Palatoalveolar stops

The palatoalveolar stops are formed by the front of the tongue forming a full closure against the area behind the alveolar ridge. The tip of the tongue would generally be placed behind the lower teeth, and the closure would be released with strong friction. The fortis variant is never voiced, and the lenis is generally devoiced when surrounded by unvoiced sounds. Devoicing therefore generally occurs at the end of words. The illustration shows the release (friction) phase of the stops.