Labio-velar approximant

For consonants followed by superscript ʷ, see Labialization.
Labio-velar approximant
w
IPA number 170
Encoding
Entity (decimal) w
Unicode (hex) U+0077
X-SAMPA w
Kirshenbaum w
Braille ⠺ (braille pattern dots-2456)
Sound
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Compressed labio-velar approximant
ɰᵝ
wᵝ

The voiced labio-velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. It is the sound denoted by the letter w in the English alphabet;[1] likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is w, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is a labialized velar approximant [ɰʷ], and the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel [u] - i.e. the non-syllabic close back rounded vowel. As labio-velar consonants do not easily fit into consonant charts with only labial and velar columns, [w] may be put in either the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both, though putting it in both columns is rare; the placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.[2]

Features

Features of the voiced labialized velar approximant:

Occurrence

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Abkhaz ауаҩы [awaˈɥə] 'human' See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe уэ [wa] 'you'
Arabic Standard[3] وَرْد [ward] 'roses' See Arabic phonology
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ktawa [kta:wa] 'book' Most speakers. [v] and [ʋ] are used in the Urmia dialects.
Basque lau [law] 'four'
Catalan[4] creuar [kɾəˈwa] 'to cross' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Cantonese wu4 [wuː˨˩] 'lake' See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin wáng [wɑŋ˧˥] 'king' See Mandarin phonology
Dutch Flemish welp [wɛɫp] 'cub' Standard Belgian pronunciation, may be realised as [β̞] in some dialects. See Dutch phonology
English weep [wiːp] 'weep' See English phonology
French[5] oui [wi] 'yes' See French phonology
Hawaiian[6] wikiwiki [wikiwiki] 'fast' May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology
Hebrew Oriental כוח [ˈkowaħ] 'power' See Modern Hebrew phonology
Irish vóta [ˈwoːt̪ˠə] 'vote' See Irish phonology
Italian[7] uomo [ˈwɔːmo] 'man' See Italian phonology
Japanese わたし watashi [ɰᵝataɕi] 'I' Pronounced with lip compression. See Japanese phonology
Kabardian уэ [wa] 'you'
Korean 왜가리 waegari [wɛɡɐɾi] 'heron' See Korean phonology
Malay wang [waŋ] 'money'
Pashto ﻭﺍﺭ [wɑr] 'one time'
Polish[8] łaska  [ˈwäskä]  'grace' See Polish phonology. Corresponds to [ɫ] in older pronunciation and eastern dialects
Portuguese[9] Most dialects quando [ˈkwɐ̃d̪u] 'when' Non-syllabic allophone of /u/ except when after velar occlusives. Brazilian dialects that have [ʊ] prefer [ʊ̯] when in coda position.[9] See Portuguese phonology
General Brazilian qual [kwaw] 'which' Allophone of /l/ in coda position for most Brazilian dialects. See Portuguese phonology#Further notes.[10]
Romanian dulău [duˈləw] 'mastiff' See Romanian phonology
Serbo-Croatian Croatian[11] вук / vuk [wûːk] 'wolf' Allophone of /ʋ/ before /u/.[11] See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Seri cmiique [ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ] 'person' Allophone of /m/
Slovene[12][13] cerkev [ˈt͡sèːrkəw] 'church' Allophone of /ʋ/ in the syllable coda.[12][13] Voiceless [ʍ] before voiceless consonants. See Slovene phonology
Sotho sewa [ˈsewa] 'epidemic' See Sesotho phonology
Spanish[14] cuanto [ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞] 'as much' See Spanish phonology
Swahili mwanafunzi [mwɑnɑfunzi] 'student'
Tagalog araw [ɐˈɾaw] 'day' See Tagalog phonology
Thai[15] แห waen [wɛn˩˩˦] 'ring'
Ukrainian любов [lʲubɔw] 'love' See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese[16] tuần [t̪wən˨˩] 'week' See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh gwae [ɡwaɨ] 'woe' See Welsh phonology
West Frisian skowe [skoːwǝ] 'to shove'

See also

References

Bibliography

  • Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756
  • Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618
  • Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L. (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874
  • Greenberg, Mark L. (2006), A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene, Kansas: University of Kansas
  • Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
  • Landau, Ernestina; Lončarić, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
  • Ohala, John; Lorentz, James (1977), "Story of [w]: An exercise in the phonetic explanation for sound patterns" (PDF), Berkeley Linguistics Society annual meeting 3 proceedings, pp. 577–599
  • Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, ISBN 0-8248-0703-0
  • Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
  • Šuštaršič, Rastislav; Komar, Smiljana; Petek, Bojan (1999), "Slovene", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 135–139, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
  • Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
  • Watson, Janet (2002), The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, New York: Oxford University Press