Vocal tract: All the bits humans use to make phonemes, from the voice box to the mouth and nose

Articulator: Moveable part of the vocal tract, most importantly lips, tongue and glottis.

1.4.1.1 Place of articulation: Where in the mouth the defining characteristic of a consonant is produced

Figure 1: Places of articulation relevant for the Klingon language: 1 Lips (labial consonants, see below for examples) 2 Teeth (dental consonants, see below for examples) 3 Alveolar ridges (alveolar consonants, Klingon l, n, r, t and tlh) 4 Between the alveolar ridges and the palate (postalveolar, palato-alveolar consonants, closer to the alveolar ridges, Klingon ch and j, and pre-palatal and alveo-palatal consonants closer to the palate) 5 Hard palate (palatal consonants, Klingon y) 6 Soft palate or velum (velar consonants, Klingon gh, H and ng) 7 Uvula (uvular consonants, Klingon q and Q) 8 Glottis (glottal consonants, Klingon '). Image modified from "Places_of_articulation.svg" via Wikimedia.

Bilabial: Any sound that involves both lips, like Klingon b, m, p and w.

Labio-dental: Any sound that is formed between the upper teeth and the lower lip, like Klingon v.

Retroflex: Any sound in which the tongue is bent ("flexed") back ("retro"), so that its tip (apical) or underside (subapical) touches anywhere between the back of the alveolar ridges to the hard palate. They are common in many Indian languages and are found in the Klingon D and S.

1.4.1.2 Articulation types

Stop/Plosive: A sound in which the airstream is entirely interrupted. If the airstream resumes, the stop/plosive is said to be "released". Some linguists distinguish stops and plosives, though there is no agreement on what the distinction is. Klingon stops/plosives are b, D, p, q, t and '.

Fricative: A sound in which the airflow is restricted until it becomes turbulent. Klingon fricatives are gh, H and v.

Sibilant fricative: A sound in which the turbulent airflow is directed through a narrow channel. Generally have a "hissing" quality to them. Klingon only has one sibilant fricative, the S. English has s, z and sh.

Affricate: A stop/plosive consonant released into a fricative or approximant. Klingon has the affricates tlh and Q.

Sibilant Affricate: A stop/plosive consonant released into a sibilant fricative. Klingon has the sibilant affricates ch and j.

Approximant: Two articulators are approached, but not enough to make the airflow turbulent. The border to fricatives may be fuzzy. Klingon has the approximants l, w and y.

Trill: A consonant in which any articulator vibrates very fast. Rarely also called "vibrant". The "rolled r" that is found in Spanish, Russian, Swedish or Klingon is a trill.

Tap: A consonant in which the tongue lightly taps the roof of the mouth. Also called a flap, though some may distinguish these words. An alveolar tap is commonly used to replace an alveolar trill ("rolled r") by speakers who cannot pronounce the latter.

Nasal: The airflow is redirected through the nose. Klingon nasal consonants are m, n and ng. Vowels can also be nasal, see nasal.

1.4.1.3 Tongue features

Central: Any consonant in which the airflow is directed through the centre of the mouth, as in sounds like v, t or H. Contrasts with lateral.

Lateral: Any consonant in which the airflow is directed along one or both sides of the tongue, but blocked in the middle. Found in Klingon in the letters l and tlh.

Coronal: Any consonant articulated with the flexible part at the front of the tongue. Contrasts with dorsal. Has the subtypes:

• Apical: Using the tip of the tongue, as in the English "th"

• Laminal: Using the blade of the tongue, as in the Klingon/English "ch"

• Subapical: Using the underside of the tongue, can be used for retroflex consonants, like Klingon D and S (though they can also be apical)

• Domed: The tongue forms a dome-like shape, with the tip low and the middle high, as in the Klingon/English "ch"

• Grooved: The tongue forms a groove, results in sibilants like English "s" or "z"

Dorsal: Any consonant articulated with the back of the tongue, the dorsum. Found f. ex. in the Klingon consonants gh, H or q.

1.4.1.4 Other consonant articulation qualities

Voice, voiced vs. voiceless: Whether or not the vocal chords vibrate during sound production. Typical English example is "s" (voiceless) vs. "z" (voiced).

Aspirated: A stop/plosive consonant is followed by a puff of air, compare English "pin" and "spin". Important for the Klingon consonants p, q and t, which are always aspirated.

1.4.1.5 Klingon consonant charts By place of articulation:

Table 1: The consonant chart is a short way to list the consonants in a language and this is Klingon's chart. To the left is the spelling in Okrandian notation, to the right in square brackets is the notation in IPA. This chart uses articulation location. The sibilant fricatives and affricatess are grouped with the corresponding non-sibilants.

Table 2: The consonant chart is a short way to list the consonants in a language and this is Klingon's chart. To the left is the spelling in Okrandian notation, to the right in square brackets is the notation in IPA. This chart uses tongue features, but overlaps with the above chart, as not all consonants involve the tongue. The sibilant fricatives and affricatess are grouped with the corresponding non-sibilants.