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Alabial–coronal consonant is aconsonant produced with two simultaneousarticulators: with the lips ('labial'; a[p],[b], or[m] sound), and with the tongue (at the teeth or gums, a 'dental' or 'alveolar'[t],[d] or[n] sound, or further back, a 'post-alveolar' or 'retroflex'[ʈ],[ɖ] or[ɳ] sound).
Several languages have been claimed to have such sounds, such asMargi andBura in Nigeria. However, most researchers interpret them as having sequences of labial and coronal consonants, a rather common occurrence in Africa. TheYélî Dnye language[1][2] ofRossel Island,Papua New Guinea, appears to be unique in having distinct laminallabial–alveolar (i.e. labial–denti-alveolar) andlabial–retroflex (i.e. apical to sub-apical labial–postalveolar) places of articulation, as illustrated below.
| Stops in Yelî Dnye | Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Velar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | paa | side | t̪aa | knife | ʈoo | tongue | kaa | spear |
| Prenasalized stop | mbee | carry | n̪d̪e | food | ɳɖe | firewood | ŋɡaa | tree |
| Nasal | maa | road | n̪ii | juice | ɳaa | feast | ŋa | lease |
| Stops in Yelî Dnye | Labial–alveolar | Labial–retroflex | Labial–velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | t̪͡pənə | lung | ʈ͡pənə | horn | k͡pene | coconut bag |
| Prenasalized stop | n͡md̪͡boo | pulp | ɳ͡mɖ͡boo | many | ŋ͡mɡ͡bo | fog |
| Nasal | n̪͡mo | bird | ɳ͡mo | we | ŋ͡mo | breast |
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In some Ghanaian languages such asDagbani, andNzema, there are palatalizedallophones oflabial–velars. These are sometimes mistakenly referred to as labial–alveolars, though they actually have apost-alveolar orpalatal articulation instead of a truealveolar one.
Something similar is found with thelabialized alveolar stops in severalNorthwest andNortheast Caucasian languages such asAbkhaz andLak. 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 areprotruded 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 followingminimal sets inUbykh:
| da | now | dʷa~d͡ba~d͡ʙa | awl | ba | if |
| ta | pregnant | tʷa~t͡pa~t͡ʙ̥a | cherry | pa | to weave |
| tʼə | ram | tʷʼə~t͡pʼə~t͡ʙ̥ʼə | to take out |
Some speakers of!Xóõ have a labial–dental allophone,[ʘ͡ǀ] (or[ɋ͡ʇ]), of the bilabial click/ʘ/ in some cases (Traill 1985: 103–104).
Discountingclicks otherwise as having a velar/lingual airstream mechanism rather than a double articulation, nearly all otherdoubly articulated consonants in the world arelabial–velars. The labial-alveolars reported from someChadic languages have upon investigation turned out to be/tp/,/db/,/nm/ and/dɓ/ sequences, not single consonants. (SeeMargi language.)