Labial consonant

Labial consonants are sounds made when one or both lips are used to create the sound. The two most common types are bilabials, where both lips come together, and labiodentals, where the lower lip touches the upper teeth. These sounds are found in many languages, including English. For example, the sounds “m,” “p,” and “b” are bilabials, while “f” and “v” are labiodentals.

In some languages, there are sounds that use a third way of making labial consonants, called dentolabials, where the upper lip touches the lower teeth. This is not common in normal speech but can happen in some special cases. There are also sounds called linguolabials, where the tongue touches the upper lip, but these are usually considered a different kind of sound.

Lip rounding, or labialization, is another interesting feature in speech. This is when the lips are rounded while making a sound, like the “w” sound in English. In some languages, like those spoken in the languages of the Caucasus, many sounds include this lip rounding. While most languages do not separate bilabials and labiodentals into different sounds, some, like Ewe, do make this distinction.

Lack of labials

Some languages do not use labial consonants, which are sounds made with the lips. Examples include Tlingit, Eyak, Wichita, and most Iroquoian languages, except for Cherokee. These languages sometimes use sounds like /w/ or labialized consonants, but the lips are not always moved much to make these sounds. The Tillamook language, which is no longer spoken, had rounded sounds without true lip movements. Over time, these languages have started using labial sounds due to the influence of English.