Introducing Articulatory Phonetics
Articulation, also called an articulatory gesture, is the motion or positioning of some part of the vocal tract (often, but not always, a muscular part like the tongue and/or lips) with respect to some other part of the vocal tract in the production of a speech sound.
When describing a consonant, it is necessary to provide information about three different aspects of the articulation of the consonant:
- Is the sound voiced or voiceless?
- Where is the airstream constricted (i.e., what is the place of articulation)?
- How is the airstream constricted (i.e., what is the manner of articulation)?
Pages 75-81 of the English V handbook.