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Voiced bilabial fricative
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨β⟩ in IPA

The voiced bilabial fricative is a consonantal sound represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by the Greek letter beta (⟨β⟩) and in X-SAMPA as B. It contrasts rarely with the bilabial approximant, notably in the Mapos Buang language of New Guinea. This sound is diachronically unstable and often shifts to [v]. While uncommon in English, it occurs in Chicano English and can appear as an allophone of /v/ after bilabial consonants. The bilabial approximant, related but distinct, is sometimes transcribed with additional diacritics or proposed alternative symbols, though none are universally accepted.

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Features

Features of the voiced bilabial fricative:

Occurrence

Voiced bilabial fricative

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Akei[βati]'four'
Alekanohanuva[hɑnɯβɑ]'nothing'
Angorfufung[ɸuβuŋ]'horn'
BengaliEastern dialectsভিসা[βisa]'Visa'Allophone of /v/ in Bangladesh and Tripura; /bʱ/ used in Western dialects.
Berta[βɑ̀lɑ̀ːziʔ]'no'
Catalan8abans[əˈβans]'before'Approximant or fricative. Allophone of /b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and /v/ merging) dialects. See Catalan phonology
Chinese dialectsFuzhou9初八 chĕ̤ báik[t͡sœ˥˧βaiʔ˨˦]'eighth day of the month'Allophone of /p/ and /pʰ/ in certain intervocalic positions.10
Suburban Shanghainese碗盞 ve tse[βe̝˧˧˦tsɛ̝˥]'bowl'Usually [ɦu] or [u] in other Wu dialects11
Comorianupvendza[uβendza]'to love'Contrasts with both [v] and [w]
CopticBohairicⲧⲱⲃⲓ[ˈdoːβi]'brick'Shifted to [w] with a syllable coda allophone of [b] in a later stage.
Sahidicⲧⲱⲱⲃⲉ[ˈtoːβə]
Dahalo12[koːβo]'to want'Weak fricative or approximant. It is a common intervocalic allophone of /b/, and may be simply a plosive [b] instead.13
EnglishSome dialectsupvote[ˈʌpˌβoʊt]'upvote'Less-common allophone of /v/ after [p], [b], or [m] (the more-common alteration being the shifting of the earlier consonant to [p̪], [b̪], or [ɱ], respectively, although [p̪v]/[b̪v]/[ɱv] exist in free variation with [pβ]/[bβ]/[mβ]).
Chicanovery[βɛɹi]'very'May be realized as [b] instead.
Ewe14Eʋe[èβe]'Ewe'Contrasts with both [v] and [w]
Fijianivava[iβa:βa:]'shoe'
German1516aber[ˈaːβɐ]'but'Intervocalic and pre-lateral allophone of /b/ in casual speech.1718 See Standard German phonology
Hopitsivot[tsi:βot]'five'
Japanese19神戸/kōbe[ko̞ːβe̞]'Kobe'Allophone of /b/ only in fast speech between vowels. See Japanese phonology
Kabylebri[βri]'to cut'
Kinyarwandaabana[aβa:na]'children'
Korean추후/chuhu/追後[ˈt͡ɕʰuβʷu]'later'Intervocalic allophone of /h/ before /u/ and /w/. See Korean phonology
LuhyaWanga DialectNabongo[naβonɡo]'title for a king'
Mapos Buang20venġévsën[βəˈɴɛβt͡ʃen]'prayer'Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as ⟨v⟩, and the approximant as ⟨w⟩.21
Nepaliसभा[sʌβä]'Meeting'Allophone of /bʱ/. See Nepali phonology
PortugueseEuropean2223sábado[ˈsaβɐðu]'Saturday'Allophone of /b/. See Portuguese phonology
RipuarianColognianwing[βɪŋ]'wine'Allophone of syllable-initial /v/ for some speakers; can be [ʋ ~ w ~ ɰ] instead. See Colognian phonology
SardinianLogudorese24paba[ˈpäːβä]ⓘ'pope'Intervocalic allophone of /b/ as well as word-initial /p/ when the preceding word ends with a vowel and there is no pause between the words.25
Turkish26vücut[βy̠ˈd͡ʒut̪]'body'Allophone of /v/ before and after rounded vowels.27 See Turkish phonology
Turkmenwatan[βatan]'country'
Venda28davha/daβa/'work party held by one who wants to have the land ploughed or cultivated'Contrasts with /v/ and /w/
ZapotecTilquiapan29[example needed]Allophone of /b/

Bilabial approximant

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Amharic30አበባ[aβ̞əβ̞a]'flower'Allophone of /b/ medially between sonorants.31
Asturianabanicu[aβ̞aˈniku]'swing'Allophone of /b/
Basque32alaba[alaβ̞a]'daughter'Allophone of /b/
Catalan33abans[əˈβ̞ans]'before'Approximant or fricative. Allophone of /b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and /v/ merging) dialects. See Catalan phonology
Cia-Ciaᄫᅡᆯ루/walu[β̞alu]'eight'Allophone of /β/
DutchSouthern34wang[β̞aŋ]ⓘ'cheek'Labiovelar [ʋ] in northern Dutch.
Indonesiantawa[taβ̞a]'laugh'Allophone of /w/ by some younger speakers.
Japanese私/watashi[β̞ätäɕi]'me'Usually represented phonemically as /w/.35 See Japanese phonology
Katë36Westerndav[d̪aβ̞]'wood'Corresponds to [ʋʷ] and [v] in other dialects.
Kyrgyzооба[оːˈβ̞a]'yes'Allophone of /b/ medially between vowels.
Limburgish3738wèlle[ˈβ̞ɛ̝lə]'to want'The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Lombardel nava via[el ˈnaβ̞a ˈβ̞ia]'he was going away'Regular pronunciation of /v/ when intervocalic. Used also as an allophone for other positions.
Mapos Buang39wabeenġ[β̞aˈᵐbɛːɴ]'kind of yam'Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as {v}, and the approximant as {w}.40
OccitanGasconlavetz[laˈβ̞ets]'then'Allophone of /b/
RipuarianKerkrade41sjwaam[ʃβ̞aːm]'smoke'Weakly rounded; contrasts with /v/.42 See Kerkrade dialect phonology
Spanish43lava[ˈläβ̞ä]'lava'Ranges from close fricative to approximant.44 Allophone of /b/. See Spanish phonology
SwedishCentral Standard45aber[ˈɑːβ̞eɾ]'problem'Allophone of /b/ in casual speech. See Swedish phonology
Ukrainian46вона[β̞oˈnɑ]'she'An approximant; the most common prevocalic realization of /w/. Can vary with labiodental [ʋ].47 See Ukrainian phonology

See also

Notes

  • Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876
  • Engstrand, Olle (2004), Fonetikens grunder (in Swedish), Lund: Studenlitteratur, ISBN 91-44-04238-8
  • Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943
  • Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 29 (2), University of Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies: 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526, S2CID 145782045
  • Hayward, Katrina; Hayward, Richard J. (1999), "Amharic", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–50, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7, S2CID 249404451
  • Hualde, José Ignacio (1991), Basque phonology, New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-05655-7
  • Krech, Eva Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz-Christian (2009), Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6
  • Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.), Blackwell
  • Maddieson, Ian; Spajić, Siniša; Sands, Bonny; Ladefoged, Peter (1993), "Phonetic structures of Dahalo", in Maddieson, Ian (ed.), UCLA working papers in phonetics: Fieldwork studies of targeted languages, vol. 84, Los Angeles: The UCLA Phonetics Laboratory Group, pp. 25–65
  • Maekawa, Kikuo (2020), "Remarks on Japanese /w/", ICU Working Papers in Linguistics, 10: 45–52, doi:10.34577/00004625
  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana María; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373 (inactive 4 June 2025){{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2025 (link)
  • Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344 (inactive 4 June 2025){{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2025 (link)
  • Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000), The Phonology of Portuguese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823581-X
  • Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
  • Peters, Jörg (2006), "The dialect of Hasselt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 117–124, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002428
  • Picard, Marc (1987), "On the Palatalization and Fricativization of W", International Journal of American Linguistics, 53 (3): 362–365, doi:10.1086/466063, S2CID 144308172
  • Pope, Mildred (1966), From Latin to Modern French, Manchester: Manchester University Press
  • Quilis, Antonio (1981), Fonética acústica de la lengua española, Gredos, ISBN 9788424901325
  • Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997) [1987], Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (in Dutch) (2nd ed.), Kerkrade: Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer, ISBN 90-70246-34-1
  • Wheeler, Max W (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925814-7
  • Zhuqing, Li (2002), Fuzhou Phonology and Grammar, Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press, ISBN 9781881265931
  • Žovtobrjux, M.A.; Kulyk, B.M. (1965), Kurs sučasnoji ukrajins'koji literaturnoji movy. Častyna I., Kiev: Radjans’ka škola

References

  1. Ladefoged, Peter (1968). A Phonetic Study of West African Languages: An Auditory-instrumental Survey. p. 26. ↩

  2. Joyce Thambole Mogatse Mathangwane (1996). Phonetics and Phonology of Ikalanga: A Diachronic and Synchronic Study (PhD thesis). Berkeley: University of California. p. 79. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8m17f977 ↩

  3. Ball, Martin J.; Howard, Sara J.; Miller, Kirk (2018). "Revisions to the extIPA chart". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 48 (2): 155–164. doi:10.1017/S0025100317000147. S2CID 151863976. /wiki/Martin_J._Ball ↩

  4. Mose Lung Rambok; Hooley, Bruce (2010). Central Buang‒English Dictionary (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics Papua New Guinea Branch. ISBN 978-9980-0-3589-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. 978-9980-0-3589-9 ↩

  5. Fulk, R.D. (2018). A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages. Studies in Germanic Linguistics. Vol. 3. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p. 102. doi:10.1075/sigl.3. ISBN 978-90-272-6312-4. 978-90-272-6312-4 ↩

  6. Silvestri, Domenico (1998). "The Italic Languages". In Ramat, Anna Giacalone; Ramat, Paolo (eds.). The Indo-European languages. Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 322–344. ↩

  7. Picard (1987:364), citing Pope (1966:92) - Picard, Marc (1987), "On the Palatalization and Fricativization of W", International Journal of American Linguistics, 53 (3): 362–365, doi:10.1086/466063, S2CID 144308172 https://doi.org/10.1086%2F466063 ↩

  8. Wheeler (2005:10) - Wheeler, Max W (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925814-7 ↩

  9. Zhuqing (2002:?) - Zhuqing, Li (2002), Fuzhou Phonology and Grammar, Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press, ISBN 9781881265931 ↩

  10. Zhuqing (2002:?) - Zhuqing, Li (2002), Fuzhou Phonology and Grammar, Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press, ISBN 9781881265931 ↩

  11. Zhao, Yuan Ren (1928). 現代吳語的研究 "Study on Modern Wu Chinese". 商務印書館. ISBN 9787100086202. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) 9787100086202 ↩

  12. Maddieson et al. (1993:34) - Maddieson, Ian; Spajić, Siniša; Sands, Bonny; Ladefoged, Peter (1993), "Phonetic structures of Dahalo", in Maddieson, Ian (ed.), UCLA working papers in phonetics: Fieldwork studies of targeted languages, vol. 84, Los Angeles: The UCLA Phonetics Laboratory Group, pp. 25–65 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8k45g432 ↩

  13. Maddieson et al. (1993:34) - Maddieson, Ian; Spajić, Siniša; Sands, Bonny; Ladefoged, Peter (1993), "Phonetic structures of Dahalo", in Maddieson, Ian (ed.), UCLA working papers in phonetics: Fieldwork studies of targeted languages, vol. 84, Los Angeles: The UCLA Phonetics Laboratory Group, pp. 25–65 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8k45g432 ↩

  14. Ladefoged (2005:156) - Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.), Blackwell ↩

  15. Krech et al. (2009:108) - Krech, Eva Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz-Christian (2009), Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6 ↩

  16. Sylvia Moosmüller (2007). "Vowels in Standard Austrian German: An Acoustic-Phonetic and Phonological Analysis" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved March 9, 2013.. This source mentions only intervocalic [β]. http://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/publications/habil_2007may28_tableofcontents_zus_final.pdf ↩

  17. Krech et al. (2009:108) - Krech, Eva Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz-Christian (2009), Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6 ↩

  18. Sylvia Moosmüller (2007). "Vowels in Standard Austrian German: An Acoustic-Phonetic and Phonological Analysis" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved March 9, 2013.. This source mentions only intervocalic [β]. http://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/publications/habil_2007may28_tableofcontents_zus_final.pdf ↩

  19. Okada (1999:118) - Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0 https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_jpn_phon-2 ↩

  20. Mose Lung Rambok; Hooley, Bruce (2010). Central Buang‒English Dictionary (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics Papua New Guinea Branch. ISBN 978-9980-0-3589-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. 978-9980-0-3589-9 ↩

  21. Mose Lung Rambok; Hooley, Bruce (2010). Central Buang‒English Dictionary (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics Papua New Guinea Branch. ISBN 978-9980-0-3589-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. 978-9980-0-3589-9 ↩

  22. Cruz-Ferreira (1995:92) - Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300005223 ↩

  23. Mateus & d'Andrade (2000:11) - Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000), The Phonology of Portuguese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823581-X ↩

  24. (Italian) http://www.antoninurubattu.it/rubattu/grammatica-sarda-italiano-sardo.html Archived 2015-01-01 at the Wayback Machine http://www.antoninurubattu.it/rubattu/grammatica-sarda-italiano-sardo.html ↩

  25. (Italian) http://www.antoninurubattu.it/rubattu/grammatica-sarda-italiano-sardo.html Archived 2015-01-01 at the Wayback Machine http://www.antoninurubattu.it/rubattu/grammatica-sarda-italiano-sardo.html ↩

  26. Göksel & Kerslake (2005:6) - Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943 ↩

  27. Göksel & Kerslake (2005:6) - Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943 ↩

  28. Madiba, M; Nkomo, D (2010-12-13). "The Tshivenda–English Thalusamaipfi/Dictionary as a Product of South African Lexicographic Processes". Lexikos. 20 (1). doi:10.4314/lex.v20i1.62719. hdl:11427/8892. ISSN 1684-4904. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/lex.v20i1.62719 ↩

  29. Merrill (2008:109) - Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344 (inactive 4 June 2025) https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100308003344 ↩

  30. Hayward & Hayward (1999:48) - Hayward, Katrina; Hayward, Richard J. (1999), "Amharic", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–50, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7, S2CID 249404451 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874 ↩

  31. Hayward & Hayward (1999:48) - Hayward, Katrina; Hayward, Richard J. (1999), "Amharic", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–50, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7, S2CID 249404451 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874 ↩

  32. Hualde (1991:99–100) - Hualde, José Ignacio (1991), Basque phonology, New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-05655-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=PBqPPLE2iXEC ↩

  33. Wheeler (2005:10) - Wheeler, Max W (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925814-7 ↩

  34. Booij (1999), p. 8. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFBooij1999 (help) ↩

  35. Maekawa (2020). - Maekawa, Kikuo (2020), "Remarks on Japanese /w/", ICU Working Papers in Linguistics, 10: 45–52, doi:10.34577/00004625 https://doi.org/10.34577%2F00004625 ↩

  36. Halfmann, Jakob (2024). A Grammatical Description of the Katë Language (Nuristani) (PhD thesis). Köln: Universität zu Köln. https://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/73732/ ↩

  37. Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:155) - Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 29 (2), University of Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies: 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526, S2CID 145782045 http://gep.ruhosting.nl/carlos/gussenhoven_aarts.pdf ↩

  38. Peters (2006:117) - Peters, Jörg (2006), "The dialect of Hasselt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 117–124, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002428 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100306002428 ↩

  39. Mose Lung Rambok; Hooley, Bruce (2010). Central Buang‒English Dictionary (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics Papua New Guinea Branch. ISBN 978-9980-0-3589-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. 978-9980-0-3589-9 ↩

  40. Mose Lung Rambok; Hooley, Bruce (2010). Central Buang‒English Dictionary (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics Papua New Guinea Branch. ISBN 978-9980-0-3589-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. 978-9980-0-3589-9 ↩

  41. Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997:17) - Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997) [1987], Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (in Dutch) (2nd ed.), Kerkrade: Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer, ISBN 90-70246-34-1 ↩

  42. Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997:17) - Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997) [1987], Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (in Dutch) (2nd ed.), Kerkrade: Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer, ISBN 90-70246-34-1 ↩

  43. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:257) - Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana María; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373 (inactive 4 June 2025) https://www.academia.edu/11365507 ↩

  44. Phonetic studies such as Quilis (1981) have found that Spanish voiced stops may surface as spirants with various degrees of constriction. These allophones are not limited to regular fricative articulations, but range from articulations that involve a near complete oral closure to articulations involving a degree of aperture quite close to vocalization - Quilis, Antonio (1981), Fonética acústica de la lengua española, Gredos, ISBN 9788424901325 https://books.google.com/books?id=XjZdAAAAMAAJ ↩

  45. Engstrand (2004:167) - Engstrand, Olle (2004), Fonetikens grunder (in Swedish), Lund: Studenlitteratur, ISBN 91-44-04238-8 ↩

  46. Žovtobrjux & Kulyk (1965:121–122) - Žovtobrjux, M.A.; Kulyk, B.M. (1965), Kurs sučasnoji ukrajins'koji literaturnoji movy. Častyna I., Kiev: Radjans’ka škola ↩

  47. Žovtobrjux & Kulyk (1965:121–122) - Žovtobrjux, M.A.; Kulyk, B.M. (1965), Kurs sučasnoji ukrajins'koji literaturnoji movy. Častyna I., Kiev: Radjans’ka škola ↩