{{distinguish|Palato-alveolar consonant}} {{Short description|Type of consonant}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2025}} {{IPA notice}}

In phonetics, '''alveolo-palatal''' ('''alveolopalatal''', ''alveo-palatal'' or ''alveopalatal''{{efn|The term ''alveopalatal'' or ''alveo-palatal'' was traditionally synonymous with ''palato-alveolar'', but may also be synonymous with ''alveolo-palatal''.<ref>{{cite book|last=MacKay|first=Ian R. A.|year=2023|title=Phonetics and Speech Science|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-42786-9|page=125}}</ref>}}) consonants, sometimes synonymous with '''pre-palatal''' consonants, are intermediate in articulation between the coronal and dorsal consonants, or which have simultaneous alveolar and palatal articulation. In the official IPA chart, alveolo-palatals would appear between the retroflex and palatal consonants, but are omitted for "lack of space".<ref name=Esling>{{cite book|last=Esling|first=John H.|author-link=John Esling|year=2010|chapter=Phonetic Notation|editor1-last=Hardcastle|editor1-first=William J.|editor2-last=Laver|editor2-first=John|editor3-last=Gibbon|editor3-first=Fiona E.|title=The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences|edition=2nd|page=693|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|doi=10.1002/9781444317251.ch18|isbn=978-1-4051-4590-9}}</ref> {{harvtxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}} characterize the alveolo-palatals as palatalized postalveolars (and thus as palato-alveolars), articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate,<ref>{{SOWL|153–154}}</ref> whereas {{harvtxt|Esling|2010}} describes them as advanced palatals (pre-palatals), the furthest front of the dorsal consonants, articulated with the body of the tongue approaching the alveolar ridge.<ref name="Esling"/> These descriptions are essentially equivalent, since the contact includes both the blade and body (but not the tip) of the tongue (see schematic at right). They are front enough that the fricatives and affricates are sibilants, the only sibilants among the dorsal consonants.

According to {{harvtxt|Recasens|2013}}, alveolo-palatal consonants are realized through the formation of a simultaneous closure or constriction at the alveolar and palatal zones with a primary articulator which encompasses the blade and the tongue dorsum. Their place of articulation may include the postalveolar zone and the prepalate, but also a larger contact area extending towards the front alveolar zone and the back palate surface. The tongue tip is bent downwards and the tongue dorsum is raised and fronted during the production of these consonants.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Recasens |first=Daniel |title=On the articulatory classification of (alveolo)palatal consonants |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259431938 |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=43 |number=1 |year=2013 |pp=1–22 |jstor=26351931 |doi=10.1017/S0025100312000199}}</ref>

== Sibilants == The alveolo-palatal sibilants are often used in varieties of Chinese such as Mandarin, Hakka, and Wu, as well as other East Asian languages such as Japanese and Korean, Tibeto-Burman such as Tibetan and Burmese as well as Tai languages such as Thai, Lao, Shan and Zhuang. Alveolo-palatal sibilants are also a feature of many Slavic languages, such as Polish, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian, and of Northwest Caucasian languages, such as Abkhaz and Ubykh. The alveolo-palatal consonants included in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

{|class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | Historical IPA ! rowspan=2 | Modern IPA ! rowspan=2 | Description ! colspan=6 | Example |-style="background:gray; color:black" ! Language ! Orthography ! IPA ! Meaning |- ! align="center" colspan=2 style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ɕ}} | Voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant | Mandarin | 小 ('''x'''iǎo) | {{IPA|[}}'''{{IPA|ɕ}}'''{{IPA|iɑu˨˩˦]}} | small |- ! align="center" colspan=2 style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ʑ}} | Voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant | Polish | '''zi'''oło | {{IPA|[}}'''{{IPA|ʑ}}'''{{IPA|ɔwɔ]}} | herb |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ʨ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|t͡ɕ<br>(t̠͡ɕ,&nbsp;c̟͡ɕ)}} | Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate | Serbo-Croatian | ku'''ć'''a / ку'''ћ'''а | {{IPA|[ku}}'''{{IPA|t͡ɕ}}'''{{IPA|a]}} | house |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ʥ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|d͡ʑ<br>(d̠͡ʑ,&nbsp;ɟ̟͡ʑ)}} | Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate | Japanese | 地震 ('''j'''ishin) | {{IPA|[}}'''{{IPA|d͡ʑ}}'''{{IPA|iɕĩɴ]}} | earthquake |}

Some phoneticians may consider {{IPA|[ɕ]}} and {{IPA|[ʑ]}} to be equivalent to {{IPA|[ʃ̻ʲ]}} and {{IPA|[ʒ̻ʲ]}}, or {{IPA|[s̠ʲ]}} and {{IPA|[z̠ʲ]}}, though others may still maintain a distinction. They are the sibilant homologues of the non-sibilant pre-palatal fricatives {{IPA|[ç˖]}} and {{IPA|[ʝ˖]}}.

== Stops, nasals, and liquids == Symbols for alveolo-palatal consonants are sometimes used in Sinological circles (a circumflex accent is also sometimes seen), but they are not officially recognized by the IPA, though they do occasionally appear in JIPA publications.<!--They may be simple palatal or palatalized consonants, classified as alveolo-palatals because they pattern with the alveolo-palatal sibilants of the language rather than because they are alveolo-palatal in articulation.{{cn|reason=How? They are never apical palatalized, nor are they commonly articulated with orthodox dorsal palatal realization.|date=December 2022}}--> In standard IPA, they can be transcribed as {{angbr IPA|t̠ʲ d̠ʲ n̠ʲ l̠ʲ}} (retracted and palatalized alveolars) or {{angbr IPA|c̟ ɟ᫈ ɲ᫈ ʎ̟}} (advanced palatals).

For example, the Polish nasal represented with the letter ''ń'' is a palatalized laminal alveolar nasal and thus often described as alveolo-palatal rather than palatal. The "palatal" consonants of Indigenous Australian languages are also often closer to alveolo-palatal in their articulation.

{|class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | Para-IPA ! rowspan="2" | IPA ! rowspan="2" | Description ! colspan="4" | Example |- ! Language ! Orthography ! IPA ! Meaning |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȶ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|t̠ʲ, c̟}} | Voiceless plosive | Korean | {{lang|ko-Hang|티끌}} {{lang|ko-Latn|'''t'''ikkeul}} | {{IPA|[t̠ʲʰiʔk͈ɯl]}} | 'dust' |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȡ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|d̠ʲ, ɟ᫈}} | Voiced plosive | Korean | {{lang|ko-Hang|반디}} {{lang|ko-Latn|ban'''d'''i}} | {{IPA|[b̥ɐnd̠ʲi]}} | 'firefly' |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȵ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|n̠ʲ, ɲ᫈}} | Voiced nasal | Nuosu | ꑌ '''ny'''i | {{IPA|[n̠ʲi˧]}} | 'sit' |- !align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȵ̊}} !align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|n̠̊ʲ, ɲ̟̊}} | Voiceless nasal |Lower Xumi | |{{IPA|[ʃɐ̃˦ɲ̟̊ɛ˦]}} |'clean' |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȴ}} ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|l̠ʲ, ʎ̟}} | Voiced lateral | Catalan | u'''ll''' | {{IPA|[ˈul̠ʲ]}} | 'eye' |- ! align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|ȴ̊}} !align="center" style="font-size: 20px" | {{IPA|l̠̊ʲ, ʎ̟̊}} | Voiceless lateral | Upper Xumi | | {{IPA|[ʎ̟̊ɛ˦]}} | 'flavorless' |}

==={{anchor|Palatal}}{{anchor|Palato-velar}}Contrasting with palatovelar consonants=== {{See|Palatal consonant#Alveolo-palatal}} In Migueleño Chiquitano, phoneme /ȶ/ contrasts with phoneme /c̠/;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nikulin |first1=Andrey |title=Elementos de la morfofonología del chiquitano migueleño |journal=LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas |date=17 November 2020 |volume=20 |pages=e020015 |doi=10.20396/liames.v20i0.8660822 |url=https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/liames/article/view/8660822/23280|doi-access=free }}</ref> in the syllabic coda (or intervowel) position in conservative Irish, laminal alveolo-palatal phoneme /ṉʲ/ (termed ''fortis slender coronal nasal'', orthographic example ''inn'') contrasts with both dorsal palatal phoneme /ɲ/<ref>{{Citation| surname=Ó Sé| given=Diarmuid| title=Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne| place=Dublin| publisher=Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann| year=2000| isbn=0-946452-97-0|language=Irish|pages=14–15, 18}}</ref> (termed ''slender dorsal nasal'', orthographic example ''ing'' or ''-nc-'') and apical palatalized alveolar phoneme /nʲ/ (termed ''lenis slender coronal nasal'', orthographic example ''in'');<ref>{{Citation| surname=Mhac an Fhailigh| given=Éamonn| title=The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo| publisher=Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies| year=1968| isbn=0-901282-02-2}}</ref> while general Irish other than Munster Irish contrasts alveolo-palatal nasal only with palatal nasal. In both cases, the palatal consonants work as the palatalization of velar consonants while alveolo-palatal consonants work as the palatalization of alveolar consonants.

In some spoken Chinese varieties, such as the {{ill|Luchuan Ngai|lt=Luchuan Hakka|zh|𠊎话#陆川话}} in {{ill|Hengshan, Luchuan County|lt=Hengshan|zh|横山镇 (陆川县)}}, contrast the alveolo-palatal nasal with the palato-velar nasal. For example, the following contrasting pairs can be found in Luchuan Ngai. {| class="wikitable" |+ Luchuan Ngai contrasting pairs |- ! EMC !! Character !! Pronunciation !! Tone |- | newH || 尿 || rowspan="2" | niau || 去 |- | nraewX || 撓 || 阳平 |- | nyew || 饒 || ȵiau || 阳平 |- | ngewH || 澆 || ɲ̠iau || 上 |- | nrjem || 黏 || niam || 阴平 |- | nyemX || 染 || ȵiam || 上 |- | ngjaem || 嚴 || ɲ̠iam || 阳平 |- | rowspan="2" | nyin || 人 || ȵin || rowspan="2" |阳平 |- | 仁 || ɲ̠in <!-- |- | n || [[wikt:|] ] || Example || Example |- | n || [[wikt:|] ] || Example || Example |- | n || [[wikt:|] ] || Example || Example |- | n || [[wikt:|] ] || Example || Example--> |}

Although a number of spoken Chinese varieties, such as standard Mandarin, also contrast EMC alveolo-palatal nasal with velar nasal of class III (palatalizing medial), most don't contrast them in a way that alveolo-palatal differs from palatal. For example, in {{ill|Pianxu, Mashan County|lt=Pianlian|qid=Q14457200}} Hakka, alveolo-palatal nasal marginally contrasts with velar nasal under close front medials, but there is little sign of palatal contrasts. {| class="wikitable" |+ M pairs |- ! EMC !! Character !! Pronunciation !! Tone |- | rowspan="2" | nrjep || 聶 || niap || rowspan="4" | 阳 |- | 鑷 || ȵiap |- | nyip || 入 || ȵap |- | net || 捏 || ŋiap |} Thus most frequently, the Sinologist use of ȵ instead of ɲ is not to indicate a contrast, but to emphasize its primary allophone not to be the Turkish [ɲ], or to indicate its coronal origin or that it has evolved with other dorsal consonants which have become alveolopalatals, where ɲ is reserved for postpalatals evolved from dorsal consonants. However, since ȵ has also been unfortunately used by some for Meixian Hakka, the distinction of usage has become vague. ȶ, on the other hand, has retained its accurate usage representing phonemes in certain spoken Chinese in Hengyang and has never been applied on Hakka or on certain Mandarin in or near Shandong.

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{SOWL}}

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Category:Place of articulation Category:Alveolo-palatal consonants