Alveolo-palatal Consonant - Stops, Nasals and Liquids

Stops, Nasals and Liquids

Symbols for alveolo-palatal stops (ȶ, ȡ), nasals (ȵ), and liquids (ȴ) are sometimes used in sinological circles (a circumflex accent is also sometimes seen), but these are not recognized by the IPA. They may actually 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 actually alveolo-palatal in articulation. In standard IPA, they can be transcribed ⟨t̠ʲ d̠ʲ n̠ʲ l̠ʲ⟩ or ⟨c̟ ɟ̟ ɲ̟ ʎ̟⟩.

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