Linguolabials or apicolabials are consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

s articulated by placing the tongue tip or blade against the upper lip, which is drawn downward to meet the tongue. They represent one extreme of a coronal articulatory continuum which extends from linguolabial to subapical palatal

Retroflex consonant

A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology...

 places of articulation. Cross-linguistically, linguolabial consonants are very rare, though they do not represent a particularly exotic combination of articulatory configurations, unlike click consonant

Click consonant

Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...

s or ejectives

Ejective consonant

In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants...

. They are found in a cluster of languages in Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

, in the Kajoko dialect of Bijago

Bijago language

Bijago, or Bidyogo, is the language of the Bissagos Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau. There are some difficulties of grammar and intelligibility between dialects, with the Kamona dialect of Caravela and Carache Islands being unintelligible to the others....

 in Guinea-Bissau, as well as in Umotína

Umotína language

Umotína is a recently extinct language of Brazil. It was one of the few languages in the world with linguolabial consonants....

, a recently extinct Bororoan language

Chiquito-Borôro

The Borôroan languages of Brazil are Borôro and the extinct Umotína and Otuke. They form part of the Macro-Jê proposal.*Bororo Proper**Borôro**Umotina*Otuke...

 of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, and as extraphonotactic

Phonotactics

Phonotactics is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes...

 sounds worldwide.
The linguolabial consonants are transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...

 by adding the "seagull" diacritic, 033C to the corresponding alveolar consonant

Alveolar consonant

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...

, or with the apical

Apical consonant

An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue . This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue .This is not a very common distinction, and typically applied only to fricatives...

 diacritic, 033A on the corresponding bilabial consonant

Bilabial consonant

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...

 instead.

List of consonants

IPA (two transcriptions)		Description	Example
			Language	Orthography	IPA	Meaning
n̼	m̺	linguolabial nasal Linguolabial nasal The linguolabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is or - Features :Features of the linguolabial nasal:-Occurrence:...	Tangoa Tangoa language Tangoa is an Oceanic language spoken on Tangoa Island, south of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.-Characteristics:Tangoa is one of the few languages of Vanuatu, and indeed of the world, possessing a set of linguolabial consonants.-External links:*...		[n̼ata]	"eye"
t̼	p̺	voiceless linguolabial plosive Voiceless linguolabial plosive The voiceless linguolabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is or .-Occurrence:...	Tangoa Tangoa language Tangoa is an Oceanic language spoken on Tangoa Island, south of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.-Characteristics:Tangoa is one of the few languages of Vanuatu, and indeed of the world, possessing a set of linguolabial consonants.-External links:*...		[t̼et̼e]	"butterfly"
d̼	b̺	voiced linguolabial plosive Voiced linguolabial plosive The voiced linguolabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is or .-Occurrence:...	Kajoko dialect of Bijago Bijago language Bijago, or Bidyogo, is the language of the Bissagos Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau. There are some difficulties of grammar and intelligibility between dialects, with the Kamona dialect of Caravela and Carache Islands being unintelligible to the others....		[nɔ̀-d̼ɔ́ːɡ]	"stone"
n̼d̼	m̺b̺	prenasalized voiced linguolabial plosive	Vao Vao language Vao is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic branch spoken by about 1,900 people on Vao Island and on the nearby shores of Malakula Island, Vanuatu.-Characteristics:Vao is one of the few languages of the world, possessing linguolabial consonants....		[nan̼d̼ak]	"bow"
θ̼	ɸ̺	voiceless linguolabial fricative Voiceless linguolabial fricative The voiceless linguolabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is or .-Occurrence:...	Big Nambas Big Nambas language Big Nambas is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 1,800 people in northwest Malekula, Vanuatu. Approximately nineteen villages in the Big Nambas region of the Malekula Interior use the language exclusively with no variation in dialect. It was studied in-depth over a period of about 10...		[ˈinɛθ̼]	"he is asthmatic"
ð̼	β̺	voiced linguolabial fricative Voiced linguolabial fricative The linguolabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is or .-Occurrence:...	Tangoa Tangoa language Tangoa is an Oceanic language spoken on Tangoa Island, south of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.-Characteristics:Tangoa is one of the few languages of Vanuatu, and indeed of the world, possessing a set of linguolabial consonants.-External links:*...		[ð̼atu]	"stone"
r̼	ʙ̺	linguolabial trill (uses lower lip)	Coatlán Zapotec Coatlán Zapotec language Coatlán Zapotec is an Oto-Manguean language of the Zapotecan branch, spoken in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. The Ethnologue counts 500 speakers.It uses linguolabial sounds as onomatopoeia.-External links:***...		r̼ʔ	mimesis for a child's fart (blowing a raspberry Blowing a raspberry Blowing a raspberry or strawberry or making a Bronx cheer is to make a noise signifying derision, real or feigned. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing, making a sound redolent of flatulence. In the terminology of phonetics, this sound can be described as an unvoiced... )
ǀ̼ or ʇ̼	ʘ̺	linguolabial click	Coatlán Zapotec Coatlán Zapotec language Coatlán Zapotec is an Oto-Manguean language of the Zapotecan branch, spoken in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. The Ethnologue counts 500 speakers.It uses linguolabial sounds as onomatopoeia.-External links:***...		ǀ̼ʔ	mimesis for a pig drinking water

Sound shifts

In Vanuatu, some of the Santo–Malekula languages have shifted historically from labial to dental consonants via an intermediate linguolabial stage, which remains in other Santo and Malekula languages. In Nese, for example, labials have become linguolabial before nonrounded vowels; in Tolomako

Tolomako language

Tolomako is a language of the Oceanic subgroup of Austronesian languages. It is spoken on Santo island in Vanuatu. It distinguishes four numbers for its personal pronouns: singular, dual, trial, plural. Its verbs have no tense or aspect marking, but two moods, realis and irrealis. Substantives and...

, this has gone further, so that *bebe 'butterfly' (/t̼et̼e/ in Tangoa, above) has become /tete/ in Tolomako, and *tama 'father' (Tangoa /tan̼a/) has become /tana/.