In phonetics and phonology, a dental stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the tongue in contact with the upper teeth (hence dental), held tightly enough to block the passage of air (hence a stop consonant).
The International Phonetic Alphabet does not provide separate symbols for dental stops, but simply uses the diacritic U+032A ◌̪ COMBINING BRIDGE BELOW attached to the corresponding alveolar symbol.
[3] As a result, it is common for researchers working in the majority of languages with only one type or the other to simply use the alveolar symbols indifferently for both types, unless they specifically want to call attention to the distinction.
More generally, several kinds are distinguished:[4] Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless.
Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.