plosiivit

Plosiivit are a class of consonants in phonetics commonly referred to in English as plosives or stops. They are produced by creating a complete closure of the vocal tract at some place of articulation, building up air pressure behind the closure, and then releasing that closure abruptly to produce a burst of sound.

The production mechanism involves two stages: an occlusion of the oral cavity (the closure) and a rapid release (the burst). The main places of articulation for plosiivit are bilabial (as in p and b), alveolar (t and d), and velar (k and g). A glottal stop (ʔ) is often considered a stop and can function similarly in many languages, though it is sometimes categorized separately.

Voicing and aspiration are common features in plosives. Some are voiceless (p, t, k) and others voiced (b, d, g). Many languages also differentiate by aspiration, with voiceless aspirated forms (pʰ, tʰ, kʰ) producing a stronger breathy release. In other contexts, plosives may be unreleased at the end of a syllable or in certain phonological environments, changing their acoustic signature without altering their basic category.

Cross-linguistically, plosiivit vary in inventory and contrast. Most languages distinguish at least a voiceless–voiced pair at several places of articulation, and some employ additional series such as ejective or implosive stops that use different airstream mechanisms but are still described as plosives in broad terms.

In summary, plosiivit are essential, highly distributed consonants characterized by a complete closure and a rapid release, with variation in voicing, aspiration, and phonotactic role across languages.