realized as nasal approximants , analogous to below. This occurs in loanwords, and in free variation with the typical consonantal pronunciation (e.g. instynkt 'instinct'). are denti-alveolar except before /i, j/ and postalveolar consonants. They are pronounced with the tip of the tongue very close or touching to the upper front teeth and partially the front of the alveolar ridge. In western and northern Poland, is maintained in native words across a morpheme boundary in nk, e.g. sionka ('a small hallway') contrasts with siąka ('((s)he sniffs') . In other parts of Poland, the contrast is neutralized towards , i.e. is used for both. In foreign words nk, ng represent . are palatalized laminal alveolar before in recent borrowings. They are pronounced with the blade of the tongue very close or touching the alveolar ridge. are apical alveolar before apical postalveolar while is apical alveolar before . can be assimilated to affricates before , before and before . can be assimilated to before and to before . are variously described as apical postalveolar or as (laminal) flat postalveolar. They are articulated with a flat, retracted tongue body, the tongue tip being raised and the entire blade moved up and back behind the corner of the alveolar ridge. A recent study shows that and the release of are predominantly alveolar, while the place of articulation of the stop in varies between alveolar and postalveolar. This agrees with characterizations of as alveolar in older sources. They may be described as retroflex to indicate that they are not palatalized laminal postalveolar . Strictly speaking, this is at odds with the narrower definition of retroflex consonants as subapical, in which the tongue curls back and its underside becomes the active articulator. Occasionally, were used in a similar vein. become palatalized laminal postalveolar before in recent loanwords. are alveolo-palatal . They are articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate. Before fricatives, is usually realized as a nasalized palatal approximant , for example, państwo ('state/country') , Gdańsk . are velar . Before fricatives and word-finally, is realized as nasalized velar approximant . According to , this allophone is non-labialized . is primarily velar ; it has the strongest friction before consonants , weaker friction before vowels and weakest friction intervocalically, where it may be realized as glottal (this variant "may appear to be voiced").