Voiceless velar stop

Voiceless velar stop
k
IPA number	109
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	k
Unicode (hex)	U+006B
X-SAMPA	k
Kirshenbaum	k
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The voiceless velar stop or voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨k⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k.

The [k] sound is a very common sound cross-linguistically. Most languages have at least a plain [k], and some distinguish more than one variety. Most Indo-Aryan languages, such as Hindi and Bengali, have a two-way contrast between aspirated and plain [k]. Only a few languages lack a voiceless velar stop, e.g. Tahitian.

Some languages have the voiceless pre-velar stop,^[1] which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical voiceless velar stop, though not as front as the prototypical voiceless palatal stop - see that article for more information.

Conversely, some languages have the voiceless post-velar stop,^[2] which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of the prototypical voiceless velar stop, though not as back as the prototypical voiceless uvular stop - see that article for more information.

Features

Features of the voiceless velar stop:

• Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a stop.

• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.

• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.

• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Varieties

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		ақалақь	[ˈakalakʲ]	'the city'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe	Shapsug	кьэт	[kʲat]	'chicken'	Dialectal; corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects.
	Temirgoy	пскэн	[pskan]	'to cough'
Ahtna		gistaann	[kɪstʰɐːn]	'six'
Aleut[3]		kiikax̂	[kiːkaχ]	'cranberry bush'
Arabic	Standard[4]	كتب	[ˈkatabɐ]	'he wrote'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian	Eastern[5]	քաղաք	[kʰɑˈʁɑkʰ]	'town'	Contrasts with unaspirated form.
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic		kuleh	[kulɛː]	'all'	Used in most varieties, with the exception of the Urmia and Nochiya dialects where it corresponds to [t͡ʃ].
Basque		katu	[kat̪u]	'cat'
Bengali		কম	[kɔm]	'less'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Bulgarian		как	[kak]	'how'	See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan[6]		quinze	[ˈkinzə]	'fifteen'	See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Cantonese	家/gaa1	[kaː˥]	'home'	Contrasts with aspirated and or labialized forms. See Cantonese phonology
	Mandarin	高/gāo	[kɑʊ˥]	'high'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Mandarin phonology
Czech		kost	[kost]	'bone'	See Czech phonology
Danish	Standard[7]	gås	[ˈkɔ̽ːs]	'goose'	Usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɡ̊⟩ or ⟨ɡ⟩. Contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨kʰ⟩ or ⟨k⟩. See Danish phonology
Dutch[8]		koning	[ˈkoːnɪŋ]	'king'	See Dutch phonology
English		kiss	[kʰɪs]	'kiss'	See English phonology
Esperanto		rakonto	[raˈkonto]	'tale'	See Esperanto phonology
Estonian		kõik	[kɤik]	'all'	See Estonian phonology
Esperanto		kato	[kato]	'cat'
Finnish		kakku	[kɑkːu]	'cake'	See Finnish phonology
French[9]		cabinet	[kabinɛ]	'office'	See French phonology
Georgian[10]		ქვა	[kʰva]	'stone'
German		Käfig	[ˈkʰɛːfɪç]	'cage'	See Standard German phonology
Greek		καλόγερος/kalógeros	[kaˈlo̞ʝe̞ro̞s̠]	'monk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati		કાંદો	[kɑːnd̪oː]	'onion'	See Gujarati phonology
Hebrew		כסף/kesef	[ˈkesef]	'money'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani		काम / کام	[kɑːm]	'work'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian		akkor	[ɒkkor]	'then'	See Hungarian phonology
Italian[11]		casa	[ˈkaza]	'house'	See Italian phonology
Japanese[12]		鞄/kaban	[kabaɴ]	'handbag'	See Japanese phonology
Kagayanen[13]		kalag	[kað̞aɡ]	'spirit'
Korean		키조개/kijogae	[kʰid͡ʑoɡɛ]	'Atrina pectinata'	See Korean phonology
Lakota		kimímela	[kɪˈmɪmela]	'butterfly'
Luxembourgish[14]		geess	[ˈkeːs]	'goat'	Less often voiced [ɡ]. It is usually transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɡ⟩, and it contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed ⟨k⟩.[14] See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonian		кој	[kɔj]	'who'	See Macedonian phonology
Marathi		कवच	[kəʋət͡s]	'armour'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Marathi phonology
Malay		kaki	[käki]	'leg'
Norwegian		kake	[kɑːkɛ]	'cake'	See Norwegian phonology
Pashto		كال	[kɑl]	'year'
Polish[15]		buk	[ˈbuk]	'beech tree'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese[16]		corpo	[ˈkoɾpu]	'body'	See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi		ਕਰ	[kəɾ]	'do'	Contrasts with aspirated form.
Romanian[17]		când	[ˈkɨnd]	'when'	See Romanian phonology
Russian[18]		короткий	[kɐˈrotkʲɪj]	'short'	See Russian phonology
Slovak		kosť	[ko̞sc̟]	'bone'	See Slovak phonology
Spanish[19]		casa	[ˈkasa]	'house'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish		ko	[ˈkʰuː]	'cow'	See Swedish phonology
Telugu		కాకి	[kāki]	'crow'
Turkish		kulak	[kʰuɫäk]	'ear'	See Turkish phonology
Ubykh		/kawar/		'slat'	Found mostly in loanwords. See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian		колесо	[ˈkɔɫɛsɔ]	'wheel'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese[20]		cam	[kam]	'orange'	See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian		keal	[kɪəl]	'calf'	See West Frisian phonology
Yi		ꇰ/ge	[kɤ˧]	'foolish'	Contrasts aspirated and unaspirated forms.
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[21]	canza	[kanza]	'walking'

See also

• Hard and soft C
• Index of phonetics articles

References

Bibliography