Plosiv

Plosiv is the term used in some languages, notably German, for a plosive consonant. In English, the corresponding term is plosive or stop. A plosive is a consonant produced by a complete occlusion of the vocal tract, followed by a rapid release that creates a brief burst of air.

Articulation and classificationally, a plosive begins with a closure at a specific place of articulation, commonly bilabial (as in p and b), alveolar (t and d), or velar (k and g). The obstruction is released to produce a short, explosive sound. Plosives can be voiceless or voiced, and many voiceless plosives are aspirated in languages such as English. Some languages also feature non-aspirated voiceless plosives or breathy-voiced variants.

In addition to the standard pulmonic plosives, certain languages include more unusual forms such as ejective plosives (produced with glottalic compression) or implosive plosives (involving inward glottal action). These categories broaden the typology of stops beyond the common pulmonic model, though they remain relatively rare compared with the core set.

Phonological behavior, distribution, and syllabic position vary by language. Plosives typically contrast by voicing and, in many languages, by aspiration, creating distinct minimalist sound contrasts. They can appear in onset or coda positions depending on the language’s phonotactics and may interact with assimilatory processes or phonetic changes over time.

Commonly cited examples of plosives include p, b, t, d, k, g, and the glottal stop ʔ. The term Plosiv highlights their status as closed-closure consonants in many linguistic traditions.