The voiceless alveolar, dental and postalveolar plosives (or stops) are types of consonantal sounds used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiceless dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is t, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t. The voiceless dental plosive can be distinguished with the underbridge diacritic, and the postalveolar with a retraction line, , and the Extensions to the IPA have a double underline diacritic which can be used to explicitly specify an alveolar pronunciation, .

Quick Facts t, IPA Number ...
Voiceless alveolar plosive
t
IPA Number103
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)t
Unicode (hex)U+0074
X-SAMPAt
Braille⠞ (braille pattern dots-2345)
Close
Quick Facts t̪, IPA Number ...
Voiceless dental plosive
IPA Number103 408
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)t̪
Unicode (hex)U+0074U+032A
X-SAMPAt_d
Braille⠞ (braille pattern dots-2345) ⠠ (braille pattern dots-6) ⠹ (braille pattern dots-1456)
Close

The [t] sound is a very common sound cross-linguistically.[1] Most languages have at least a plain [t], and some distinguish more than one variety. Some languages without a [t] are colloquial Samoan (which also lacks an [n]), Abau, and Nǁng of South Africa.[citation needed]

There are only a few languages which distinguish dental and alveolar stops, Kota, Toda, Venda and many Australian Aboriginal languages being a few of them; certain varieties of Hiberno-English also distinguish them (with [t̪] being the local realisation of the Standard English phoneme /θ/, represented by ⟨th⟩).

Features

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Here are features of the voiceless alveolar stop:

  • Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
  • There are three specific variants of [t]:
    • Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth, termed respectively apical and laminal.
    • Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
    • Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Varieties

More information IPA, Description ...
IPADescription
t plain t
dental t
postalveolar t
aspirated t
palatalized t
labialized t
t with no audible release
voiced t
tense t
ejective t
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Occurrence

Dental or denti-alveolar

More information Language, Word ...
Occurrence of [t̪] in various languages
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Aleut[2]tiistax̂[t̪iːstaχ]'dough'Laminal denti-alveolar.
ArmenianEastern[3]տուն[t̪un]'house'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ܬܠܬ̱ܐ/ţlo [t̪lɑ] 'three'
Bashkir дүрт/dürt [dʏʷrt] 'four' Laminal denti-alveolar
Belarusian[4]стагоддзе[s̪t̪äˈɣod̪d̪͡z̪ʲe]'century'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Belarusian phonology
Basquetoki[t̪oki]'place'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Basque phonology
Bengaliতুমি[t̪umi]'you'Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Catalan[5]terra[ˈt̪ɛrɐ]'land'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Catalan phonology
Chuvash ут [ut] 'horse'
Czechtoto[ˈt̪ot̪o]'this'Laminal denti-alveolar.[6] See Czech phonology
Dinka[7]th[mɛ̀t̪]'child'Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with alveolar /t/.
DutchBelgiantaal[t̪aːl̪]'language'Laminal denti-alveolar.
EnglishDublin[8]thin[t̪ʰɪn]'thin'Laminal denti-alveolar.In Dublin, it may be [t͡θ] instead.See English phonology.
IndianCorresponds to [θ].[8]
Southern Irish[9]
Ulster[10]train[t̪ɹeːn]'train'Allophone of /t/ before /r/, in free variation with an alveolar stop.
Finnishtutti[ˈt̪ut̪ːi]'pacifier'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Finnish phonology
French[11]tordu[t̪ɔʁd̪y]'crooked'Laminal denti-alveolar. See French phonology
Hakka[12] /ta3 [t̪ʰa˧] 'he/she' Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with an unaspirated form.
Hindustani[13] Hindi ती/tīn [t̪iːn] 'three' Laminal denti-alveolar. Contrasts with aspirated form <थ>. See Hindustani phonology
Urdu تین/tīn Contrasts with aspirated form <تھ>.
Indonesian[14]tabir[t̪abir]'curtain'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Italian[15]tale[ˈt̪ale]'such'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Italian phonology
Japanese[16]特別/ tokubetsu[t̪o̞kɯ̟ᵝbe̞t͡sɨᵝ]'special'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Japanese phonology
Kashubian[17]ptôch [ptɞx] 'bird'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Kazakhтұз[t̪us̪]'salt'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Kyrgyz[18]туз[t̪us̪]'salt'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Latvian[19]tabula[ˈt̪äbulä]'table'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Latvian phonology
Malayalamകാത്ത്[kaːt̪ːɨ̆]'waiting'Contrasts /t̪ t ʈ d̪ ɖ/.
Mapudungun[20]a[ˈfɘt̪ɜ]'husband'Interdental.[20]
Marathiबला[t̪əbˈlaː]'tabla'Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with aspirated form. See Marathi phonology
Nepaliताली[t̪äli]'clappinɡ'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Nepali phonology
Nunggubuyu[21]darag[t̪aɾaɡ]'whiskers'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Odiaତାରା/tara[t̪ärä]'star'Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with aspirated form.
Pazeh[22][mut̪apɛt̪aˈpɛh]'keep clapping'Dental.
Polish[23]tom[t̪ɔm]'volume'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Polish phonology
Portuguese[24]Many dialectsmontanha[mõˈt̪ɐɲɐ]'mountain'Laminal denti-alveolar. Likely to have allophones among native speakers, as it may affricate to [], [] and/or [ts] in certain environments. See Portuguese phonology
Punjabiਤੇਲ/تیل[t̪eːl]'oil'Laminal denti-alveolar.
Russian[25]толстый[ˈt̪ʷo̞ɫ̪s̪t̪ɨ̞j]'fat'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic[26]taigh[t̪ʰɤj]'house'
Serbo-Croatian[27]туга/tuga[t̪ǔːgä]'sorrow'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Sinhala [at̪ə] 'hand'
Slovene[28]tip[ˈt̪îːp]'type'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Slovene phonology
Slovak toto [ˈt̪ot̪o] 'this' Laminal denti-alveolar. See Slovak phonology
Somalimatag[mat̪ag]'vomit'Dentalization of alveolar plosive.
Spanish[29]tango[ˈt̪ãŋɡo̞]'tango'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Spanish phonology
Swedish[30]tåg[ˈt̪ʰoːɡ]'train'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Swedish phonology
Teluguప్పు[t̪apːu]'wrong'Contrasts between aspirated and unaspirated forms.
Turkishat[ät̪]'horse'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[31][32]брат[brɑt̪]'brother'Laminal denti-alveolar. See Ukrainian phonology
Uzbek[33][example needed]Laminal denti-alveolar. Slightly aspirated before vowels.[33]
Vietnamese[34]tuần[t̪wən˨˩]'week'Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with aspirated form. See Vietnamese phonology
ZapotecTilquiapan[35]tant[t̪ant̪]'so much'Laminal denti-alveolar.
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Alveolar

More information Language, Word ...
Occurrence of [t] in various languages
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Adygheтфы[tfə]'five'
ArabicEgyptianتوكة/tōka[ˈtoːkæ]'barrette'See Egyptian Arabic phonology
Assyrianܒܝܬܐ/ta[beːta]'house'Most speakers. In the Tyari, Barwari and Southern dialects θ is used.
Cantonese /dit [ti:t̚˧] 'fall' (v.) See Cantonese Phonology
//tit [tʰi:t̚˧] 'iron'
Chechenтарсал/tarsal[tɑːrsəl]'squirrel'
DanishStandard[36]dåse[ˈtɔ̽ːsə]'can' (n.)Usually transcribed in IPA with or d. Contrasts with the affricate [t͡s] or aspirated stop [tʰ] (depending on the dialect), which are usually transcribed in IPA with or t.[37] See Danish phonology
Dutch[38]taal[taːɫ]'language'See Dutch phonology
EnglishMost speakerstick[tʰɪk]'tick'See English phonology
New York[39]Varies between apical and laminal, with the latter being predominant.[39]
Hebrewתמונה[tmuˈna]'image'see Modern Hebrew phonology
Hungarian[40]tutaj[ˈtutɒj]'raft'See Hungarian phonology
Kabardianтхуы[txʷə]'five'
Khmerតែ/tê[tae]'tea'See Khmer phonology
Korean대숲/daesup[tɛsup̚]'bamboo forest'See Korean phonology
Kurdish Northern tu [tʰʊ] 'you' See Kurdish phonology
Central تەوێڵ [tʰəweːɫ] 'forehead'
Southern تێوڵ [tʰeːwɨɫ]
Luxembourgish[41]dënn[tən]'thin'Less often voiced [d]. It is usually transcribed /d/, and it contrasts with voiceless aspirated form, which is usually transcribed /t/.[41] See Luxembourgish phonology
Malayalamകാറ്റ്[kaːtːɨ̆]'wind'Contrasts /t̪ t ʈ d̪ ɖ/.
Maltesetassew[tasˈsew]'true'
Mandarin /dì [ti˥˩] 'ground' See Mandarin Phonology
/tī [tʰi˥˥] 'ladder/stairs'
Mapudungun[20]ta[ˈfɘtɜ]'elderly'
Nunggubuyu[21]darawa[taɾawa]'greedy'
Nuosu[which?]/da[ta˧]'place'Contrasts aspirated and unaspirated forms
Portuguese[42]Some dialectstroço[ˈtɾɔsu]'thing' (pejorative)Allophone before alveolar /ɾ/. In other dialects /ɾ/ takes a denti-alveolar allophone instead. See Portuguese phonology
Tagalogmatamis[mɐtɐˈmis]'sweet'See Tagalog phonology
Thai/ta[taː˧]'eye'Contrasts with an aspirated form.
West Frisiantosk[ˈtosk]'tooth'See West Frisian phonology
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Postalveolar

More information Language, Word ...
Occurrence of [t̠]
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Yeledêê[t̠əː]'tongue'Contrasts /t̪ t̪͡p t̪ʲ t̠ t̠͡p t̠ʲ/.
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Variable

More information Language, Word ...
Occurrence of a voiceless plosive variable between alveolar and dental positions
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
ArabicModern Standardتين/tīn[tiːn]'fig'Laminal denti-alveolar or alveolar, depending on the speaker's native dialect. See Arabic phonology
EnglishBroad South African[43]talk[toːk]'talk'Laminal denti-alveolar for some speakers, alveolar for other speakers.[43][44][45]
Scottish[44][tʰɔk]
Welsh[45][tʰɒːk]
GermanStandard[46]Tochter[ˈtɔxtɐ]'daughter'Varies between laminal denti-alveolar, laminal alveolar and apical alveolar.[46] See Standard German phonology
Greek[47]τρία tria[ˈtɾiä]'three'Varies between dental, laminal denti-alveolar and alveolar, depending on the environment.[47] See Modern Greek phonology
Malay تڠکڤ/tangkap [t̪äŋ.käp̚] 'catch' More commonly dental. Often unreleased in syllable codas. See Malay phonology
NorwegianUrban East[48]dans[t̻ɑns]'dance'Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and laminal alveolar. It is usually transcribed /d/. It may be partially voiced [], and it contrasts with voiceless aspirated form, which is usually transcribed /t/.[48] See Norwegian phonology
Persian[49]توت[t̪ʰuːt̪ʰ]'berry'Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and apical alveolar.[49] See Persian phonology
Slovak[50][51]to[t̻ɔ̝]'that'Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and laminal alveolar.[50][51] See Slovak phonology
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See also

Notes

References

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