Dorsal consonant

 ( Place Of Articulation ) 

Dorsal consonants are articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum). They include the uvular consonant, velar consonant and, in some cases, alveolo-palatal and palatal consonants. They contrast with coronal consonants, articulated with the flexible front of the tongue, and laryngeal consonants, articulated in the Pharynx.

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Function The dorsum of the tongue can contact a broad region of the roof of the mouth, from the hard palate (palatal consonants), the flexible soft palate behind that (), to the Palatine uvula at the back of the mouth cavity (). These distinctions are not clear cut, and sometimes finer gradations such as pre-palatal, pre-velar, and post-velar will be noted.

Because the tip of the tongue can curl back to also contact the hard palate for retroflex consonants ( subapical-palatal), consonants produced by contact between the dorsum and the palate are sometimes called dorso-palatal.

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Examples

+ Familiar dorsal consonants ! IPA symbol ! Name of the consonant ! Language ! Example ! IPA

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See also

• Place of articulation
• List of phonetics topics

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