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How are consonants classified by place of articulation?

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Diagram of a human head in profile showing the location of vocal organs and possible places of articulation for speech sounds, with labels for lips, teeth, tongue, palate, uvula, pharynx, and vocal cords, and numbered regions corresponding to types of articulation such as bilabial, alveolar, and velar.
phonetics Diagram depicting the location of human vocal organs and possible places of articulation used for speech.

In phonetics, consonants are classified by the specific location in the vocal tract where the airstream is obstructed, known as the place of articulation. This classification identifies which mobile articulators (such as the tongue or lips) interact with rigid structures (such as the teeth or palate) to create a closure or narrowing.123

Common places of articulation include:

  • Bilabial: Involving both lips.1
  • Dental: Involving the tongue tip or blade and the upper front teeth.1
  • Alveolar: Involving the tongue tip or blade and the teeth ridge.1
  • Retroflex: Involving the tongue tip and the back part of the teeth ridge.1
  • Palato-alveolar: Involving the tongue blade and the back part of the teeth ridge.1
  • Palatal: Involving the front of the tongue and the hard palate.1
  • Velar: Involving the back of the tongue and the soft palate (velum).1

When necessary, linguists further distinguish between sounds made with the tongue tip (apical) and those made with the blade (laminal). These primary articulations may also be modified by secondary articulations, such as palatalization or labialization.132