Alveolar consonants

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Alveolar
◌̳
Sound
[[File:Template:IPA audio filename| center| 150px]]
Documentation </noinclude>

Places of articulation

Labial

Bilabial

Labial-velar

Labial-alveolar

Labiodental

Bidental

Coronal

Linguolabial

Interdental

Dental

Alveolar

Apical

Laminal

Postalveolar

Alveolo-palatal

Retroflex

Dorsal

Palatal

Labial-palatal

Velar

Uvular

Uvular-epiglottal

Radical

Pharyngeal

Epiglotto-pharyngeal

Epiglottal

Glottal

File:Places of articulation.svg

Places of articulation (passive & active):
1. Exo-labial, 2. Endo-labial, 3. Dental, 4. Alveolar, 5. Post-alveolar, 6. Pre-palatal, 7. Palatal, 8. Velar, 9. Uvular, 10. Pharyngeal, 11. Glottal, 12. Epiglottal, 13. Radical, 14. Postero-dorsal, 15. Antero-dorsal, 16. Laminal, 17. Apical, 18. Sub-apical

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. Alveolar consonants may be articulated with the tip of the tongue (so-called apical consonants), as in English, or with the flat of the tongue just above the tip (the "blade" of the tongue; called laminal consonants), as in French and Spanish. The laminal alveolar articulation is often mistakenly called dental, because the tip of the tongue can be seen near to or touching the teeth. However, it is the rearmost point of contact that defines the place of articulation; this is where the oral cavity ends, and it is the resonant space of the oral cavity that gives consonants and vowels their characteristic timbre.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) does not have separate symbols for the alveolar consonants. Rather, the same symbol is used for all coronal places of articulation which aren't palatalized like English palato-alveolar sh, or retroflex. To disambiguate, the bridge ([s̪, t̪, n̪, l̪], etc.) may be used for a dental consonant, or the under-bar ([s̠, t̠, n̠, l̠], etc.) may be used for the postalveolars. Note that [s̪] differs from dental [θ] in being a sibilant, rather than a fricative. [s̠] differs from postalveolar [ʃ] in being unpalatalized.

The bare letters [s, t, n, l], etc. cannot be assumed to specifically represent alveolars. The language may not make such distinctions, such that two or more coronal places are found allophonically, or the transcription may simply be too broad to distinguish dental from alveolar. If it is necessary to specify a consonant as alveolar, a diacritic from the Extended IPA may be used: [s͇, t͇, n͇, l͇], etc.. Nonetheless, the symbols <s, t, n, l> themselves are frequently called 'alveolar', and the language examples below are all alveolar sounds.

(The Extended IPA diacritic was devised for speech pathology and is frequently used to mean 'alveolarized', as in the labioalveolar sounds [p͇, b͇, m͇, f͇, v͇], where the lower lip contacts the alveolar ridge.)

Alveolar consonants in IPA

The alveolar/coronal consonants identified by the IPA are:

IPA	Description	Example
		Language	Orthography	IPA	Meaning in English
File:Xsampa-n.png	alveolar nasal	English	run	[ɹʷʌn]	run
File:Xsampa-t.png	voiceless alveolar plosive	English	tap	[tʰæp]	tap
File:Xsampa-d.png	voiced alveolar plosive	English	debt	[dɛt]	debt
File:Xsampa-s.png	voiceless alveolar fricative	English	suit	[sjuːt]	suit
File:Xsampa-z.png	voiced alveolar fricative	English	zoo	[zuː]	zoo
File:Xsampa-ts.png	voiceless alveolar affricate	German	Zeit	[t͡saɪt]	time
File:Xsampa-dz.png	voiced alveolar affricate	Italian	zaino	[ˈd͡zaino]	backpack
File:Xsampa-K2.png	voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	Welsh	Llwyd	[ɬʊɪd]	the name Lloyd or Floyd
File:Xsampa-Kslash.png	voiced alveolar lateral fricative	Zulu	dlala	[ˈɮálà]	to play
t͡ɬ	voiceless alveolar lateral affricate	Tsez	элIни	[ˈʔɛ̝t͡ɬni]	winter
d͡ɮ	voiced alveolar lateral affricate	Oowekyala		Template:Example needed
File:Xsampa-rslash2.png	alveolar approximant	English	red	[ɹʷɛd]	red
File:Xsampa-l.png	alveolar lateral approximant	English	loop	[lup]	loop
File:Xsampa-4.png	alveolar flap	Spanish	pero	[peɾo]	but
File:Xsampa-lslash.png	alveolar lateral flap	Venda		[vuɺa]	to open
File:Xsampa-r.png	alveolar trill	Spanish	perro	[pero]	dog
File:IPA alveolar ejective.png	alveolar ejective	Georgian	ტიტა	[tʼitʼa]	tulip
File:IPA alveolar ejective fricative.png	alveolar ejective fricative	Amharic		[sʼɛɡa]	grace
File:Xsampa-d lessthan.png	voiced alveolar implosive	Vietnamese	đã	[ɗɐː]	Past tense indicator
File:Xsampa-doublebarslash.png	alveolar lateral click	Nama	ǁî	[kǁĩĩ]	discussed

Lack of alveolars

The alveolar or dental consonants [t] and [n] are, along with [k], the most common consonants in human languages. Nonetheless, there are a few languages which lack them. A few languages on Bougainville Island and around Puget Sound, such as Makah, lack nasals and therefore [n], but have [t]. Colloquial Samoan, however, lacks both [t] and [n], though it has a lateral alveolar approximant [l]. (Samoan words written with the letters t and n are pronounced with [k] and [ŋ] except in formal speech.)

Alveolar Switching

Japanese speakers often mix alveolar lateral approximant sounds in other languages with alveolar approximant sounds due to a lack of alveolar lateral approximants in their own language.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Place of articulation
• List of phonetics topics

References

• Ladefoged, Peter (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages, Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.