quadrilabial articulation

9.9

A way of making speech sounds that uses four lip movements

noun
/kwɑːdrɪˈleɪbiəl ɑːrˌtɪkjuˈleɪʃən/

Specialized

: articulación cuadrilabial

Her dissertation analyzed languages that featured quadrilabial articulation in their sound systems.

Examples

The students struggled with the quadrilabial articulation required by some phonetic exercises.
Understanding quadrilabial articulation can be helpful for linguistic fieldwork in certain regions.
The linguist studied quadrilabial articulation in depth.
Can you explain quadrilabial articulation to me?
Her dissertation analyzed languages that featured quadrilabial articulation in their sound systems.
The students struggled with the quadrilabial articulation required by some phonetic exercises.
Understanding quadrilabial articulation can be helpful for linguistic fieldwork in certain regions.

Surface Forms

quadrilabial articulation singular

quadrilabial articulations plural

Morphology

quadrilabial + articulation

The phrase is compositionally built: 'quadrilabial' (involving four/lip-related actions) combined with 'articulation' (the formation of speech sounds) yields a clear meaning of speech articulation involving four lip movements. The term is technical and depends on knowledge of the Latin/Greek morphemes (quadri-, labial), so while unfamiliar to many learners, its meaning is directly derivable if the constituent parts are known.

Etymology

Quadrilabial articulation combines quadri- ('four') and labial ('lip'), so you can picture 'four lips' coming together to make a sound. That clear image helps you remember it means a rare way of using the lips with extra or special lip movements to produce certain sounds.