DORSAL CONSONANT

'Dorsal consonants' are articulated with the mid body of the tongue (the dorsum). They contrast with coronal consonants articulated with the flexible front of the tongue, and radical consonants articulated with the root of the tongue.
The dorsum of the tongue can contact a broad region of the roof of the mouth, from the hard palate (so-called palatal consonants), the flexible velum behind that (velar consonants), to the uvula at the back of the mouth cavity (uvular consonants). These distinctions are not clear cut, and sometimes finer gradations such as ''pre-palatal, pre-velar,'' and ''post-velar'' will be noted.
Because the tip of the tongue can curl back to also contact the hard palate for retroflex consonants, consonants produced by contact between the dorsum and the palate are sometimes called ''dorso-palatal.''
The most common pronunciation of the English letter ''G'' (as in ''the 'g'arden'' or ''to 'g'rab'') is dorsal, a voiced velar plosive.
The pronunciation of the letters ''K, Q,'' and sometimes ''C'' (as in ''the 'c'ake'' or ''to 'c'rawl'') is similarly dorsal, a voiceless velar plosive.
Two English approximants, ''Y'' as in '''y'ellow'' and ''W'' as in '''w'hite,'' are also dorsal consonants, palatal and labialised velar respectively.
The German ''CH'' sound, found in Scottish English ''lo'ch','' is a dorsal fricative.

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See also

See also

★ place of articulation

★ List of phonetics topics