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How are trills, taps, and lateral consonants produced?

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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 how the airstream is obstructed. Trills, taps, and laterals are produced through distinct articulatory movements:

  • Trills: These occur when an articulator (such as the tongue tip, uvula, or lips) is held loosely near another articulator. The airstream sets the articulator into vibration.1
  • Taps: A tap is produced by throwing one articulator against another. For example, the tongue tip may make a single, rapid strike against the alveolar ridge or upper teeth. Some linguists distinguish these from flaps, where the tongue tip is raised and pulled back before striking the ridge.2
  • Laterals: These are produced by obstructing the airstream along the mid-line of the oral tract while allowing it to pass freely between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. While often categorized as lateral approximants, they can also manifest as lateral fricatives in some languages if the sides of the tongue are positioned close enough to the roof of the mouth to create turbulence.3