In
phonetics,
alveolo-palatal (or
alveopalatal)
consonants, sometimes synonymous with
pre-palatal consonants, are intermediate in articulation between the
coronal and
dorsal consonants, or which have simultaneous
alveolar and
palatal articulation. In the official IPA chart, alveolo-palatals would appear between the
retroflex and
palatal consonants but for "lack of space". Ladefoged and Maddieson characterize the alveolo-palatals as
palatalized postalveolars (palatalized
palato-alveolars), articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate, whereas Esling describes them as
advanced palatals (pre-palatals), the furthest front of the
dorsal consonants, articulated with the body of the tongue approaching the
alveolar ridge. These descriptions are essentially equivalent, since the contact includes both the blade and body (but not the tip) of the tongue (see schematic at right). They are front enough that the fricatives and affricates are
sibilants, the only sibilants among the dorsal consonants.