Peripheral consonant


In Australian linguistics, the peripheral consonants are a natural class encompassing consonants articulated at the extremes of the mouth: labials and velars. That is, they are the non-coronal consonants. In Australian languages, these consonants pattern together both phonotactically and acoustically. In Arabic and Maltese philology, the moon letters transcribe non-coronal consonants, but they do not form a natural class.

Phonology

Australian languages typically favour peripheral consonants word- and syllable-initially, and they are not allowed or common word- and syllable-finally, unlike the apicals.
In the extinct Martuthunira, the peripheral stops and shared similar allophony. Whereas the other stops could be voiced between vowels or following a nasal, the peripherals were usually voiceless.