Lesson 1 – Part 1

My First Sound

In this session you will learn to make a Bilabial Plosive sound.

What is a Bilabial Plosive?

The first sound you will learn is called a bilabial plosive.

An iconophonic is an icon (or glyph) that represents how a sound is made or shaped in the mouth.

The iconophonic for a bilabial plosive looks like this:

And it sounds like this (click on the play button):

Bi means two and labial means lips. So a bilabial sound is one made using your two lips.

Iconophonics are designed to look like simplified parts of the mouth with a side-on view.

A plosive is a kind of sound. Think of them as explosive sounds.

Can you see how the bilabial plosive looks like two lips, one on top of the other? The two lip shapes are touching and this shows that it is a plosive sound.

How to make a bilabial plosive sound

The bilabial plosive is made by holding your breath, bringing your two lips together, stopping the airflow, then suddenly releasing the air.

Sounds expelling air whilst holding your breath are called ejectives as they ‘eject’ the air.

The bilabial plosive sounds like an English letter ‘b’ sound. It is also used in the English letter ‘p’ sound.

Watch this video to learn how to make a bilabial plosive sound.

When you are ready, click on the QUIZ button to take the Bilabial Plosive quiz.