Place of articulation

The vocal tract contains some discrete physical landmarks which are used primarily in producing and describing consonants. In describing the place of articulation, we are describing where in the vocal tract a sound is made.

Articulators are the parts of the oral tract that are used in producing speech sounds. They are often grouped into two kinds, active and passive. Active articulators are ones that move: the tongue tip is an active articulator in sounds like [s t n], since it moves up to behind the teeth. Passive articulators are articulators that cannot move, but are the target for active articulators. In the case of sounds like [s t n], the passive articulator is the bony ridge behind the upper teeth, known as the alveolar ridge.

Most places of articulation are described by reference to the passive articulator. We start our description of them with the lips, working our way down the vocal tract.