Place of Articulation
The diagram below gives a view of the human mouth with arrows pointing to the places of articulation used in Spanish.
In other words, these are the places where the constrictions and obstructions of air occur.
On this page, I will do the following for you:
- Explain each of these place of articulation in detail.
- List the Spanish consonant sounds that occur at each place of articulation.
- Provide audio examples for you to hear and contextualize these sounds.
As you follow along, be sure to say the sounds and example Spanish words out loud so that you can feel the places of articulation in your own mouth.
Bilabial
Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth by bringing your lips together.
Spanish contains the following three bilabial consonants:
- /p/ as in “papa” and “pollo”
- /m/ as in “mama” and “mapa”
- /b/ as in “boca” and “bacano”
Labio-Dental
Labio-dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling your lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of teeth.
Spanish contains the following two labio-dental sounds:
- /f/ as in “fino” and “jefe”
- /v/ as in “afgano”
Dental
Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by placing your slimy tongue against your upper teeth.
English contains the following two labio-dental sounds:
- /θ/ as is “plaza” and “sumo”
- /ð/ as in “todo” and “cada”
Alveolar
The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums.
You create Alveolar consonants when you raise your tongue to the alveolar ridge to block or constrict airflow.
The Spanish alveolar consonants are as follows:
- /&/ as in “ir” and “hora”
- /+/ as in “razon” and “perro”
- /z/ as in “communismo”
- /s/ as in “plaza” and “los“
- /n/ as in “noche” and “no“
- /l/ as in “lo” and “hola”
Denti-Alveolar
When you move your tongue forward just a bit past the alveolar ridge, the sounds change enough to be recognized as distinct consonants.
So denti-alveolar consonants are those that occur when the tongue blocks or constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge (near your upper row of teeth).
This occurs distinctly in Spanish – we will cover it in more detail in the next module.
For now, here are the Spanish alveolar consonants which become “dentalized” under certain conditions:
- /t̺/ as in “tu” and “tal”
- /d̺/ as in “todo” and “cada”
- /n̺/ as in “antes” and “canta”
The post-alveolar Spanish consonants are as follows:
- /ʃ/ as in “shot” or “brash“
- /ʒ/ as in “vision” or “measure”
- /tʃ/ as in “chick” or “match“
- /dʒ/ as in “jam” or “badge“
Palatal
The roof of your mouth is the hard palate. You may know it as “the place that burns like hell when I eat pizza that is too hot.”
You create Palatal consonants when you raise the tongue to this point and constrict airflow. Note that there is a distinction between /j/ and it’s softened version /ʝ/, which I will explain in the next module – don’t worry about it for now.
Spanish speech contains the following palatal consonants:
- /ɲ/ as in “niña” and “mañana”
- /j/ as in “bella” and “allí”
- /ʝ/ as in “pollo” and “caballo”
- /#/ as in “mucho” and “noche”
Velar
Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft palate. Unlike the bony hard palate in front of it, the this consists of soft, mucousy tissue.
You make Velar Consonants when you raise the back of your tongue to the velum to block or restrict airflow.
Spanish has the following velar consonants:
- /ŋ/ as in “tengo” and “venga”
- /k/ as in “cada” and “queso”
- /g/ as in “gato” and “guapa”
- /ɣ/ as in “agua” and “luega”
- /x/ as in “ojo” and “dije”
- /w/ as in “fue” and “linguistica”
Glottal
The glottis is actually two vocal folds (i.e. vocal cords). It acts as a sort of bottle cap to your windpipe.
Inhale and then hold your breath for a few seconds while keeping your mouth open. What you are actually doing to keep the air from expelling out of your lungs by closing your glottis.
Glottal consonants aren’t actually consonants; they just play consonant roles in the language. In Spanish, just one consonant occurs at the glottis.
- /h/ as in “baja” and “gente”
Review
It takes a bit of time to develop a physical awareness of your speech organ. There are two reasons for this:
- You can’t see your speech organ
- You’ve been using the muscles of your speech organ every day of your life since your first breath.
Remember that whether you see it or not, the muscles of the speech organ can be controlled.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you’re incapable of a human speech sound. It’s just a question of knowing and practicing.
Come back to this page as often as you need to review this information.
Here’s the full chart again for your viewing pleasure:
