Postalveolar

Postalveolar sounds are made just behind (‘post’) the alveolar ridge. There are four of these in English, [ʃ] and , the sounds spelt  in ‘ship’, [ʃip], and  in ‘invasion’,, and the sounds  as in ‘church’ and ‘judge’. It can be hard to feel the difference in place of articulation between alveolar and postalveolar sounds, but if you produce a [s] sound, then a [ʃ] sound, and suck air in immediately after each sound, you should feel that part of the roof of the mouth which goes cold and dry is further back for [ʃ] than for [s].

Special symbols for dentals and postalveolars only exist for the fricatives. If dental or postalveolar articulations need to be distinguished, this can be done using diacritics – characters which modify the basic value of letters, and are placed over or under simple letters. For [t], we use [t t t] respectively, where [-] marks ‘dental’, and [-] marks ‘retracted’ (i.e. further back), i.e. postalveolar.

Postalveolars are reported occasionally in dialects which are on their way to losing distinct [r] sounds. Hedevind (1967) reports a contrast between dentals/alveolars and postalveolars (transcribed [n, z, t] in pairs such as those below in a dialect from Dent (Cumbria, Northern England).

If you slowly move your tongue away from the alveolar ridge and slide it back along the roof of your mouth, you will feel a change in texture (it will get smooth and hard) as well as a distinct change in shape (it will feel domed). This domed part is known as the hard palate. (You may be able to curl your tongue even further back, when you will feel a change in texture again – it will feel soft – and it might feel a bit uncomfortable; this is the velum, or soft palate.)