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Meaning of alveolar in English:

alveolar

Translate alveolar into Spanish

adjective

  • 1Anatomy
    Relating to an alveolus or the alveoli of the lung or lungs.

  • 2Anatomy
    Relating to or denoting the bony ridge that contains the sockets of the upper teeth.

    1. 2.1Phonetics (of a consonant) pronounced with the tip of the tongue on or near the alveolar ridge (e.g. n, s, d, t)
      ‘voiced and voiceless alveolar stops’
      • ‘Some years ago it was pointed out to me that when I'm trying to be very precise in talking about linguistics, I use dental rather than alveolar articulations for consonants.’
      • ‘Hebrew and Arabic use dentalized t, d, th, etc., while English makes the sounds farther back at the alveolar ridge.’
      • ‘It must be rigid enough to promote near zero surface tensions during the alveolar compression.’
      • ‘It shows that the lower a person's social status, the more likely he or she is to use a higher percentage of alveolar rather than velar nasal endings.’

Pronunciation

alveolar

/alˈvɪələ/ /ˌalvɪˈəʊlə/

noun

Phonetics

  • An alveolar consonant.

    ‘boundaries between alveolars and palatals’
    • ‘Given that both soft and hard alveolars (‘t’ and ‘d') are used in Punjabi, their representation in the new script would constitute the most baffling problem.’
    • ‘The bare letters's', 't', 'n', 'l', etc. cannot be assumed to specifically represent alveolars.’
    • ‘Both the /s/ and /z/ sounds are alveolars, articulated in the same place in the vocal cavity’

Pronunciation

alveolar

/alˈvɪələ/ /ˌalvɪˈəʊlə/