What does "postalveolar" mean?

Any sound articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, such as English sh in the word shoe.

What is a synonym for "postalveolar"?

Common synonyms include: post-alveolar, post-alveolar consonant, postalveolar consonant.

Pronounced //ˌpəʊstælviˈəʊlə(ɹ)//.

//ˌpəʊstælviˈəʊlə(ɹ)// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any sound articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, such as English sh in the word shoe.
2
(phonetics) Any sound articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge. wordnet

Adjective

1
Articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge. not-comparable

"Postalveolar consonants are articulated when the tongue is near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge."

From post- + alveolar.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.