Phonetics is the study of how human speech sounds are created and produced. Within phonetics, speech sounds can be split into two main categories: consonants and vowels. This is how they are organized in the IPA chart.
The IPA chart is a visual representation of all possible human speech sounds.
The consonants are organized and differentiated based on their place of articulation and manner of articulation.
Place of articulation refers to where the obstruction of air takes place during sound production.
Manner of articulation refers to how air is released through the vocal tract.
There are 11 different places of articulation, one of which is alveolar.
Today we'll be discussing alveolar consonants.
Alveolar consonants: definition
Alveolar sounds are a type of speech sound produced by constriction of airflow in the vocal tract with the tongue touching or nearing the alveolar ridge, the area right behind the upper front teeth on the roof of the mouth. Alveolar sounds can include both consonants and vowels, and the specific articulation can vary, leading to different types of alveolar sounds. For example, in English, the 't' sound in "top" is an alveolar sound.
An alveolar sound is then a type of speech sound produced at the alveolar ridge.
The alveolar ridge is the hard part at the top of the mouth behind the teeth. It's the part of the mouth you touch with your tongue when pronouncing letters like 't' and 'd'.
Fig. 1 - The alveolar ridge is the hard part at the top of the mouth behind the teeth.
The term Alveolar is always used to refer to a type of consonant speech sound.
A consonant speech sound is produced when there is some form of obstruction (either complete or total) when the airflow is released.
This differs from vowel speech sounds which are produced with no obstruction to the airflow.
All consonant speech sounds can be either voiced or voiceless. Voicing refers to the vibration of the vocal cords.
When a speech sound is voiced, the vocal cords vibrate.
For example /b/, /m/, /g/, and /l/
When a speech sound is voiceless, there is no vibration in the vocal cords, creating a whispering sound.
For example /t/ /s/, /h/, and /f/
You can tell if your vocal cords are vibrating by placing your fingers on your throat while speaking. If you can feel vibrations, you're creating a voiced sound.
Try doing this and swapping between whispering and speaking.
Alveolar consonants: articulation
An alveolar consonant sound is produced when the obstruction to airflow takes place at the alveolar ridge. The airflow obstruction is caused by the tongue and the way it makes contact with the alveolar ridge. Here are a few examples in English:
- The "t" sound in "top" is represented as /t/.
- The "d" sound in "dog" is represented as /d/.
- The "n" sound in "no" is represented as /n/.
- The "s" sound in "see" is represented as /s/.
- The "z" sound in "zoo" is represented as /z/.
- The "l" sound in "love" is represented as /l/.
One sentence summary: Alveolar consonants are a category of sounds articulated with the tongue against or close to the alveolar ridge, located behind the upper front teeth.
In the speech sound /t/, the tip or blade of the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge and then retracts, creating airflow.
Different parts of the tongue are used to articulate different sounds.
There are five areas of the tongue referred to in the field of phonetics:
- tip (the front edge of the tongue)
- blade (the front third of the tongue and the most mobile part after the tip)
- front (the middle part of the tongue that sits under the hard palate)
- back (the back part of the tongue that sits under the soft palate)
- root (the lowest part of the tongue that sits in the pharynx)
Fig. 2 - The tongue has different parts used for different articulations. The tip is the very front end of the tongue, and the root is the bottom part at the back of the mouth.
Alveolar consonants in phonetics
In phonetics, alveolar consonant sounds can be split into 8 different types. These are all still articulated by the tongue having contact with the alveolar ridge, but each has a different form of air release and creates different sounds.
Of the 8 types of alveolar consonant sounds, five are often used in the English language. They are:
Although these are the five most commonly used alveolar sounds in English, alveolar trills can also be used.
We'll now have a look at each of these five alveolar sounds mentioned in turn.
Alveolar plosive
Alveolar plosive sounds are produced when the tip or blade of the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge and then retracts quickly. The quick movement of the tongue creates a sudden release of airflow, which causes the speech sound.
There are two alveolar plosive sounds: /t/ and /d/.
The /t/ sound is voiceless, and the /d/ sound is voiced.
Here are some examples of words that use the alveolar plosive sounds:
- tot - /tɒt/
- dad - /dæd/
- little - /lɪtəl/
determined - /dɪtə:mɪnd/
Alveolar nasal
Alveolar nasal sounds are created when the blade of the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge. The tongue stays in this position while air is released through the nasal cavity.
The nasal cavity is the passage from the top of the throat to the end of the nose. It is where air travels when you breathe through your nose.
Fig. 3 - The nasal cavity runs from the nostrils, above the oral cavity, and down to the throat.
There is one alveolar nasal sound, /n/, which is voiced.
Some examples of words that use the alveolar nasal sound are:
When an /n/ is followed by a /g/ in a word (as in -ing endings), the -ng sound can be mistakenly written as /ng/. In most cases, this is incorrect and should instead be written as the voiced velar nasal sound /ŋ/.
Alveolar fricative
A fricative sound is produced when there is a partial obstruction to the airflow. The front of the tongue makes slight contact with the alveolar ridge, creating friction when the air is pushed through the oral cavity.
There are two alveolar fricative sounds in the English language: /s/ and /z/.
The /s/ is the voiceless form and /z/ is the voiced form.
Some words that use the alveolar fricative sounds are:
- sound - /saʊnd/
- sense - /sɛns/
- zoo - /zu:/
- dogs - /dɒgz/
You may notice that the final word here 'dogs,' is spelled with an S at the end but is transcribed as having a Z. This is because when a voiceless sound follows a voiced sound, it is usually changed to a voiced sound to make the sequence of sounds easier to produce.
Alveolar approximant
An alveolar approximant sound is made when the tongue comes very close to the alveolar ridge but doesn't actually make contact.
The only alveolar approximant sound is the voiced /ɹ/.
Here are some examples of the alveolar approximant sound in words:
- right - /ɹʌɪt/
- bring - /bɹɪŋ/
- moreish - /mɔ:ɹɪʃ/
- foray - /fɒɹeɪ/
The examples here show words that only have R either at the beginning or in the middle of a word. Some words that have an R in their spelling (either in the middle or at the end) don't articulate the R sound.
For example:
- bar is articulated as /bɑ:/
- word is articulated as /wə:d/
The lack of articulated R in some words is due to standard English being a non-rhotic accent.
A rhotic accent is an accent that articulates the R sounds in words. Some rhotic accents are Irish, Cornish, and most American accents.
Alveolar lateral approximant
An alveolar lateral approximant sound is produced when the blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and air is released around the tongue and down the sides of the mouth.
The alveolar lateral approximant speech sound is /l/, which is voiced.
Here are some examples of the alveolar lateral approximant in words:
- little - /lɪtəl/
- blog - /blɒg/
- waffle - /wɒfəl/
- lilies - /lɪliz/
Fig. 4 - If you say 'lily pad,' you'll notice your tongue only touches your alveolar ridge when creating the L and D sounds.
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill sound isn't one that's typically used in Standard English language, but it can appear on occasion when people roll their Rs. Rolled Rs are often present in the speech of people who have a Scottish or Welsh accent.
There is one alveolar trill sound written in the IPA as /r/.
Here are some examples of the alveolar trill being used:
In a Scottish accent:
- girls - /gərls/
- farm - /fɑ:rm/
In a Welsh accent:
- bright - /brait/
- carry - /ka:ri/
In the Scottish accent, the rolled R is more common in the speech of older speakers, with the younger speakers tending not to use the rolled R anymore1.
The rolled R is a more common feature in the Welsh accent, with both older and younger speakers using it.2
Alveolar consonants: symbol
The IPA symbols can get a little confusing so let's go over what the IPA symbols for alveolar consonants are again:
/t/ - voiceless alveolar plosive
/d/ - voiced alveolar plosive
/n/ - voiced alveolar nasal
/r/ - voiced alveolar trill
/ɾ/ - voiced alveolar tap
/s/ - voiceless alveolar fricative
/z/ - voiced alveolar fricative
/ɫ/ - voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
/lʒ/ - voiced alveolar lateral fricative
/ɹ/ - voiced alveolar approximant
/l/ - voiced alveolar lateral approximant
You may notice that not all of these are alveolar consonant symbols we've already covered - some are consonant sounds not used in the English language.
Can you identify which of these consonant sounds are and are not used in the English language?
Alveolar sounds
We've now covered all of the alveolar sounds, so let's finish by recapping the sounds that can be used in the English language.
| Alveolar Sound Examples |
|---|
Alveolar Sound | IPA Symbol | Written Letter | Example in a Word |
| Voiceless alveolar plosive | /t/ | t | tot /tɒt/ |
| Voiced alveolar plosive | /d/ | d | did/dɪd/ |
| Voiced alveolar nasal | /n/ | n | noun/naʊn/ |
| Voiced alveolar trill | /r/ | r | perro/pɛrɒ/ |
| Voiceless alveolar fricative | /s/ | s | sense/sɛns/ |
| Voiced alveolar fricative | /z/ | z or s | zebra /zɛbɹə/ dogs /dɒgz/ |
| Voiced alveolar approximant | /ɹ/ | r | drink/dɹɪnk/ |
| Voiced alveolar lateral approximant | /l/ | l | little/lɪtəl/ |
Alveolar - Key takeaways
- Alveolar sounds are a type of speech sound produced by constriction of airflow in the vocal tract with the tongue touching or nearing the alveolar ridge, the area right behind the upper front teeth on the roof of the mouth.
- Alveolar consonants are a category of sounds articulated with the tongue against or close to the alveolar ridge, located behind the upper front teeth.
- The alveolar ridge is the hard part at the top of the mouth behind the teeth.
- There are 6 different manners of articulation used to produce alveolar sounds, which are either voiced or voiceless.
- There are 8 possible alveolar sounds in the English language.
- The alveolar trill sound isn't typical of Standard English but can appear in accents such as Scottish, Welsh, and Canadian.
References
- BBC News. 2015. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-33585096
- British Library. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gower-dialect-mrs-b-cockle-picking#:~:text=The%20Welsh%20rolled%20'r',and%20very%20good.
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