Alveolar consonant

1 Alveolar consonants in IPA
2 Lack of alveolars
3 Alveolar Switching
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) does not have separate symbols for the alveolar consonants. Rather, the same symbol is used for all coronal places of articulation which aren't palatalized like English palato-alveolar sh, or retroflex. To disambiguate, the bridge ([s̪, t̪, n̪, l̪], etc.) may be used for a dental consonant, or the under-bar ([s̠, t̠, n̠, l̠], etc.) may be used for the postalveolars. Note that [s̪] differs from dental [θ] in being a sibilant, rather than a thibilant. [s̠] differs from postalveolar [ʃ] in being unpalatalized.

The bare letters [s, t, n, l], etc. cannot be assumed to specifically represent alveolars. The language may not make such distinctions, such that two or more coronal places are found allophonically, or the transcription may simply be too broad to distinguish dental from alveolar. If it is necessary to specify a consonant as alveolar, a diacritic from the Extended IPA may be used: [s͇, t͇, n͇, l͇], etc.. Nonetheless, the symbols <s, t, n, l> themselves are frequently called 'alveolar', and the language examples below are all alveolar sounds.

(The Extended IPA diacritic was devised for speech pathology and is frequently used to mean 'alveolarized', as in the labioalveolar sounds [p͇, b͇, m͇, f͇, v͇], where the lower lip contacts the alveolar ridge.)

Alveolar consonants in IPA

The alveolar/coronal consonants identified by the IPA are:

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning in English

alveolar nasal English run [ɹʷʌn] run

voiceless alveolar plosive English tap [tʰæp] tap

voiced alveolar plosive English debt [dɛt] debt

voiceless alveolar fricative English suit [sjuːt] suit

voiced alveolar fricative English zoo [zuː] zoo

voiceless alveolar affricate German Zeit [t͡saɪt] time

voiced alveolar affricate Italian zaino [ˈd͡zaino] backpack

voiceless alveolar lateral fricative Welsh Llwyd [ɬʊɪd] the name Lloyd or Floyd

voiced alveolar lateral fricative Zulu dlala [ˈɮálà] to play
t͡ɬ voiceless alveolar lateral affricate Tsez элIни [ˈʔɛ̝t͡ɬni] winter
d͡ɮ voiced alveolar lateral affricate Oowekyala ^{[example needed]}

alveolar approximant English red [ɹʷɛd] red

alveolar lateral approximant English loop [lup] loop

alveolar flap Spanish pero [peɾo] but

alveolar lateral flap Venda [vuɺa] to open

alveolar trill Spanish perro [pero] dog

alveolar ejective Georgian ტიტა [tʼitʼa] tulip

alveolar ejective fricative Amharic [sʼɛɡa] grace

voiced alveolar implosive Vietnamese đã [ɗɐː] Past tense indicator

alveolar lateral click Nama ǁî [kǁĩĩ] discussed

Lack of alveolars

The alveolar or dental consonants [t] and [n] are, along with [k], the most common consonants in human languages. Nonetheless, there are a few languages which lack them. A few languages on Bougainville Island and around Puget Sound, such as Makah, lack nasals and therefore [n], but have [t]. Colloquial Samoan, however, lacks both [t] and [n], though it has a lateral alveolar approximant [l]. (Samoan words written with the letters t and n are pronounced with [k] and [ŋ] except in formal speech.)

Alveolar Switching

Japanese speakers often mix alveolar lateral approximant sounds in other languages with alveolar approximant sounds due to a lack of alveolar lateral approximants in their own language.^{[citation needed]}