Editing Phonetics (section)

=== Place of articulation ===
{{main|Place of articulation}}
Sounds which are made by a full or partial constriction of the vocal tract are called [[consonants]]. Consonants are pronounced in the vocal tract, usually in the mouth, and the location of this constriction affects the resulting sound. Because of the close connection between the position of the tongue and the resulting sound, the place of articulation is an important concept in many subdisciplines of phonetics.

Sounds are partly categorized by the location of a constriction as well as the part of the body doing the constricting. For example, in English the words ''fought'' and ''thought'' are a [[minimal pair]] differing only in the organ making the construction rather than the location of the construction. The "f" in ''fought'' is a labiodental articulation made with the bottom lip against the teeth. The "th" in ''thought'' is a linguodental articulation made with the tongue against the teeth. Constrictions made by the lips are called [[Labialized|labial]]s while those made with the tongue are called lingual.

Constrictions made with the tongue can be made in several parts of the vocal tract, broadly classified into coronal, dorsal and radical places of articulation. [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]] articulations are made with the front of the tongue, [[Dorsal consonant|dorsal]] articulations are made with the back of the tongue, and [[Radical consonant|radical]] articulations are made in the [[pharynx]].{{sfn|Ladefoged|2001|p=5}} These divisions are not sufficient for distinguishing and describing all speech sounds.{{sfn|Ladefoged|2001|p=5}} For example, in English the sounds {{ipa|[s]}} and {{ipa|[ʃ]}} are both coronal, but they are produced in different places of the mouth. To account for this, more detailed places of articulation are needed based upon the area of the mouth in which the constriction occurs.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=9}}

==== Labial ====
Articulations involving the lips can be made in three different ways: with both lips (bilabial), with one lip and the teeth, so they have the lower lip as the active articulator and the upper teeth as the passive articulator<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPA: Labiodentals |url=https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/ipa/labiodentals.html |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=home.cc.umanitoba.ca}}</ref> (labiodental), and with the tongue and the upper lip (linguolabial).{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=16}} Depending on the definition used, some or all of these kinds of articulations may be categorized into the class of [[Labial consonant|labial articulation]]s. [[Bilabial consonant]]s are made with both lips. In producing these sounds the lower lip moves farthest to meet the upper lip, which also moves down slightly,{{sfn|Maddieson|1993}} though in some cases the force from air moving through the aperture (opening between the lips) may cause the lips to separate faster than they can come together.{{sfn|Fujimura|1961}} Unlike most other articulations, both articulators are made from soft tissue, and so bilabial stops are more likely to be produced with incomplete closures than articulations involving hard surfaces like the teeth or palate. Bilabial stops are also unusual in that an articulator in the upper section of the vocal tract actively moves downward, as the upper lip shows some active downward movement.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=16–17}} [[Linguolabial consonant]]s are made with the blade of the tongue approaching or contacting the upper lip. Like in bilabial articulations, the upper lip moves slightly towards the more active articulator. Articulations in this group do not have their own symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet, rather, they are formed by combining an apical symbol with a diacritic implicitly placing them in the coronal category.{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|2015}}{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=18}} They exist in a number of languages indigenous to [[Vanuatu]] such as [[Tangoa language|Tangoa]].

[[Labiodental consonant]]s are made by the lower lip rising to the upper teeth. Labiodental consonants are most often [[fricative]]s while labiodental nasals are also typologically common.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=17–18}} There is debate as to whether true labiodental [[plosive]]s occur in any natural language,{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=17}} though a number of languages are reported to have labiodental plosives including [[Zulu language|Zulu]],{{sfn|Doke|1926}} [[Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]],{{sfn|Guthrie|1948|p=61}} and [[Shubi language|Shubi]].{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=17}}

==== Coronal ====
Coronal consonants are made with the tip or blade of the tongue and, because of the agility of the front of the tongue, represent a variety not only in place but in the posture of the tongue. The coronal places of articulation represent the areas of the mouth where the tongue contacts or makes a constriction, and include dental, alveolar, and post-alveolar locations. Tongue postures using the tip of the tongue can be [[Apical consonant|apical]] if using the top of the tongue tip, [[laminal]] if made with the blade of the tongue, or [[Retroflex consonant|sub-apical]] if the tongue tip is curled back and the bottom of the tongue is used. Coronals are unique as a group in that every [[manner of articulation]] is attested.{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|2015}}{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=19–31}} [[Australian languages]] are well known for the large number of coronal contrasts exhibited within and across languages in the region.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=28}} [[Dental consonant]]s are made with the tip or blade of the tongue and the upper teeth. They are divided into two groups based upon the part of the tongue used to produce them: apical dental consonants are produced with the tongue tip touching the teeth; interdental consonants are produced with the blade of the tongue as the tip of the tongue sticks out in front of the teeth. No language is known to use both contrastively though they may exist [[allophone|allophonically]]. [[Alveolar consonant]]s are made with the tip or blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge just behind the teeth and can similarly be apical or laminal.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=19–25}}

Crosslinguistically, dental consonants and alveolar consonants are frequently contrasted leading to a number of generalizations of crosslinguistic patterns. The different places of articulation tend to also be contrasted in the part of the tongue used to produce them: most languages with dental stops have laminal dentals, while languages with apical stops usually have apical stops. Languages rarely have two consonants in the same place with a contrast in laminality, though [[Taa]] (ǃXóõ) is a counterexample to this pattern.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=20, 40–1}} If a language has only one of a dental stop or an alveolar stop, it will usually be laminal if it is a dental stop, and the stop will usually be apical if it is an alveolar stop, though for example [[Temne language|Temne]] and [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]{{sfn|Scatton|1984|p=60}} do not follow this pattern.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=23}} If a language has both an apical and laminal stop, then the laminal stop is more likely to be affricated like in [[Isoko language|Isoko]], though [[Dahalo]] show the opposite pattern with alveolar stops being more affricated.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=23–5}}

[[Retroflex consonant]]s have several different definitions depending on whether the position of the tongue or the position on the roof of the mouth is given prominence. In general, they represent a group of articulations in which the tip of the tongue is curled upwards to some degree. In this way, retroflex articulations can occur in several different locations on the roof of the mouth including alveolar, post-alveolar, and palatal regions. If the underside of the tongue tip makes contact with the roof of the mouth, it is sub-apical though apical post-alveolar sounds are also described as retroflex.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=25, 27–8}} Typical examples of sub-apical retroflex stops are commonly found in [[Dravidian languages]], and in some [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|languages indigenous to the southwest United States]] the contrastive difference between dental and alveolar stops is a slight retroflexion of the alveolar stop.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=27}} Acoustically, retroflexion tends to affect the higher formants.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=27}}

Articulations taking place just behind the alveolar ridge, known as [[post-alveolar consonant]]s, have been referred to using a number of different terms. Apical post-alveolar consonants are often called retroflex, while laminal articulations are sometimes called palato-alveolar;{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=27–8}} in the Australianist literature, these laminal stops are often described as 'palatal' though they are produced further forward than the palate region typically described as palatal.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=28}} Because of individual anatomical variation, the precise articulation of palato-alveolar stops (and coronals in general) can vary widely within a speech community.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=32}}

==== Dorsal ====
Dorsal consonants are those consonants made using the tongue body rather than the tip or blade and are typically produced at the palate, velum or uvula. [[Palatal consonants]] are made using the tongue body against the hard palate on the roof of the mouth. They are frequently contrasted with velar or uvular consonants, though it is rare for a language to contrast all three simultaneously, with [[Jaqaru]] as a possible example of a three-way contrast.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=35}} [[Velar consonants]] are made using the tongue body against the [[Soft palate|velum]]. They are incredibly common cross-linguistically; almost all languages have a velar stop. Because both velars and vowels are made using the tongue body, they are highly affected by [[coarticulation]] with vowels and can be produced as far forward as the hard palate or as far back as the uvula. These variations are typically divided into front, central, and back velars in parallel with the vowel space.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=33–34}} They can be hard to distinguish phonetically from palatal consonants, though are produced slightly behind the area of prototypical palatal consonants.{{sfn|Keating|Lahiri|1993|p=89}} [[Uvular consonants]] are made by the tongue body contacting or approaching the uvula. They are rare, occurring in an estimated 19 percent of languages, and large regions of the Americas and Africa have no languages with uvular consonants. In languages with uvular consonants, stops are most frequent followed by [[continuant]]s (including nasals).{{sfn|Maddieson|2013}}

==== Pharyngeal and laryngeal ====
Consonants made by constrictions of the throat are pharyngeals, and those made by a constriction in the larynx are laryngeal. Laryngeals are made using the vocal folds as the larynx is too far down the throat to reach with the tongue. Pharyngeals however are close enough to the mouth that parts of the tongue can reach them.

Radical consonants either use the root of the tongue or the [[epiglottis]] during production and are produced very far back in the vocal tract.{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=11}} [[Pharyngeal consonant]]s are made by retracting the root of the tongue far enough to almost touch the wall of the [[pharynx]]. Due to production difficulties, only fricatives and approximants can be produced this way.{{Sfn|Lodge|2009|p=33}}{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=37}} [[Epiglottal consonant]]s are made with the epiglottis and the back wall of the pharynx. Epiglottal stops have been recorded in [[Dahalo]].{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=37}} Voiced epiglottal consonants are not deemed possible due to the cavity between the [[glottis]] and epiglottis being too small to permit voicing.{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=38}}

Glottal consonants are those produced using the vocal folds in the larynx. Because the vocal folds are the source of phonation and below the oro-nasal vocal tract, a number of glottal consonants are impossible such as a voiced glottal stop. Three glottal consonants are possible, a voiceless glottal stop and two glottal fricatives, and all are attested in natural languages.{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|2015}} [[Glottal stop]]s, produced by closing the [[vocal folds]], are notably common in the world's languages.{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=38}} While many languages use them to demarcate phrase boundaries, some languages like [[Arabic]] and [[Huautla Mazatec|Huatla Mazatec]] have them as contrastive phonemes. Additionally, glottal stops can be realized as [[laryngealization]] of the following vowel in this language.{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=74}} Glottal stops, especially between vowels, do usually not form a complete closure. True glottal stops normally occur only when they are [[geminated]].{{Sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=75}}