Location Location Location!

Eeeeeeew!
The diagram to your right gives a profile view of the human speech organ
with arrows pointing to the places of articulation used in English.

In other words, these are the places where the constrictions/obstructions of

air occur.

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

 Explain each of these places of articulation in detail.

 List the English consonant sounds that occur at each place of articulation, along with their IPA
symbols.

 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. 

Bilabial
 Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth
by bringing your chapped and/or drylips 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"

*That was a joke. Please use lip balm regularly, especially if you live in a dry or
cold climate.

Labio-Dental

Labiodental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling

your lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of jagged teeth*.  

English contains the following two labio-dental sounds:

 /f/ as in "fro" and "calf"

 /v/ as in "vine" and "have"

*Don't worry - I still think you have a pretty smile :)

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"

*Importance of brushing tongue ≥ Importance of brushing teeth...

Alveolar

The alveolar ridge is where your jagged teeth meet your bloody
gums*.  Alveolar consonants are created when you raise your tongue to the
alveolar ridge so as to block/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"

*Okay seriously, you need to see a dentist.

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/constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge.  The post-
alveolar english consonants are as follows: 

 /ʃ/ as in "shoot" 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 known as the hard palate.  You may know it as:
"The place that burns like hell all day when I drink my coffee too fast."  

Palatal  consonants  are created here when you raise the tongue to this point
so  as  to block/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 velum/soft palate consists of soft, mucousy
tissue.  

Velar Consonants  are created when you raise the back of your tongue to the
velum  so as 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 made up of your two vocal folds (i.e. vocal cords), and 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 really 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 really constricting or blocking airflow for this /h/ sound, you're
just sort of 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.
Having trouble finding these place of articulation in your own mouth?  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 unconsciously every day of your life since
your first breath. 

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 of the possible places of articulation for human speech; these are just the ones
relevant to English.

 For each place of articulation listed - I do NOT list all of the possible consonant sounds   - just the
English ones.

To expand on the second point - the place of articulation is not the only physical 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 the perspective of Manner
of Articulation.