Place of Articulation - Homorganic Consonants

Homorganic Consonants

Consonants that have the same place of articulation, such as the alveolar sounds /n, t, d, s, z, l/ in English, are said to be homorganic. Similarly, labial /p, b, m/ and velar /k, ɡ, ŋ/ are homorganic. A homorganic nasal rule, an instance of assimilation, operates in many languages, where a nasal consonant must be homorganic with a following stop. We see this with English intolerable but implausible; another example is found in Yoruba, where the present tense of ba "hide" is mba "is hiding", while the present of sun "sleep" is nsun "is sleeping".