (tongue tip) only.
Sometimes laminal is used exclusively for an articulation that involves only the blade of the tongue with the tip being lowered and apicolaminal for an articulation that involves both the blade of the tongue and the raised tongue tip.
The distinction applies only to coronal consonants, which use the front of the tongue.
Although most languages do not contrast laminal and apical sounds, the distinction is found in a number of languages:
The contrast is very common in Australian Aboriginal languages, which usually have no fricatives.
Some languages in South Asia contrast apical and laminal stops. In Hindustani, the apical stops are normally called "retroflex" but are really alveolar or postalveolar. Malayalam has a three-way distinction between laminal dental, apical alveolar and true subapical retroflex in nasal and voiceless oral stops.
Basque and Mirandese differentiate between laminal and apical sibilants in the alveolar region; Mandarin Chinese, Serbo-Croatian, and Polish make such a distinction with postalveolar consonants.
Some native languages of California have the distinction in both stops and fricatives.
Dahalo makes the distinction only in its stops.
Because laminal consonants use the flat of the tongue, they cover a broader area of contact than apical consonants. Laminal consonants in some languages have been recorded with a broad occlusion (closure) that covers all the front of the mouth from the hard palate to the teeth, which makes it difficult to compare the two. Alveolar laminals and apicals are two different articulations.
Official source
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