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Place of articulation is the place when your speech organs work together in order to produce an speeh sound, for example, when we are talking to someone, every part of our mouth make different contact to produce specific sounds.

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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The 'Place of Articulation' is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active, moving articulator (typically one part of the tongue) and a passive articulator (typically one part of the roof of the mouth). The 'Manner of Articulation' gives the consonant its distinctive sound.

The 'Place of Articulation', the speech organs, are primarily involved in the production of a particular sound. These speech organs modify the airstream that is pushed up by the lungs; this process produces different sounds. The place where the airstream is obstructed is furthermore significant for the exact production of sounds.

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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Place of Articulation refers to where the sound is made in the mouth. In NAE, there are seven places of articulation:

Bilabial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Manner of Articulation refers to how the sound is made. In NAE, there are six manners of articulation:

Stop, or plosive

Fricative

Affricate

Nasal

Approximants (glide/liquid)

Table 1. The Classification of Consonant Sounds

Manner of ArticulationVoicing   Place of Articulation    |  | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal
Stop | Voiceless
Voiced | /p/
/b/ |  |  | /t/
/d/ |  | /k/
/g/ |
Fricative | Voiceless
Voiced |  | /f/
/v/ | /θ/
/ð/ | /s/
/z/ | /ʃ/
/ʒ/ |  | /h/
Affricate | Voiceless
Voiced |  |  |  |  | /tʃ/
/dʒ/ |  |
Nasal | Voiced | /m/ |  |  | /n/ |  | /ŋ/ |
Liquid | Voiced |  |  |  | /l/ | /r/ | /ɫ/ |
Glide | Voiced | /w/ |  |  |  | /y/

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What is the place articulation?Places of articulation means when we produce sound, sometime our tongue touches our lips and sometime only our lips come together and make sound, sometime our tongue touches our soft palate or back part alveolar tongue. So, this touching of places our vocal tract of speech organs is call place of articulation. 

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What is the place articulation?Places of articulation means when we produce sound, sometime our tongue touches our lips and sometime only our lips come together and make sound, sometime our tongue touches our soft palate or back part alveolar tongue. So, this touching of places our vocal tract of speech organs is call place of articulation. 

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The place of articulation of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It's a point where a contrition is made between an active and a passive articulator.

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 whatisplaceofarticulation  First of all, it is necessary to define what a phoneme is. According to Antonio Qilis in his book Principles of Spanish Phonology and Phonetic, it isthe smallest linguistic unit, devoid of meaning, formed by a simultaneous bundle of distinctive features That is to say, they are the sounds of speech, each one with its own characteristics.When we produce these sounds in isolation or not since they can be linked to others, such as vowels or other consonants, and we influence them so that they are made correctly, we are working on articulation.   The point of articulation has to do with where the articulators form obstacles or the area where the obstacle is created. In Spanish there are eight points of articulation: bilabial, labiodental, interdental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar, and laryngeal. 

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 whatisplaceofarticulation  First of all, it is necessary to define what a phoneme is. According to Antonio Qilis in his book Principles of Spanish Phonology and Phonetic, it isthe smallest linguistic unit, devoid of meaning, formed by a simultaneous bundle of distinctive features That is to say, they are the sounds of speech, each one with its own characteristics.When we produce these sounds in isolation or not since they can be linked to others, such as vowels or other consonants, and we influence them so that they are made correctly, we are working on articulation.   The point of articulation has to do with where the articulators form obstacles or the area where the obstacle is created. In Spanish there are eight points of articulation: bilabial, labiodental, interdental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar, and laryngeal. 

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Place of articulation

The active articulator usually moves in order to make the constriction. The passive articulator usually just sits there and gets approached.

A sound's place of articulation is usually named by using the Latin ajective for the active articulator (ending with an "o") followed by the Latin adjective for the passive articulator. For example, a sound where the tongue tip (the "apex") approaches or touches the upper teeth is called an "apico-dental". Most of the common combinations of active and passive articulator have abbreviated names (usually leaving out the active half).

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Place of articulation
The active articulator usually moves in order to make the constriction. The passive articulator usually just sits there and gets approached.
A sound's place of articulation is usually named by using the Latin ajective for the active articulator (ending with an "o") followed by the Latin adjective for the passive articulator. For example, a sound where the tongue tip (the "apex") approaches or touches the upper teeth is called an "apico-dental". Most of the common combinations of active and passive articulator have abbreviated names (usually leaving out the active half).

These are the abbreviated names for the places of articulation used in English:

bilabial
The articulators are the two lips. (We could say that the lower lip is the active articulator and the upper lip the passive articulator, though the upper lip usually moves too, at least a little.) English bilabial sounds include [p], [b], and [m].

labio-dental
The lower lip is the active articulator and the upper teeth are the passive articulator. English labio-dental sounds include [f] and [v].

dental
Dental sounds involve the upper teeth as the passive articulator. The active articulator may be either the tongue tip or (usually) the tongue blade -- diacritic symbols can be used if it matters which. Extreme lamino-dental sounds are often called interdental. English interdental sounds include [ ] and [ ].

alveolar
Alveolar sounds involve the alveolar ridge as the passive articulator. The active articulator may be either the tongue blade or (usually) the tongue tip -- diacritic symbols can be used if it matters which. English alveolar sounds include [t], [d], [n], [s], [z], [l].

postalveolar
Postalveolar sounds involve the area just behind the alveolar ridge as the passive articulator. The active articulator may be either the tongue tip or (usually) the tongue blade -- diacritic symbols can be used if it matters which. English postalveolars include [ ] and [ ].
Linguists have traditionally used very inconsistent terminology in referring to the postalveolar POA. Some of the terms you may encounter for it include: palato-alveolar, alveo-palatal, alveolo-palatal, and even (especially among English-speakers) palatal. Many insist that palato-alveolar and alveo(lo)-palatal are two different things -- though they don't agree which is which. "Postalveolar", the official term used by the International Phonetic Association, is unambiguous, not to mention easier to spell.

retroflex
In retroflex sounds, the tongue tip is curled up and back. Retroflexes can be classed as apico-postalveolar, though not all apico-postalveolars need to be curled backward enough to count as retroflex.
The closest sound to a retroflex that English has is [ ]. For most North Americans, the tongue tip is curled back in [ ], though not as much as it is in languages that have true retroflexes. Many other North Americans use what is called a "bunched r" -- instead of curling their tongues back, they bunch the front up and push it forward to form an approximant behind the alveolar ridge.

palatal
The active articulator is the tongue body and the passive articulator is the hard palate. The English glide [j] is a palatal.

velar
The active articulator is the tongue body and the passive articulator is the soft palate. English velars include [k], [g], and [ ].
glottal
This isn't strictly a place of articulation, but they had to put it in the chart somewhere. Glottal sounds are made in the larynx. For the glottal stop, the vocal cords close momentarily and cut off all airflow through the vocal tract. English uses the glottal stop in the interjection uh-uh (meaning 'no'). In [h], the vocal cords are open, but close enough together that air passing between them creates friction noise.

Note:
[w] is often called a "labio-velar". This doesn't follow the POA naming convention -- it does not mean that the active articulator is the lower lip and you try to touch your soft palate with it! A [w] is made up of two different approximants: a bilabial approximant and a (dorso-)velar approximant pronounced simultaneously.

Next: Manner of articulation
Previous: Consonant parameters
Up: table of contents

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The active articulator usually moves in order to make the constriction. The passive articulator usually just sits there and gets approached. A sound's place of articulation is usually named by using the Latin ajective for the active articulator (ending with an "o") followed by the Latin adjective for the passive articulator.

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The point of articulation is the place in the vocal tract where articulation occurs, organs touch and phonemes are produced.

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CONSONANT PARAMETERS - PHONETIC PROPERTIES FOR THEIR CLASSIFICATION

A speech sound made with obstruction of the airflow is said to be articulated; therefore, to describe different articulations some basic parameters should be taken into consideration.

Consonants are normally specified for three descriptive parameters:

PLACE OR POINT OF ARTICULATION

A) PLACE OR POINT OF ARTICULATION

It refers to the horizontal relationship between the articulators.

WHAT MOVES, AND IN WHICH DIRECTION IT MOVES.

The places or points of articulation for both English and Spanish consonants can be summarized as follow:

B) MANNER OF ARTICULATION: it is concerned with

the nature of the obstruction.

2. Labiodental

1. Bilabial

C) VOICING: Voicing means that the vocal folds are

used: if they are not, the sound is voiceless.

4. Alveolar

5. Retroflex

7. Palatal

8. Velar

PLACE OR POINT OF ARTICULATION

It refers to the horizontal relationship between the articulators.

WHAT MOVES, AND IN WHICH DIRECTION IT MOVES.

The places or points of articulation for both English and Spanish consonants can be summarized as follow:

1. Bilabial

4. Alveolar

7. Palatal

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the location at which two speech organs approach or come together in producing a speech sound, as in the contact of the tongue and the teeth to form a dental sound.

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What are different sounds according to the place of articulation?  Some languages have consonants with two simultaneous places of articulation, which is called coarticulation. When these are doubly articulated, the articulators must be independently movable, and therefore there may be only one each from the major categories labial, coronal, dorsal and pharyngeal.fricative.

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What are different sounds according to the place of articulation?  Some languages have consonants with two simultaneous places of articulation, which is called coarticulation. When these are doubly articulated, the articulators must be independently movable, and therefore there may be only one each from the major categories labial, coronal, dorsal and pharyngeal.fricative.

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These are the abbreviated names for the places of articulation used in English:bilabial. The articulators are the two lips. ...labio-dental. The lower lip is the active articulator and the upper teeth are the passive articulator. ...dental. ...alveolar. ...postalveolar. ...retroflex. ...palatal. ...velar.

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These are the abbreviated names for the places of articulation used in English:bilabial. The articulators are the two lips. ...labio-dental. The lower lip is the active articulator and the upper teeth are the passive articulator. ...dental. ...alveolar. ...postalveolar. ...retroflex. ...palatal. ...velar.

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The place of articulation refers to where the articulators (tongue, teeth, lips or glottis) make contact in the vocal tract to create consonant sounds. Let's look at the process of consonant production to see where place of articulation fits in.

The process of consonant production is:

1-Air builds up in the lungs;
2-Air then moves toward the trachea, larynx and pharynx;
3-The diaphragm and chest muscles control airflow;

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what are the different sounds according to the place of articulation.

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what are the different sounds according to the place of articulation.

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If you are not pronouncing a consonant correctly, it's probably because the place of articulation is not correct as you are pronouncing the sound.

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If you are not pronouncing a consonant correctly, it's probably because the place of articulation is not correct as you are pronouncing the sound.

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English has labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], dental fricatives made with the tongue between the teeth, [θ] and [ð], alveolar fricatives [s] and [z], post-alveolar fricatives [ʃ] and [ʒ], and the glottal fricative [h]. Other languages also have fricatives at other places of articulation.

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English has labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], dental fricatives made with the tongue between the teeth, [θ] and [ð], alveolar fricatives [s] and [z], post-alveolar fricatives [ʃ] and [ʒ], and the glottal fricative [h]. Other languages also have fricatives at other places of articulation.

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Different sounds according to the place of articulation. 

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Different sounds according to the place of articulation. 

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Depending on the area in which this contact takes place, the following classification of sounds is established.

Lipstick : bilabial, labio velar, labio alveolar, labio dental.
Coronal: dental, interdental, retroflex, alveolar.
Bib: palatal, velar, uvula.
Radical: pharyngeal.
Glottal.

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The tongue contacts the mouth with a surface that has two dimensions: length and width. So far, only points of articulation along its length have been considered. However, articulation varies along its width as well. When the airstream is directed down the center of the tongue, the consonant is said to be central. If, however, it is deflected off to one side, escaping between the side of the tongue and the side teeth, it is said to be lateral. Nonetheless, for simplicity's sake the place of articulation is assumed to be the point along the length of the tongue, and the consonant may in addition be said to be central or lateral.

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The tongue contacts the mouth with a surface that has two dimensions: length and width. So far, only points of articulation along its length have been considered. However, articulation varies along its width as well. When the airstream is directed down the center of the tongue, the consonant is said to be central. If, however, it is deflected off to one side, escaping between the side of the tongue and the side teeth, it is said to be lateral. Nonetheless, for simplicity's sake the place of articulation is assumed to be the point along the length of the tongue, and the consonant may in addition be said to be central or lateral.

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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT SOUNDS ACCORDING TO THE PLACE ARTICULATION?

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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT SOUNDS ACCORDING TO THE PLACE ARTICULATION?

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According to their places of articulation, English consonant phonemes (it means sound or a group of different sounds perceived to have the same function by speakers of the language or dialect in question) can be divided into nine types are given below SUCH AS :

1-Bilabial consonant
2-Labio-dental consonant
3-Dental/Interdental consonant
4-Alveolar consonant
5-Post-alveolar consonant
6-Palato-alveolar consonant
7-Palatal consonant
8-Velar consonant
9-Glottal consonant

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation?

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The parts of place articulation in english are:
- Bilabial: the articulation is produce by joinning the lips. The consonant sounds produced are the ´´b´´, ´´p´´ and ´´m´´.
- Labiodental: the articulation is produce by  the contact between the lower lip and your upper teeth. The consonant sounds produced is the ´´f´´and ´´v´´.
- Dental:  the articulation is produce by the toungue against the upper teeth. The consonant sounds produced are ´´th´´.
-Alveolar: the articulation is produce by the tongue close to or touching the ridge behind the teeth on the roof of the mouth. The consonant sound are the ´´t´´, ´´n´´ and ´´d´´.
- Velar: the articulation is produce by the the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, also known as the velum, which is the back part of the roof of the mouth. The consonant sounds are the ´´k´´ and ´´g´´.

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what are the diffrent sounds acording to te pleace articulation   Write the way in which the air escapes according to the modifications caused by the articulators (for example, the tongue and the teeth) to produce the different phonemes. The modes of articulation for the Spanish phones are the following: stop, fricative, affricate, lateral, trill, and nasal.Plosive consonants are formed by a total occlusion (an obstacle) that blocks the exit of air, and then the accumulated air quickly escapes with a small explosion. The consonants /p/, /b/, /t̪/, /d̪/, /k/, /g/, are plosive and vary in sonority: /b/, /d̪/, /g/ are voiced and /p/ , /t̪/, /k/ are voiceless.Fricatives are characterized by the escape of air through a narrow opening that creates an audible friction. The voiced fricatives are /ʝ/ and /ʒ/ while the voiceless ones are /f/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /s/, /x/, and /h/.For the affricates the air is blocked, but it melts a bit several times in a small opening. The only affricates in Spanish are /dʒ/ which is voiced and /tʃ/ which is voiceless.The laterals are voiceless and there is a partial central obstacle in which air escapes from the sides of the tongue, forming /l/ and /ʎ/.The vibrators are formed by the vibration of the articulator. If there are successive vibrations, that is to say that the vibration is multiple, like the /r/ of reason or donkey. On the other hand, when there is only one vibration, the vibration is simple as the /ɾ/ of wall or put.Finally, the nasals are formed by the escape of air through the nasal cavity making resonance or nasality. The /m/, /n/, and /ɲ/ are voiced nasals.   

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what are the diffrent sounds acording to te pleace articulation   Write the way in which the air escapes according to the modifications caused by the articulators (for example, the tongue and the teeth) to produce the different phonemes. The modes of articulation for the Spanish phones are the following: stop, fricative, affricate, lateral, trill, and nasal.Plosive consonants are formed by a total occlusion (an obstacle) that blocks the exit of air, and then the accumulated air quickly escapes with a small explosion. The consonants /p/, /b/, /t̪/, /d̪/, /k/, /g/, are plosive and vary in sonority: /b/, /d̪/, /g/ are voiced and /p/ , /t̪/, /k/ are voiceless.Fricatives are characterized by the escape of air through a narrow opening that creates an audible friction. The voiced fricatives are /ʝ/ and /ʒ/ while the voiceless ones are /f/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /s/, /x/, and /h/.For the affricates the air is blocked, but it melts a bit several times in a small opening. The only affricates in Spanish are /dʒ/ which is voiced and /tʃ/ which is voiceless.The laterals are voiceless and there is a partial central obstacle in which air escapes from the sides of the tongue, forming /l/ and /ʎ/.The vibrators are formed by the vibration of the articulator. If there are successive vibrations, that is to say that the vibration is multiple, like the /r/ of reason or donkey. On the other hand, when there is only one vibration, the vibration is simple as the /ɾ/ of wall or put.Finally, the nasals are formed by the escape of air through the nasal cavity making resonance or nasality. The /m/, /n/, and /ɲ/ are voiced nasals.   

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What are the diferrent sound acording to the place of articulation

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What are the diferrent sound acording to the place of articulation

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There are 7 types of places of articulation

Bilabial: Between the lips, in sounds like /m/ (Mom) or /p/ (Pop)
Labiodental: When the top teeth connect with the bottom lip, in sounds like /f/ (Fit) and /v/ (Vine)
Dental: Between the teeth, in sounds like /θ/ (Thick) or /ð/ (Then)
Alveola: With the tongue tip on or near the top teeth, in sounds like /t/ (Top) or /z/ (Zap)
Palatal: With the tongue blade (the part right behind the tip) or body near the roof of the mouth (or the hard palate), in sounds like /ʃ/ (Shop) or /dʒ/ (Gym)
Velar: With the tongue body on or near the back of the mouth’s roof (or the soft palate), in sounds like /g/ (Gap) or /ŋ/ (Sing)
Glottal: Produced not so much in the mouth, but by air passing from the windpipe through the vocal cords, in the sound /h/ (Hi)

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What are the different Sounds according to the Place of articulation

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What are the different Sounds according to the Place of articulation

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation ?

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What are the different sounds according to the place of articulation ?

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BILABIAL: Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth by bringing your lips together.

English contains the following three bilabial consonants:

/p/ as in “purse” and “rap“

/b/ as in “back” and “cab“

/m/ as in “mad” and “clam“

LABIO-DENTAL: Labio-dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling your lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of teeth.

English contains the following two labio-dental sounds:

/f/ as in “fro” and “calf“

/v/ as in “vine” and “have”

DENTAL: Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by placing your slimy tongue against your upper teeth.

English contains the following two labio-dental sounds:

/θ/ as is “thick” and “bath“

/ð/ as in “the” and “rather”

ALVEOLAR: The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums.

You create Alveolar consonants when you raise your tongue to the alveolar ridge to block or constrict airflow.

The English alveolar consonants are as follows:

/n/ as in “no” and “man“

/t/ as in “tab” and “rat“

/d/ as in “dip” and “bad“

/s/ as in “suit” and “bus“

/z/ as in “zit” and “jazz“

/l/ as in “luck” and “fully”

POST-ALVEOLAR: When you retract your tongue back just a bit from the alveolar ridge, the sounds change enough to be recognized as distinct consonants.

So post-alveolar consonants are those that occur when the tongue blocks or constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge.

The post-alveolar english consonants are as follows:

/ʃ/ as in “shot” or “brash”

/ʒ/ as in “vision” or “measure”

/tʃ/ as in “chick” or “match”

/dʒ/ as in “jam” or “badge“

PALATAL: The roof of your mouth is the hard palate. You may know it as “the place that burns like hell when I eat pizza that is too hot.”

You create Palatal consonants when you raise the tongue to this point and constrict airflow.

English has only one palatal consonant:

/j/ as in “yes” and “bayou”

VELAR: Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft palate. Unlike the bony hard palate in front of it, the this consists of soft, mucousy tissue.

You make Velar Consonants when you raise the back of your tongue to the velum to block or restrict airflow.

English has the following velar consonants:

/ŋ/ as in “going” and “uncle” (note that the ‘n sound’ in these words is NOT made at the alveolar ridge, which is why it is distinct from /n/).

/k/ as in “kite” and “back“

/g/ as in “good” and “bug“

/w/ as in “wet” and “  “howard”

GLOTTAL: The glottis is actually two vocal folds (i.e. vocal cords). It acts as a sort of bottle cap to your windpipe.

Inhale and then hold your breath for a few seconds while keeping your mouth open. What you are actually doing to keep the air from expelling out of your lungs by closing your glottis.

Glottal consonants aren’t actually consonants; they just play consonant roles in the language. In English, the following things happen at the glottis:

/h/ as in “hi” and “Bahamas.” Say these words and notice how you’re not actually constricting or blocking airflow for this /h/ sound. You’re just exhaling a little bit harder than you would for a normal vowel sound in transition to the following vowel sound.

/?/ – This is actually the culprit behind many of the “silent syllables” we discussed in the first lesson. For example, in the phrase “wha(t) time is it?” the /t/ in “what” is dropped and the vowel sound before it is closed at the glottis.

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Place of Articulation

On this page, I will do the following for you:

Explain each of these place of articulation in detail.

List the English consonant sounds that occur at each place of articulation.

Provide audio examples for you to hear and contextualize these sounds.

As you follow along, be sure to say the sounds and example English words out loud so that you can feel the places of articulation in your own mouth.
Labio-Dental

Post-Alveolar

Glottal consonants aren't actually consonants; they just play consonant roles in the language. In English, the following things happen at the glottis:

/h/ as in "hi" and "Bahamas." Say these words and notice how you're not actually constricting or blocking airflow for this /h/ sound. You're just exhaling a little bit harder than you would for a normal vowel sound in transition to the following vowel sound.

/?/ - This is actually the culprit behind many of the "silent syllables" we discussed in the first lesson. For example, in the phrase "wha(t) time is it?" the /t/ in "what" is dropped and the vowel sound before it is closed at the glottis.

Review

It takes a bit of time to develop a physical awareness of your speech organ. There are two reasons for this:

1. You can't see your speech organ

2. You've been using the muscles of your speech organ every day of your life since your first breath.

Remember that whether you see it or not, the muscles of the speech organ can be controlled.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're incapable of a human speech sound. It's just a question of knowing and practicing.

Come back to this page as often as you need to review this information.

Here's the full chart again for your viewing pleasure:

Before we move on I want to make a few important points:

I do NOT list all the possible places of articulation for human speech. These are just the ones for General American English.

I do NOT list all the possible consonant sounds. These are also just for General American English.

To recap, the place of articulation is not the only feature that determines the sound of a consonant. There is also manner of articulation and phonation.

On the next page we will review these same English consonant sounds from their Manner of Articulation.
Subscribe Below for Free Audio Guide for Pronunciation

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Place of Articulation | FREE Pronunciation E-Course | The Mimic Method

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Place of Articulation Quick NavigationPlace of ArticulationBilabialLabio-DentalDentalAlveolarPost-AlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalReviewThe diagram below gives a view of the human mouth with arrows pointing to the places of articulation used in English. In other words, these are the places where the constrictions and obstructions of air occur.

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It is the place in the vocal tract where articulation occurs. It is also called the place of articulation,Together with the use of the air current produced by the subglottic mechanisms, the state of the glottis and the configuration of the oral and nasal cavity, it is one of the four criteria for the articulatory classification of speech sounds.

Articulation is normally produced by the approximation or contact between a fixed and a mobile articulator. Depending on the area in which this contact takes place, the following classification of sounds is established based on the point of articulation:

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what are the different sounds acording to the place of articulation

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what are the different sounds acording to the place of articulation

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Lip,
bilabial, upper lip and lower lip.

labiovelar, biarticulate consonant on the velum and lower and upper lips.

labioalveolar, biarticulate consonant in alveoli and lower and upper lips.

labiodental, lower lip and upper incisors.
Coronal,
dental, apex or back of the tongue and the posterior part of the upper incisors.

interdental, apex of the tongue located between the lower and upper incisors.

retroflex, elevation of the apex of the tongue towards the posterior part of the alveoli.

alveolar, anterior part of the tongue and alveoli.
Dorsal,
palatal, anterior part of the dorsum of the tongue and hard palate.

velar, posterior part of the tongue and soft palate.

uvula, posterior part of the tongue and uvula.
Radical,pharyngeal, root of the tongue and pharyngeal wall.Glottal, closure of the glottis.

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In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a passive articulator.

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Learning about the places of articulation is really a fundamental step before learning more about phonology and phonetics. Before continuing make sure you know about the differences between phonemes and phones.

When we talk about places of articulation, what we're really talking about is the different parts of your vocal tract and how those parts affect speech sounds. Specifically, we're talking about how consonants are formed. Before we really get into the places of articulation, let's look at how a speech sound is formed.

How is human speech formed?

Here are the following steps to how a typical speech sound is formed:

1. Your diaphragm muscle contracts allowing your lungs to fill up with air.

2. Your diaphragm expands and pushes the air up from your lungs through your windpipe, your voice box (often called the larynx in phonetics) and then in your pharynx (the space in the very back of your throat)

3. When the air is passing through your larynx, your vocal folds vibrate.

4. The sound waves continue bouncing around and are affected by different parts of your mouth including your lips, hard and soft palates, tongue, etc... (these are the places of articulation)

5. The sound waves come out of your mouth or nasal cavity in the case of nasal sounds.

6. The sound waves then go into the environment and are picked up by others and interpreted as sound.

Right now, we are concerned with step four - the parts of our vocal tract that affect speech sounds and make them distinct. Take a look at this picture. We're going to go over each part and see how each part helps with making speech sounds.

Glottis

A: Let's first look at the A section in the above picture. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult places of articulation to describe. So, let's go ahead and get it over with. Then, all the others will be a piece of cake. Try tilting your head back and swallowing. You should be able to feel your Adam's Apple in your throat. If you feel around that area, you should also be able to feel some bony rings. This area that includes your Adam's Apple and those bony rings (those rings are actually called cricoid cartilage) is called your larynx.

Inside your larynx you have your vocal folds. Many people call these "vocal chords;" it's just two names for the same thing, but in textbooks "vocal folds" is more common. Here's a picture of your vocal folds.

The top part of this image is the front part of your neck. Those two dashed lines are your vocal folds. They can move closer and further apart from each other to affect speech sounds.

The space between your vocal folds in called the glottis. This is the A label in our vocal tract image above. The glottis is responsible for the voicing of sounds. Let's look at two sounds the s sound [s] and the z [z] sound.

Try saying both of these sounds and going back and forth between them. While doing so, place your hand on your throat. When making the [z] sound, you should feel a lot of buzzing. This is what we mean when we say a voiced sound.

When you are making the [z] sound, your vocal folds are coming close together and vibrating which makes the buzzing feeling in your throat. When you are making the [s] sound, your vocal folds open up and the space between them gets bigger. The buzzing sound [z] is considered voiced and the [s] is considered unvoiced. All sounds in English are voiced or unvoiced.

That's a lot of information for just one place of articulation, but we're not done yet! The glottis plays a part in all sounds by making them voiced or unvoiced, but it also has two other sounds that's it's responsible for: the glottal stop and the "h" sound [h].

The glottal stop is a sound made up of stopping the flow of air by closing the glottis. Some British dialects often use a glottal stop. Take the word butter for example. In American English we would change the [t] to a flap [ɾ], but Cockney English speaker wouldn't pronounce a [t] sound or a [ɾ] sound. Instead, they would pronounce a glottal stop [ʔ]. You hear the same thing in the word water in some British dialects as well. Again, here Americans would pronounce a flap [ɾ] instead.

The h sound [h] is also considered a glottal sound in English.

So to sum up, the glottis is responsible for the voicing of a sound, the glottal stop [ʔ] and the [h] sound.

Pharynx

B: The B label is the pharynx. This is the tube and cavity that is above the glottis. All speech sounds will pass through the pharynx, but besides that, it doesn't play a role in distinguishing between sounds in English.

Uvula

C: Here we have the Uvula. This is the thing that looks like a punching bag. You can see it when looking in a mirror and opening your mouth. In English, the uvula doesn't play a part in distinguishing between sounds.

I'm going to add another image of the vocal tract right here. Hopefully that will keep you from having to scroll up and down.

Velum

D: Now we are at the velum. This is also called the soft palate. If you run your tongue across the roof of your mouth, you can feel it towards the back. When you are making a velar consonant, the back part of your tongue touches the velum. Sounds that are made here are [k] and [g]. The "ing" sound in the word sing, [ŋ], is also made here, but the difference is that [ŋ] is a nasal sound. The velum plays a major part in nasal sounds. We will talk about manners of articulation in another post, but I think it's at least worth mentioning for now.

Postalveolar

E: The postalveolar place is directly behind the alveolar ridge; the part directly behind your upper teeth (label F). This is your "hard palate." The sounds that are produced here are: the "sh" [ʃ] in ship, the "ch" [tʃ] in child, the "s" [ʒ] in vision and the "j" [dʒ] in jump. These IPA symbols may look a little strange to you now, but hopefully these words help you see the need for them. Don't spend too much time pondering them right now - we'll talk about them more in depth in another article.

Alveolar ridge

F: This is the bony section right behind your top teeth. sounds made here are called alveolars. Alveolars are [t], [d] , [ɾ], [s], [z], [ɹ] and [l]. We've covered the flap sound [ɾ] before, but one of those may look strange to you. That upside down r [ɹ] is just an r sound in English like at the beginning of the word rat. Many textbooks will use the upside down r, but if you're just talking about the sounds in English, sometimes a regular r [r] is used.

Teeth

G: This label is just your upper teeth. The sounds made using your teeth are called dentals. The "th" sound in the word think is notated with a [θ] while the "th" sound in the word that is notated with a [ð]. These two sounds are called interdentals because your tongue is between your teeth.

The teeth are used in two other sounds in English: [f] and [v]. These sounds are called labiodentals because they use your lips and your teeth.

Lips

H: Now we are at your lips. Sounds that are made using your lips are called labials. When you are using your lips and teeth, as with the sounds [f] and [v], the sounds are called labiodentals.

When both lips are used, you are making bilabial sounds. These are the [p], [b], and [m] sounds.

Places of articulation on the IPA chart

The order in which we went through all of the places of articulation was the same as how a sound is formed: the air stream comes up through the glottis through the pharynx, etc... But if you're reading the standard IPA chart from left to right, the order is opposite. This is because when the places of articulation are read left to right on the IPA chart, you are going from your lips all the way down your vocal tract.

If you look at the above image you see bilabial (both lips), labiodental (lips and teeth), dental (teeth), etc... all the way until you get to the glottis. Yes, there's actually a rhyme and reason to how items on the IPA chart are placed even though it looks like a bunch of crazy symbols at first glance.

Wrap up

I hope going through all of these places of articulation really helped you get a better grasp of how speech sounds are made. There's a lot more to making a speech sound, but places of articulation of are a building block that you must learn before you go on to learn other things. Remember that we just covered English consonants in this article. We didn't even touch manners of articulation. Also, vowels are a little bit different.

How do I remember the places of articulation?

One way to is to print out an empty IPA chart. Then, write in all of the places of articulation and the sounds that go with them. I'm working on making a blank IPA chart, so check back with me later.

Another way to practice remembering the places of articulation is by just using your tongue and going from your lips, to your teeth, to the top of your mouth and name each part of your mouth while feeling it with your tongue. You can even also practice saying each sound as well.

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Places of articulation - Linguistics Study Guide

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Learning about the places of articulation is really a fundamental step before learning more about phonology and phonetics. Before continuing make sure you know about the differences between phonemes and phones. When we talk about places of articulation, what we're really talking about is the different parts of your vocal tract and how those parts affect speech sounds.