An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue (i.e. the tip of the tongue). This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue (which is just behind the apex).

This is not a very common distinction, and typically applied only to fricatives and affricates.

The Basque language uses this distinction for alveolar fricatives, as does Serbo-Croatian. Mandarin Chinese uses it for postalveolar fricatives (the "alveolo-palatal" and "retroflex" series). St'at'imcets uses this as a secondary feature in contrasting velarized and non-velarized affricates.

See also

• List of phonetic topics

Consonants

Consonne apicale | 舌尖音 | Апикальный согласный