<p>I don't know of any, and I wouldn't expect to find any.</p>
<p>From an information-theory point of view, consonants tend to convey much more information than vowels. I can't think of any natural language that has more vowel phonemes than consonants, even if you include tone as a property of the vowel (rather than of the syllable); there are just a lot more possible ways to obstruct an airflow than to let it go through, so there's a much larger space for the phonemes to occupy without crowding each other and becoming difficult to distinguish.</p>
<p>Vertical vowel systems take some of the information load from the consonants and duplicate it on the vowels. If vowels before labialized consonants become rounded, now you have a bit more redundancy there, and you don't have to worry as much about distinguishing labialization on consonants. This is most useful when each consonant is conveying a lot of information, like in Ubykh, with its 84 phonemic consonants and 3 phonemic vowels.</p>
<p>A &quot;vertical consonant system&quot;, presumably, would take some of the information load from the vowels and duplicate it on the consonants. But in natural human languages, this isn't very useful—the consonants are already carrying a lot more information than the vowels are. Over time, I would expect this to simplify into <em>only</em> marking the information on the consonants—and now it's just a normal consonant system, not a vertical one any more.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T20:50:22.047Z
2022-07-08T20:50:22.047Z
Draconis
<p>I am not aware of any natural language with that feature, and I quick-checked that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Damin</a> hasn't it either.</p>
<p>But you can certainly construct such a language, there are enough different manners of articulation to make up a sufficient consonant phoneme inventory.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-06T14:23:05.270Z
2022-07-06T14:23:05.270Z
Sir Cornflakes
<p>No, but it is possible. You can go from /m n p t k s w j/ to /n t ts s j/ like that: /w/ &gt; /m/ &gt; /n/, /p/ &gt; /f/ &gt; /h/ &gt; nothing, /k/ &gt; /kx/ &gt; /cç/ &gt; /tʃ/ &gt; /ts/</p>

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2024-01-28T09:04:03.390Z
2024-01-28T09:04:03.390Z
Chuck 08
<p>Are there any languages which distinguish consonants exclusively by manner of articulation instead of place of articulation and such, akin to a vertical vowel system?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T10:15:38.647Z
Do you mean something other than the usual meaning of "matter of articulation"? For example, in the usual meaning, [t] and [s] are consonants with the same place of articulation (alveolar), but different manner of articulation (plosive vs fricative)
Cecilia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T11:26:05.710Z
No, I mean (I think) the normal meaning of manner of articulation. E.g. Fricative/Approximation/Nasal/Plosive and so.
Qaziquza
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T19:23:29.917Z
Then, for example, English is such a language, as it distinguishes the aforementioned [t] and [s], two consonants with same place but different manner of articulation.
Cecilia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T19:28:59.317Z
Ah, I meant exclusively by manner of articulation. I will edit the question to avoid ambiguity.
Qaziquza
<conlang-creation><phonology><history>
Are there any languages with a vertical consonant distinction?
# Are there any languages with a vertical consonant distinction?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-06)

Are there any languages which distinguish consonants exclusively by manner of articulation instead of place of articulation and such, akin to a vertical vowel system?

**Tags:** conlang-creation, phonology, history

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you mean something other than the usual meaning of "matter of articulation"? For example, in the usual meaning, [t] and [s] are consonants with the same place of articulation (alveolar), but different manner of articulation (plosive vs fricative)  
> **username_0**: No, I mean (I think) the normal meaning of manner of articulation. E.g. Fricative/Approximation/Nasal/Plosive and so.  
> **username_1**: Then, for example, English is such a language, as it distinguishes the aforementioned [t] and [s], two consonants with same place but different manner of articulation.  
> **username_0**: Ah, I meant exclusively by manner of articulation. I will edit the question to avoid ambiguity.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-08. Score: 2

I don't know of any, and I wouldn't expect to find any.

From an information-theory point of view, consonants tend to convey much more information than vowels. I can't think of any natural language that has more vowel phonemes than consonants, even if you include tone as a property of the vowel (rather than of the syllable); there are just a lot more possible ways to obstruct an airflow than to let it go through, so there's a much larger space for the phonemes to occupy without crowding each other and becoming difficult to distinguish.

Vertical vowel systems take some of the information load from the consonants and duplicate it on the vowels. If vowels before labialized consonants become rounded, now you have a bit more redundancy there, and you don't have to worry as much about distinguishing labialization on consonants. This is most useful when each consonant is conveying a lot of information, like in Ubykh, with its 84 phonemic consonants and 3 phonemic vowels.

A "vertical consonant system", presumably, would take some of the information load from the vowels and duplicate it on the consonants. But in natural human languages, this isn't very useful—the consonants are already carrying a lot more information than the vowels are. Over time, I would expect this to simplify into *only* marking the information on the consonants—and now it's just a normal consonant system, not a vertical one any more.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2022-07-06. Score: 1

I am not aware of any natural language with that feature, and I quick-checked that [Damin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damin) hasn't it either.

But you can certainly construct such a language, there are enough different manners of articulation to make up a sufficient consonant phoneme inventory.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-01-28. Score: 0

No, but it is possible. You can go from /m n p t k s w j/ to /n t ts s j/ like that: /w/ > /m/ > /n/, /p/ > /f/ > /h/ > nothing, /k/ > /kx/ > /cç/ > /tʃ/ > /ts/


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