Thread: Towards creating a "mouth map" of Russ. and Engl. consonants (BETA)

This numbered diagram of the human mouth was taken from the Wikipedia article "Place of articulation" (Russian: Места образования согласных).



In a different thread, CoffeeCup wrote:

It would be great if you start over a new thread with this picture and explain all the English and Russian sounds with this scheme. Of course if somebody else can it would be great if he help you. Such a thread would be of incredible importance for all who learn Russian and English. Such a thread would certainly became sticky in the "Pronunciation, Speech & Accent" section.

I agree with CoffeeCup's suggestion, although I'm definitely not qualified to do it all myself -- that's why I've called this thread "BETA" for the time being, with the idea that after the thread has been improved by contributions from native speakers of both English and Russian, it can become a sticky.

To begin with, the numbered regions in the map all have formal names in English and in Russian:

1. Exo-labial, 2. Endo-labial, 3. Dental, 4. Alveolar, 5. Post-alveolar, 6. Pre-palatal, 7. Palatal, 8. Velar, 9. Uvular, 10. Pharyngeal, 11. Glottal, 12. Epiglottal, 13. Radical, 14. Postero-dorsal, 15. Antero-dorsal, 16. Laminal, 17. Apical, 18. Sub-apical

1. Внешнелабиальные, 2. Внутрилабиальные, 3. Дентальные, 4. Альвеолярные, 5. Постальвеолярные, 6. Препалатальные, 7. Палатальные, 8. Велярные, 9. Увулярные, 10. Фарингальные, 11. Глоттальные, 12. Эпиглоттальные, 13. Радикальные, 14. Постдорсальные, 15. Предорсальные, 16. Ламинальные, 17. Апикальные, 18. Субапикальные

But in place of using these long formal names, I propose that for this thread, we simply use the numbers, for example "the tongue touches point 4" or "region №3" or "the general area between 6 and 7".

P.S. The image above is hosted at Wikipedia, and there's one problem with it -- although the upper teeth are labeled "3", there's no number for the lower teeth! How can one explain the articulation of the English th sounds ð and θ without referring to the lower teeth? (Also, there's no convenient way to distinguish between the upper and lower lips, as when discussing the proper pronunciation of English "v" and "f".)

So I've created a new version of the diagram, in which the lower teeth and lip are numbered as 19, 20, 21. Could this be hosted directly at MR, if I email it to the right person?

P.P.S. Is it possible for a moderator to rename this thread Towards creating a "mouth map" of Russ. and Engl. consonants (BETA) (I think this might be more self-explanatory, and after I thought about it, the "Tongue gymnastics" metaphor seemed rather stupid.)

For those wishing to learn (American) English pronunciation, this site ( English Sounds) is absolutely amazing in letting you hear AND see how each sound is made.

Is this the sort of thing you're trying to make (but for Russian)? I do think it'd be very helpful.