Place of Articulation: Or The Importance of Mouth & Lip Position

What Is "Place of Articulation"?

‘Place of articulation’ means where in the mouth or throat a sound is made when we speak. When we make speech sounds, we move different parts of our mouth—like our lips, tongue, teeth, and roof of the mouth—to shape the sound. The exact spot where two parts come together or get close is called the place of articulation. Think of it like this: if your mouth is a stage, different sounds are made in different "spots" on the stage depending on where the tongue or lips are working.

Why Is It Important?

Understanding the place of articulation helps us figure out why some children mix up certain sounds. If two sounds are made in similar spots in the mouth, a child might accidentally swap them. For example, they might say "tat" instead of "cat." Speech therapists often teach children to feel and notice where sounds are made to help fix speech sound errors.

Main Places of Articulation (with Examples)

Here are the main places where we make English speech sounds:

1. Bilabial (both lips)

   • Lips come together.

   • Examples: /p/ as in pat, /b/ as in bat, /m/ as in mat

2. Labiodental (lip and teeth)

   • Top teeth touch bottom lip.

   • Examples: /f/ as in fish, /v/ as in van

3. Dental (tongue and teeth)

   • Tongue touches the top teeth.

   • Examples: /θ/ as in thin, /ð/ as in this

4. Alveolar (tongue and ridge behind top teeth)

   • Tongue touches the little bump just behind the top teeth.

   • Examples: /t/ as in top, /d/ as in dog, /s/ as in sun, /z/ as in zoo, /n/ as in net, /l/ as in lip

5. Postalveolar (tongue just behind the alveolar ridge)

   • Tongue moves slightly further back.

   • Examples: /ʃ/ as in ship, /ʒ/ as in measure, /tʃ/ as in chip, /dʒ/ as in jam

6. Palatal (middle of tongue and hard palate)

   • Less common in English, but sounds like /j/ as in yes are made here.

7. Velar (back of tongue and soft palate)

   • Back of the tongue touches the soft part of the roof of the mouth.

   • Examples: /k/ as in cat, /g/ as in go, /ŋ/ as in sing

8. Glottal (throat – vocal cords only)

   • No tongue or lip movement—sound is made by the vocal cords.

   • Example: /h/ as in hat, and sometimes the silent sound in the middle of uh-oh.

How It Helps With Speech Therapy

When children say the wrong sounds, therapists look at:

• Where they are making the sound (place of articulation)

• How they are making the sound (manner of articulation)

• Whether their voice is on or off (voicing)

For example:

• A child might say "tat" instead of "cat". They're using a sound made at the front of the mouth (/t/) instead of the correct one made at the back (/k/). That’s a fronting error—a place of articulation issue.

Please note the above information is general in nature and is not intended as professional medical advice. Please seek an appointment with a registered speech-language pathologist if you are at all worried about your child's development.

References:

• Bowen, C. (2019). Communication Disorders Glossary with an emphasis on Children’s Speech. Speech-Language-Therapy.com. https://speech-language-therapy.com/~speech/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14:glossary&catid=9:resources&Itemid=118

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