Dorsal consonant
Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the
tongue (the dorsum). They contrast with
coronal consonants articulated with the flexible front of the tongue, and
radical consonants articulated with the root of the tongue.
The dorsum of the tongue can contact a broad region of the roof of the mouth, from the hard
palate (so-called
palatal consonants), the flexible
velum behind that (
velar consonants), to the
uvula at the back of the mouth cavity (
uvular consonants). These distinctions are not clear cut, and sometimes finer gradations such as
pre-palatal, pre-velar, and
post-velar will be noted.
Because the tip of the tongue can curl back to also contact the hard palate for
retroflex consonants, consonants produced by contact between the dorsum and the palate are sometimes called
dorso-palatal.The most common pronunciation of the English letter
G (as in
the garden or
to grab) is dorsal, a
voiced velar plosive.
The pronunciation of the letters
K, Q, and sometimes
C (as in
the cake or
to crawl) is similarly dorsal, a
voiceless velar plosive.
Two
English approximants,
Y as in
yellow and
W as in
white, are also dorsal consonants, palatal and
labialised velar respectively.
The
German CH sound, found in
Scottish English loch, is a dorsal
fricative.
*
place of articulation*
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