Apical consonantAn apical consonant is a phone (speech sound) produced by obstructing the air passage with the tip of the tongue (apex) in conjunction with upper articulators from lips to postalveolar, and possibly prepalatal. It contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue, just behind the tip. Sometimes apical is used exclusively for an articulation that involves only the tip of the tongue and apicolaminal for an articulation that involves both the tip and the blade of the tongue.
Bilabial consonantIn phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a labial consonant articulated with both lips. Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingit, Chipewyan, Oneida, and Wichita. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are: Owere Igbo has a six-way contrast among bilabial stops: [p ph ɓ̥ b b̤ ɓ]. The extensions to the IPA also define a ([ʬ]) for smacking the lips together.
Index of phonetics articlesAcoustic phonetics Active articulator Affricate Airstream mechanism Alexander John Ellis Alexander Melville Bell Alfred C. Gimson Allophone Alveolar approximant (ɹ) Alveolar click (ǃ) Alveolar consonant Alveolar ejective affricate (tsʼ) Alveolar ejective (tʼ) Alveolar ejective fricative (sʼ) Alveolar flap (ɾ) Alveolar lateral approximant (l, l̥) Alveolar lateral ejective affricate (tɬʼ) Alveolar lateral ejective fricative (ɬʼ) Alveolar lateral flap (ɺ) Alveolar nasal (n) Alveolar ridge Alveolar trill (r, r̥) Alveolo-palatal consonant Alveolo-palatal ejective fricative (ɕʼ) Apical consonant Approximant consonant Articulatory phonetics Aspirated consonant (◌h) Auditory phonetics Back vowel Basis of articulation Bernd J.
Trill consonantIn phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the active articulator and passive articulator. Standard Spanish as in perro, for example, is an alveolar trill. A trill is made by the articulator being held in place and the airstream causing it to vibrate. Usually a trill vibrates for 2–3 contacts, but may be up to 5, or even more if geminate. However, trills may also be produced with only one contact.
Labial consonantLabial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, both of which are present in English. A third labial articulation is dentolabials, articulated with the upper lip against the lower teeth (the reverse of labiodental), normally only found in pathological speech.
Manner of articulationIn articulatory phonetics, the manner of articulation is the configuration and interaction of the articulators (speech organs such as the tongue, lips, and palate) when making a speech sound. One parameter of manner is stricture, that is, how closely the speech organs approach one another. Others include those involved in the r-like sounds (taps and trills), and the sibilancy of fricatives.
Tap and flap consonantsIn phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the tongue) is thrown against another. The main difference between a tap or flap and a stop is that in a tap/flap there is no buildup of air pressure behind the place of articulation and consequently no release burst. Otherwise a tap/flap is similar to a brief stop. Taps and flaps also contrast with trills, where the airstream causes the articulator to vibrate.
Click consonantClick consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the tut-tut (British spelling) or tsk! tsk! (American spelling) used to express disapproval or pity (IPA [ǀ]), the tchick! used to spur on a horse (IPA [ǁ]), and the clip-clop! sound children make with their tongue to imitate a horse trotting (IPA [ǃ]).
Ejective consonantIn phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. Some languages have glottalized sonorants with creaky voice that pattern with ejectives phonologically, and other languages have ejectives that pattern with implosives, which has led to phonologists positing a phonological class of glottalic consonants, which includes ejectives.
Retroflex consonantA retroflex (ˈɹɛtɹoʊflɛks or ˈɹɛtɹəflɛks), apico-domal, or cacuminal (kæˈkjuːmᵻnəl) consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants—especially in Indology. The Latin-derived word retroflex means "bent back"; some retroflex consonants are pronounced with the tongue fully curled back so that articulation involves the underside of the tongue tip (subapical).
