Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between what our mouth’s do when we make the “ma” and “ba” noises? I tried and I cannot find a single difference. They both seem like just separating the lips while pushing air out. I thought it might be that we just add more pressure to the lips on “ba” but that doesn’t seem like it. It might be a difference in pushing the air out. Idk I’m confused please help.
In: Biology
B is a bilabial plosive. That is, both (bi) lips (labial) are together, completely stopping all air from flowing out before releasing it in a burst (plosive). Additionally, B is *voiced* meaning your vocal cords are tensed and used to make noise – as opposed to P, which is also a bilabial plosive, but which is unvoiced.
M is a [voiced] bilabial *nasal*. The similarity is the bilabial, where both lips are together. However, the flow of air is *not* stopped. Instead, air is directed through the nose (nasal). This is similar to N, which is an alveolar nasal – the tongue is placed against against the roof of your mouth and then air is pushed through the nose. There is also a voiced velar nasal, which in English is the -ng sound.
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