linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

, a denti-alveolar consonant or dento-alveolar consonant is a

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...

that is

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

with a flat tongue against the

alveolar ridge The alveolar process () or alveolar bone is the thickened ridge of bone that contains the tooth sockets on the jaw bones (in humans, the maxilla and the mandible). The structures are covered by gums as part of the oral cavity. The synonymous t ...

and the upper teeth, such as and in languages such as French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. That is, a denti-alveolar consonant is (pre)alveolar and

laminal A laminal consonant is a phone (speech sound) produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue in contact with upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, to possibly, as ...

rather than purely dental. Although denti-alveolar consonants are often labeled as " dental" because only the forward contact with the teeth is visible, the point of contact of the tongue that is farthest back is most relevant, as it defines the maximum acoustic space of resonance and gives a characteristic sound to a consonant. In French, the contact that is the farthest back is alveolar or sometimes slightly pre-alveolar. In Spanish, and are laminal denti-alveolar, and and are alveolar but assimilate to a following or . Similarly, in Italian, , , , are denti-alveolar, and and are alveolar. The

dental click Dental (or more precisely denti-alveolar) clicks are a family of click consonants found, as constituents of words, only in Africa and in the Damin ritual jargon of Australia. In English, the ''tut-tut!'' (British spelling, "tutting") or ''t ...

s are also laminal denti-alveolar.

References

Sources

* * {{IPA navigation Place of articulation Dental consonants Alveolar consonants