Articulatory phonetics are concerned with the way sounds are formed in the throat. There is a great variety of consonants. They are mainly distinguished by the vocal tract places of articulation (e.g. labial, dental, alveolar etc.), tongue position, the manners of articulation (stop, fricative, approximant, nasal, flap, tap and trill), as well as by voice, force (lenis vs. fortis) and length. The manner of acrticulation describes the degree and way of constriction, which can range from total closure of the vocal tract to fully open. See the illustrations below for more details.