Labial consonant
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labial_consonant
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Labials are consonants articulated either with both
lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip
and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). English
[m]
is a bilabial nasal
sonorant,
[b]
and [p]
are bilabial stops
(plosives), [v]
and [f]
are labiodental fricatives.
Bilabial fricatives and the bilabial approximant
do not exist in standard English, but do occur in many languages.
For example, the Spanish consonant spelt b or v
is pronounced as a voiced bilabial approximant between
vowels.
Lip rounding, or labialisation
can also accompany other articulations. English /w/
is a labialised
velar approximant.
Labial consonants are divided into two subplaces of articulation:
Very few languages, however, make a distinction on purely
this basis. (One example is Ewe,
with both kinds of fricatives.) For by far the most languages
in the world, labial by itself is a sufficient phonemic
specification. Whether the sounds will actually be bilabial
or labiodental depends on the language, but the most common
pattern is that exhibited in English: bilabial stops and
nasals, labiodental fricatives. Neither purely labial approximant
is as common as the labial-velar
approximant /w/.
See also
References
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labial_consonant
Published - November 2008
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