We went over various consonantal gestures in class and why different languages have some sounds but not others. For languages that make distinctions using voicing, some sounds take too much effort to produce with enough emphasis on voicing to be distinct. Therefore, those sounds are the first to go. This is the reason for the [g] sound not appearing in several languages.
Consonantal gestures are the sounds that can be produced in various parts of the mouth and how they are produced. For example, bilabials are produced by touching the lips together and blowing out a puff of air. These sounds include [p] and [b] in English and at least a couple of fricatives that show up in languages like Spanish. Some other consonantal gestures include labiodentals, glottals, and labiovelar sounds. Labiovelar sounds are not produced by touching the bottom lip to the velum but rather involve simultaneous movement of the lips and velum.
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