 Manner of articulation

Manner of articulation describes how a speech constriction controls airflow. A plosive builds an oral closure that can be released; a fricative narrows the passage enough to generate turbulent airflow. A nasal consonant can close the oral passage while allowing air to pass through the nose.^[ref]

Compare [p], [f] and [m]. Their differences cannot be reduced to whether the sound comes from the front of the mouth: the closure, friction-producing narrowing and nasal route produce different acoustic consequences. A sustained [f] contains a noise component generated by airflow through a narrow constriction; a sustained [m] combines voicing with a different resonant airway.

Manner of articulation complements place of articulation. Two sounds can share a place but differ in manner, so identifying only the location of a constriction leaves the mechanism underspecified.