Editing Laminal consonant (section)

==Compared to apical==
Some languages contrast laminal and apical sounds:
*The contrast is common in [[Australian Aboriginal languages]], which usually have no [[fricative consonant|fricative]]s.
*Some languages in [[South Asia]] contrast apical and laminal [[stop consonant|stop]]s. In [[Hindustani phonology|Hindustani]], the apical stops are normally called "[[retroflex]]" but are really [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] or [[postalveolar]]. [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] has a three-way distinction between laminal dental, apical alveolar and true subapical retroflex in nasal and voiceless oral stops.
*[[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Mirandese language|Mirandese]] differentiate between laminal and apical [[sibilant]]s in the [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] region; [[Mandarin Chinese]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://issp2008.loria.fr/Proceedings/PDF/issp2008-21.pdf |title=The Articulation of the Coronal Sounds in the Peking Dialect |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2021-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724043452/https://issp2008.loria.fr/Proceedings/PDF/issp2008-21.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Serbo-Croatian]], and [[Polish language|Polish]] make such a distinction with [[postalveolar consonant]]s.
*Some native languages of [[California]] have the distinction in both stops and fricatives.
*[[Dahalo language|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.

A very common laminal articulation is sometimes called [[denti-alveolar consonant|denti-alveolar]]. It spans the alveolar ridge to the teeth but is a little farther forward than other alveolar laminal consonants, which cover more of the alveolar ridge and might be considered postalveolar. This occurs in [[French language|French]].