Editing Liquid consonant (section)

== Acoustic and articulatory phonetics ==
[[Acoustic phonetics|Acoustically]], liquids seem to have a third [[formant]] of unexpected value when compared to the first and second formants. This contrasts with non-liquid [[approximant]]s, whose third formant value is expected based on the first two formants.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Hayes |first=Bruce |title=Introductory Phonology |publisher=Blackwell |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4443-6013-4 |edition=1st |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref>

In [[articulatory phonetics]], liquids are described as ''controlled [[Articulatory gestures|gestures]],''<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Stoel-Gammon |first1=Carol |last2=Ferguson |first2=Charles Albert |last3=Menn |first3=Lise |date=1992 |title=The biology of phonological development |journal=Phonological Development |pages=65–90}}</ref> which are slower and require more precise tongue movement during the "homing phase", when the tongue adjusts towards the place of articulation of the consonant.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last1=MacKenzie |first1=C. L. |last2=Marteniuk |first2=R. G. |last3=Dugas |first3=C. |last4=Liske |first4=D. |last5=Eickmeier |first5=B. |date=November 1987 |title=Three-Dimensional Movement Trajectories in Fitts' Task: Implications for Control |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14640748708401806 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=629–647 |doi=10.1080/14640748708401806 |issn=0272-4987 |s2cid=143471338|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Due to the fact that babies prefer ''ballistic gestures'', which rely on the propelling motion of the jaw, liquids usually occur later in a child's [[phonological development]],<ref name=":42">{{Citation |last1=Rose |first1=Yvan |title=Developmental Phonetics of Speech Production |date=2021-11-30 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108644198.024 |work=The Cambridge Handbook of Phonetics |pages=578–602 |access-date=2023-12-13 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108644198.024 |isbn=978-1-108-64419-8 |s2cid=244070672 |last2=McAllister |first2=Tara |last3=Inkelas |first3=Sharon|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yeni-Komshian |first1=Grace H. |title=Child phonology |last2=Kavanagh |first2=James F. |last3=Ferguson |first3=Charles Albert |date=1980 |publisher=Academic Press |others=National Institute of Child Health and Human Development U.S. |isbn=978-0-12-770601-6 |series=Perspectives in neurolinguistics, neuropsychology, and psycholinguistics |location=New York}}</ref> and they are more likely to be deleted in consonant clusters before the age of three.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Rose |first1=Yvan |title=Developmental Phonetics of Speech Production |date=2021 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-phonetics/developmental-phonetics-of-speech-production/61743731BEBED5BEE2BF235CFA403054 |work=The Cambridge Handbook of Phonetics |pages=578–602 |editor-last=Setter |editor-first=Jane |access-date=2023-12-29 |series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-49573-8 |last2=McAllister |first2=Tara |last3=Inkelas |first3=Sharon |editor2-last=Knight |editor2-first=Rachael-Anne}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grunwell |first=Pamela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2NwlsEAZ9_YC |title=Clinical Phonology |date=1982 |publisher=Aspen Systems Corporation |isbn=978-0-89443-392-4 |language=en}}</ref> Liquids have also been described as consonants involving "complex lingual geometries."<ref name=":62">{{Citation |last1=Drager |first1=Katie |title=Sociophonetics |date=2021 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-phonetics/sociophonetics/4E3C7CC84C775CB67B6076A0FEDFEAB9 |work=The Cambridge Handbook of Phonetics |pages=551–577 |editor-last=Setter |editor-first=Jane |access-date=2023-12-29 |series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-49573-8 |last2=Kettig |first2=Thomas |editor2-last=Knight |editor2-first=Rachael-Anne}}</ref>

To better determine the full range of articulatory and acoustic characteristics of liquids, the use of [[ultrasound]] paired with audio recordings is increasing. This is due to this consonant group being difficult to analyse on a purely auditory base.<ref name=":62" />