A
laminal consonant is a
phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the
blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue on the top. This contrasts with
apical consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the tongue apex (tongue tip) only. This distinction applies only to
coronal consonants, which use the front of the tongue.
Laminal vs. apical is not a very common contrast within a language. Where such a contrast occurs, it is typically phonemic with fricatives and affricates rather than stops, although some native languages of California make the distinction with plosives as well. The Basque language differentiates between laminal and apical in the alveolar region, as does Serbo-Croatian, while Polish and Mandarin make the distinction with postalveolar consonants.
Because laminal consonants use the flat of the tongue, they cover a broader area of contact than apical consonants. Laminal consonants in some languages have been recorded with a broad occlusion (closure) covering the entire front of the mouth, from the hard palate to the teeth. Therefore it is difficult to compare the two alveolar laminals and apicals are two different articulations.
A very common laminal articulation is sometimes called denti-alveolar; it spans the alveolar ridge to the teeth, but is a little further forward than other alveolar laminal consonants which cover more of the alveolar ridge (and might be considered postalveolar). This is the situation for French.
