Labial consonant
Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (
bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (
labiodental articulation). English is a bilabial
nasal sonorant, and are bilabial
stops (plosives), and 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 is a
labialised velar approximant.
Labial consonants are divided into three subplaces of articulation:
*
bilabial consonants
*
labiodental consonants
*
linguolabial consonants
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