Dorsal consonant

In today's world, Dorsal consonant has become a topic of interest and debate for a wide range of people. With its growing relevance in society, Dorsal consonant continues to generate diverse opinions and perspectives that impact individual and collective decisions. Whether on a personal, professional or social level, Dorsal consonant exerts a significant influence on the way we think and act. In this article, we will explore different aspects related to Dorsal consonant and its impact on our lives, as well as the implications this has for the future.

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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

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 velum behind that (velar consonants), to the uvula at the back of the mouth cavity (uvular consonants). 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.

Examples

Familiar dorsal consonants
IPA symbol Name of the consonant Language Example IPA
⟨ɲ⟩ Voiced palatal nasal Albanian një
⟨ʝ⟩ Voiced palatal fricative Modern Greek για
⟨ç⟩ Voiceless palatal fricative German Reich
⟨j⟩ Voiced palatal approximant English yellow
⟨ŋ⟩ Voiced velar nasal sing
⟨ɡ⟩ Voiced velar plosive garden
⟨k⟩ Voiceless velar plosive cake
⟨ɣ⟩ Voiced velar fricative Modern Greek góma (γόμα)
⟨x⟩ Voiceless velar fricative Malay akhir
⟨ʍ⟩ Voiceless labio-velar approximant English whine
⟨w⟩ Voiced labio-velar approximant water
⟨q⟩ Voiceless uvular plosive Arabic Qurʾān (قرآن)
⟨ɢ⟩ Voiced uvular plosive Persian Qom (قم)
⟨ʁ⟩ Voiced uvular fricative
or approximant 		French Paris
⟨χ⟩ Voiceless uvular fricative German Bach

See also

References

  • Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.