Apical consonant

A Apical is a phoneme ( speech sound ) that ( the apex) is formed by blocking the air flow with the tongue tip. It differs from the laminalen consonants that are formed by the air flow is blocked by the tongue blade.

It is not a very usual distinction and is only used for fricatives and affricates. So have many varieties of English either apical or laminale pairs of [t ] / [d ]. Some varieties of Arabic, the Hadramitische ( Hadramautisch ) included, realized that [t ] as laminal, the [ d] on the other hand as apical.

The Basque uses this distinction in alveolar fricatives, as in Serbo-Croatian. The northern Chinese dialects or the high Chinese use the postalveolar fricatives in ( " alveolar- palatal " - and " retroflex " sounds ). The Lilloeet - language uses this as a secondary characteristic by velarisierte and facing non- velarisierte affricate. A distinction between apical and laminal is common in Australian languages ​​in nasals, plosives, and usually also in the lateral approximants.