View source for Labial–coronal consonant

{{Short description|Type of doubly articulated consonant}}
{{No footnotes|date=August 2018}}

A '''labial–coronal consonant''' is a [[consonant]] produced with two simultaneous [[place of articulation|articulators]]: with the lips ('labial'; a {{IPAblink|p||/}}, {{IPAblink|b||/}}, or {{IPAblink|m||/}} sound), and with the tongue (at the teeth or gums, a 'dental' or 'alveolar' {{IPAblink|t||/}}, {{IPAblink|d||/}} or {{IPAblink|n||/}} sound, or further back, a 'post-alveolar' or 'retroflex' {{IPAblink|ʈ||/}}, {{IPAblink|ɖ||/}} or {{IPAblink|ɳ||/}} sound).

Several languages have been claimed to have such sounds, such as [[Margi language|Margi]] and [[Bura language|Bura]] in Nigeria. However, most researchers interpret them as having sequences of labial and coronal consonants, a rather common occurrence in Africa. The [[Yélî Dnye language]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levinson |first1=Stephen C. |title=A Grammar of Yélî Dnye: The Papuan Language of Rossel Island |date=23 May 2022 |publisher=De Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110733853 |isbn=978-3-11-073385-3 |s2cid=249083265 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733853 |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=James |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160609178.pdf |title=Phonology and Grammar of Yele, Papua New Guinea |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=1995 |isbn=0 85883 428 6}}</ref> of [[Rossel Island]], [[Papua New Guinea]], appears to be unique in having distinct laminal [[Labial–alveolar consonant|labial–alveolar]] (i.e. labial&ndash;[[denti-alveolar]]) and [[Labial–retroflex consonant|labial–retroflex]] (i.e. apical to sub-apical labial&ndash;postalveolar) places of articulation, as illustrated below. 

{| class="wikitable" font-size:larger;"
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: small; height: 2em"
! Stops in Yelî Dnye
! colspan=2| [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan=2| [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA|paa}} ||''side'' || {{IPA|t̪aa}} ||''knife'' || {{IPA|ʈoo}} ||''tongue'' || {{IPA|kaa}} ||''spear'' 
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[Prenasalized stop]]
| {{IPA|mbee}} ||''carry'' || {{IPA|n̪d̪e}} ||''food'' || {{IPA|ɳɖe}} ||''firewood'' || {{IPA|ŋɡaa}} ||''tree'' 
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|maa}} ||''road'' || {{IPA|n̪ii}} ||''juice'' || {{IPA|ɳaa}} ||''feast'' || {{IPA|ŋa}} ||''lease'' 
|}

{| class="wikitable" font-size:larger;"
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: small; height: 2em"
! Stops in Yelî Dnye
! colspan=2| [[Labial–alveolar consonant|Labial–alveolar]]
! colspan=2| [[Labial–retroflex consonant|Labial–retroflex]]
! colspan=2| [[Labial–velar consonant|Labial–velar]]
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA|t̪͡pənə}} ||''lung'' || {{IPA|ʈ͡pənə}} ||''horn'' || {{IPA|k͡pene}} ||''coconut bag''
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[Prenasalized stop]]
| {{IPA|n͡md̪͡boo}} ||''pulp'' || {{IPA|ɳ͡mɖ͡boo}} ||''many'' || {{IPA|ŋ͡mɡ͡bo}} ||''fog''
|-
! style="font-size:small; text-align:left" | [[nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|n̪͡mo}} ||''bird'' || {{IPA|ɳ͡mo}} ||''we'' || {{IPA|ŋ͡mo}} ||''breast''
|}

== Labial–coronal allophones ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}

In some Ghanaian languages such as [[Dagbani language|Dagbani]], and [[Nzema language|Nzema]], there are palatalized [[allophone]]s of [[labial–velar consonant|labial–velars]]. These are sometimes mistakenly referred to as labial–alveolars, though they actually have a [[Postalveolar consonant|post-alveolar]] or [[Palatal consonant|palatal]] articulation instead of a true [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]] one.

Something similar is found with the [[labialization|labialized]] alveolar stops in several [[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest]] and [[Northeast Caucasian languages]] such as [[Abkhaz language|Abkhaz]] and [[Lak language|Lak]]. Although the double stop articulation may be more common, they are generally considered to be essentially labialized alveolars because the labial contact is light, and moreover the contact is between the inner surfaces of the lips, which are [[rounded vowel|protruded]] as they are for [w]. This is quite different from the normal contact for [p] in these languages. The labial contact may also be realized as a trill. Compare the following [[minimal pair|minimal sets]] in [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]]:

{| class=wikitable
|{{IPA|da}}||''now''||{{IPA|dʷa ~ d͡ba ~ d͡ʙa}}||''awl''||{{IPA|ba}}||''if''
|-
|{{IPA|ta}}||''pregnant''||{{IPA|tʷa ~ t͡pa ~ t͡ʙ̥a}}||''cherry''||{{IPA|pa}}||''to weave''
|-
|{{IPA|tʼə}}||''ram''||{{IPA|tʷʼə ~ t͡pʼə ~ t͡ʙ̥ʼə}}||''to take out''|| ||
|}

Some speakers of [[!Xóõ language|!Xóõ]] have a labial–dental allophone, {{IPA|[ʘ͡ǀ]}} (or {{IPA|[ʘ͡ʇ]}}), of the bilabial click {{IPAslink|ʘ}} in some cases (Traill 1985: 103–104).

Discounting [[Click consonant|clicks]] otherwise as having a velar/lingual airstream mechanism rather than a double articulation, nearly all other [[doubly articulated consonant]]s in the world are [[labial–velar consonant|labial–velars]]. The labial-alveolars reported from some [[Chadic languages]] have upon investigation turned out to be {{IPA|/tp/}}, {{IPA|/db/}}, {{IPA|/nm/}} and {{IPA|/dɓ/}} sequences, not single consonants. (See [[Margi language]].)

==References==
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[[Category:Place of articulation]]
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