Place of Articulation

Speech sounds are classified in terms of which articulators are used, in other words, which
bit ‘part’ of the mouth is used in making the sound. Here are some basic classifications to get
you started.

Term Explanation Example

/p/ as in pat
Bilabial Sound made using both lips. Commented [I1]: It means your upper lip and lower lip touch
/b/ as in bat each other to produce these sounds!!

Sound made using the lower lip /f/ as in fat

Labiodental
and upper teeth. /v/ as in vase Commented [I2]: It is as if you are biting on your lower lip!!

Sound made where the tongue /d/ as in dad

Alveolar
touches the alveolar ridge. /s/ as in sat Commented [I3]: Your tongue touches the “roof’ of your
mouth!!
Sound made using the teeth and
/ð/ as in the
Dental tongue. It is like you’re biting the
/ θ/ as in thing
tip of your tongue!!
Sound made using the back part of
/k/ as in cat
Velar the tongue and the soft palate
/g/ as in gate
(velum). Commented [I4]: You raise the back part of your tongue and it
touches the velum and your lips are rounded when you make these
sounds!!

Glottal Glottal stops:/ʔ/

/h/

Sound made using the glottis.

Manner of Articulation

Manner of articulation is how the tongue, lips and jaw along with other speech organs are
involved when making a sound.

The manners:
Plosive (stop) Commented [I5]: They are called plosives because they are like
explosives you completely block or stop the air then you just
Sounds that are made with a complete stop of air flow in the vocal tract. Sounds like /p/, /b/, suddenly release it at once in a slight explosion!!
/t/ and /k/.

Nasal Commented [I6]: The word nasal is the adjective form of nose
so nasal sounds are sounds that use the nose. The air doesn’t escape
Sounds that are made where air escapes through the nasal cavity. Sounds like /n/ and /m/. through your mouth but through your nose more precisely the nasal
cavity!
Fricative Commented [I7]: You don’t completely stop the air flow but
you just restrict it! You let it escape through a small gap(narrowing)
A sound produced by a near complete stoppage of air. Sounds like /s/, /z/ or in your mouth!!
/f/.
Approximant
Sound made where one articulator comes close to another without causing audible friction.
Sounds like /w/ or /r/. Commented [I8]: Which simply means that the space between
the articulators is wider!

Lateral Approximant

Where air escapes through the sides of the tongue, however the tongue blocks the air from
going through the middle of the mouth. Sounds like /l/. Commented [I9]: The air escapes from the sides and it is
blocked in the middle.

Affricate
A sound made that starts like a plosive and then releases into a fricative. Sounds like /dʒ/ and
/tʃ/.