Place of articulation

Place of articulation refers to where in the mouth or throat a speech sound is produced. It describes the position where the airflow is obstructed or modified to create different consonant sounds. For example, sounds made with the lips, like /p/ or /b/, are called bilabial because they involve both lips. Sounds produced with the tongue touching the teeth are dental, and those made at the soft palate are velar, like /k/. This concept helps linguists classify and understand how various speech sounds are formed based on where the tongue, lips, or other parts of the mouth interact during speech.