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Glite Dictionary
labial consonant

labial consonant

7.2
A sound you make with your lips, like p, b, and m
  • noun
  • /ˈleɪbiəl ˈkɒnsənənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : consonante labial
  • An additional constraint, critical for tracking lip and jaw movement, was that the words included initial and medial labial consonants.

Examples

  • The words 'pat' and 'bat' both start with a labial consonant that uses the lips to articulate the sound.

  • In phonetics class, we learned that the letter 'm' is a labial consonant made by closing the lips together.

  • When saying 'blame', the initial sound is produced with a labial consonant formed by the lips.

Synonyms

labial
vslabial consonant
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A consonant sound made by touching or closing the lips

gives example sounds to illustrate the same lip articulation

How Labial

labial consonant
  • Specialized
7.2
labiodental consonant
  • Specialized
8.1
labialization
  • Specialized
9.1

Surface Forms

labial consonant singular
labial consonants plural

Morphology

labial + consonant

The meaning is directly compositional: 'labial' means 'at the lips' and 'consonant' is a speech sound produced with obstruction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a consonant articulated with the lips (e.g. p, b, m). This is a literal adjective+noun technical term following common cross-linguistic patterns, making the construction transparent.

Etymology

The term labial consonant comes from the word labial, meaning 'lip', and consonant, meaning 'speech sound', so it names consonant sounds made with the lips, like 'p', 'b', and 'm'.