Alveolar consonant

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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, while [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. Nontheless, the symbols 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.)

The alveolar/coronal consonants identified by the IPA are:

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning in English
alveolar nasal English run [ɹʷɐn] run
voiceless alveolar plosive English tap [tʰæp] tap
voiced alveolar plosive English debt [dɛt] debt
voiceless alveolar fricative English suit [sut] suit
voiced alveolar fricative English zoo [zu] zoo
ʦ voiceless alveolar affricate German zeit [tsaɪt] time
ʣ voiced alveolar affricate Italian zucchero [ˈdzukkero] sugar

voiceless alveolar lateral fricative Welsh Llwyd [ɬʊɪd] the name Lloyd or Floyd
voiced alveolar lateral fricative Zulu dlala [ˈɮálà] to play
alveolar approximant English red [ɹʷɛd] red
alveolar lateral approximant English loop [lup] loop
alveolar flap Spanish pero [peɾo] [wiktionary|but]
alveolar lateral flap Venda [vuɺa] to open
alveolar trill Spanish perro [pero] dog
alveolar ejective Georgian ტიტა [tʼitʼa] tulip
alveolar ejective fricative
voiced alveolar implosive Vietnamese đã [ɗɐː] Past tense indicator
lateral alveolar click Nama ǁî [kǁĩĩ] discussed

IPA	Description	Example
IPA	Description	Language	Orthography	IPA	Meaning in English
	alveolar nasal	English	run	[ɹʷɐn]	run
	voiceless alveolar plosive	English	tap	[tʰæp]	tap
	voiced alveolar plosive	English	debt	[dɛt]	debt
	voiceless alveolar fricative	English	suit	[sut]	suit
	voiced alveolar fricative	English	zoo	[zu]	zoo
ʦ	voiceless alveolar affricate	German	zeit	[tsaɪt]	time
ʣ	voiced alveolar affricate	Italian	zucchero	[ˈdzukkero]	sugar
	voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	Welsh	Llwyd	[ɬʊɪd]	the name Lloyd or Floyd
	voiced alveolar lateral fricative	Zulu	dlala	[ˈɮálà]	to play
	alveolar approximant	English	red	[ɹʷɛd]	red
	alveolar lateral approximant	English	loop	[lup]	loop
	alveolar flap	Spanish	pero	[peɾo]	[wiktionary\|but]
	alveolar lateral flap	Venda		[vuɺa]	to open
	alveolar trill	Spanish	perro	[pero]	dog
	alveolar ejective	Georgian	ტიტა	[tʼitʼa]	tulip
	alveolar ejective fricative
	voiced alveolar implosive	Vietnamese	đã	[ɗɐː]	Past tense indicator
	lateral alveolar click	Nama	ǁî	[kǁĩĩ]	discussed

Alveolar consonant

See also