place (n.)

One of the main parameters used in the PHONETIC classification of speech sounds, referring to where in the vocal apparatus a sound is produced. It is usual to represent this parameter horizontally, though as a result this dimension does omit some of the variations which can only be identified transversely, e.g. whether one or both sides of the tongue is involved in an ARTICULATION. The conventionally recognized places or points of articulation for CONSONANTS correspond to main anatomical divisions, viz. LABIAL, LABIODENTAL, DENTAL, ALVEOLAR, PALATAL, VELAR, UVULAR, PHARYNGEAL, GLOTTAL, but other places relative to these are also recognized, such as POST-alveolar and RETROFLEX. The analogous traditional classification of VOWELS is made in terms of AUDITORY criteria, using the horizontal scale of FRONT and BACK, and the vertical scale of CLOSE and OPEN; but because of the lack of a clear anatomical correlate it has been less usual to talk about vowels in terms of articulatory ‘places’ or ‘points’, except in a loose way. The notion of place (PL), for both consonants and vowels, has come to the fore in NON-LINEAR phonological models, where a specific place node may be represented in the FEATURE HIERARCHY, and used as a constituent under which consonant and vowel (or vowel-like) features are organized. For example, some ARTICULATOR-BASED models recognize a place node (with no phonetic content) for CONSTRICTION location, represented by C-place for consonants and V-place for VOCOIDS. Some approaches also characterize segments which lack oral articulatory targets as placeless: examples would be glottal stop, schwa and [h].