ALVEOLAR

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the
superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains thealveoli (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.
An alveolar ridge (/lvi.lr/; also known as the alveolar margin) is one of the
two jaw ridges either on the roof of the mouth between the upper teeth and the hard
palate or on the bottom of the mouth behind the lower teeth. The alveolar ridges contain the
sockets (alveoli) of the teeth. They can be felt with the tongue in the area right above the top
teeth or below the bottom teeth. Its surface is covered with little ridges. Sounds made with
the tongue touching the alveolar ridge while speaking are called alveolar consonants.
Examples of alveolar consonants in English are, for instance, [t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l] like in the
words time, dawn, silly, zoo, nasty and lollipop. There are exceptions to this however, such
as speakers of the New York Accent who pronounce [t] and [d] at the back of their teeth.
When pronouncing these sounds the tongue touches ([t], [d], [n]), or nearly touches ([s], [z])
the upper alveolar ridge which can also be referred to as gum ridge. In many other
languages these same consonants are articulated slightly differently, and are often
described as dental consonants. In many languages consonants are articulated with the
tongue touching or close to the upper alveolar ridge. The former are called alveolar plosives,
and the latter alveolar fricatives.