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Voiced labial–velar approximant
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨w⟩ in IPA

The voiced labial–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; likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w⟩, or rarely [ɰʷ], and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel [u]. In inventory charts of languages with other labialized velar consonants, /w/ will be placed in the same column as those consonants. When consonant charts have only labial and velar columns, /w/ may be placed in the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both. The placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.

Some languages have a voiced labial–prevelar approximant, which is more fronted than the place of articulation of the prototypical voiced labialized velar approximant, though not as front as the prototypical labialized palatal approximant.

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Features

Features of the voiced labial–velar approximant:

  • Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream. The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of /w/ from the /u/ vowel position to a following vowel position. The term semivowel emphasizes that, although the sound is vocalic in nature, it is not 'syllabic' (it does not form the nucleus of a syllable).
  • Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips. Some languages, such as Japanese and perhaps the Northern Iroquoian languages, have a sound typically transcribed as [w] where the lips are compressed (or at least not rounded), which is a true labial–velar (as opposed to labialized velar) consonant. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol [w] in such cases, or may use the under-rounding diacritic, [w̜].
  • Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
  • 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.
  • Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Abkhazауаҩы/awawë[awaˈɥə]'human'See Abkhaz phonology
AlemannicBernese GermanGiel[ɡ̊iə̯w]'boy'Allophone of [l]
ArabicModern Standard4وَرْد/ward[ward]'rose'See Arabic phonology
Assameseৱাশ্বিংটন/Wašińton[wasiŋtɔn]'Washington'
Basquelau[law]'four'
Belarusianвоўк/voŭk[vɔwk]'wolf'See Belarusian phonology
Bengaliওয়াদা/wada[wada]'promise'Fortitional allophone of the semivowels [o̯] and [u̯], especially in loan words. See Bengali phonology
Berberⴰⵡⴰⵍ/äwäl[æwæl]'speech'
Bretonnav[ˈnaw]'nine'
BulgarianColloquialлопата/lopata[wo'patɐ]'shovel'Contemporary pronunciation of /ɫ/, an ongoing sound change. See Bulgarian phonology.
Pernik dialectsThis dialect has a long-standing tradition of pronouncing /ɫ/ as /w/, similar to the Polish language. Independent of the similar sound change happening in the standard language.
Standard Bulgarianуиски/uiski['wisk̟i]'whiskey'Appears in borrowings. See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan5quart[ˈkwɑɾt]'fourth'Post-lexically after /k/ and /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology
ChineseCantonese挖/waat[wɑːt̚˧]ⓘ'dig'See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin挖/wā[wa̠˥]ⓘSee Mandarin phonology
Danishhav[hɑw]'ocean'Allophone of [v]
DutchColloquialkouwe[ˈkʌu̯wə]'cold'Lenited allophone of /d/ after /ʌu̯/. See Dutch phonology
Standard Surinamesewelp[wɛɫp]'cub'May also occur in this context in some continental Dutch accents and/or dialects.67 Corresponds to [ʋ] in most of the Netherlands and to [β̞] in Belgium and (southern) parts of the Netherlands. See Dutch phonology
Englishweep[wiːp]'weep'See English phonology
French8oui[wi]'yes'See French phonology
GermanSchuhe[ʃuːwə]'shoes'Allophone of silent /h/ after /u/
Hawaiian9wikiwiki[witiwiti]'fast'May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology
HebrewMizrahiכּוֹחַ/kowaḥ[ˈkowaħ]'power'See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani10Hindiविश्वास/višwas[ʋɪʃwaːs]'believe'See Hindustani phonology
Urduvišwas/وشواس
Irishvóta[ˈwoːt̪ˠə]'vote'See Irish phonology
Italian11uomo[ˈwɔːmo]'man'See Italian phonology
Kabardianуэ/wa[wa]ⓘ'you'
Kazakhауа/awa[awa]'air'
Korean왜가리/waegari[wɛɡɐɾi]'heron'See Korean phonology
Laoຫວານ/wan[wǎːn]'sweet'See Lao phonology
Luxembourgish12zwee[t͡swe̝ː]'two'Allophone of /v/ after /k, t͡s, ʃ/.13 See Luxembourgish phonology
Malaywang[waŋ]'money'
Malayalamഉവ്വ/uvva[uwːɐ]'Yes'/ʋ/ around rounded vowels for some speakers.
MayanYucatecwitz[wit͡s]'mountain'
Mongolгавал/ᠭᠠᠪᠠᠯᠠ[ɢaw̜əɮ]'skull'
Nepaliहावा/hawa[ɦäwä]'wind'See Nepali phonology
Odia14ଅଗ୍ରୱାଲ୍/ogrowal[ɔgɾɔwäl]'Agrawal'
Pashtoﻭﺍﺭ/war[wɑr]'one time'
PersianDariوَرزِش/warziš[warzɪʃ]'sport'may approach /ʋ/ in some regional dialects.
Iranian Persianنَو/now[now]'new'Only as a diphthong or colloquially.
Polish15łaska[ˈwäskä]ⓘ'grace'See Polish phonology. Corresponds to [ɫ] in older pronunciation and eastern dialects
Portuguese16Most dialectsquando[ˈkwɐ̃du]'when'Post-lexically after /k/ and /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology
boa[ˈbow.wɐ]'good' (f.)Epenthetic glide or allophone of /u/, following a stressed rounded vowel and preceding an unrounded one.17
General Brazilianqual[ˈkwaw]'which'Allophone of /l/ in coda position for most Brazilian dialects.18
Romaniandulău[d̪uˈl̪əw]'mastiff'See Romanian phonology
Russianволк/volk[wou̯k]'wolf'Southern dialects.
Serbo-CroatianCroatian19vuk[wûːk]'wolf'Allophone of /ʋ/ before /u/.20 See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Sericmiique[ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ]'person'Allophone of /m/
Slovene2122cerkev[ˈt͡sèːrkəw]'church'Allophone of /ʋ/ in the syllable coda.2324 Voiceless [ʍ] before voiceless consonants. See Slovene phonology
Sothosewa[ˈsewa]'epidemic'See Sesotho phonology
Svanკუ̂ენ/k'wen[kʼwen]'marten'
Spanish25cuanto[ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞]'as much'See Spanish phonology
Swahilimwanafunzi[mwɑnɑfunzi]'student'
SwedishCentral Standard26Labialized approximant consonant; allophone of /ɡ/ in casual speech before the protruded vowels /ɔ, oː/. See Swedish phonology
Tagalogaraw[ˈɐɾaw]'day'See Tagalog phonology
Thaiแหวน/waen[wɛ̌ːn]'ring'See Thai phonology
Vietnamese27Standarduỷ[ʔwi˧˩]'to delegate'See Vietnamese phonology
Southernquê[wej˧˧]'hometown'
Ukrainianлюбов/lübov[lʲubɔw]'love'See Ukrainian phonology
Welshgwae[ɡwaɨ]'woe'See Welsh phonology
West Frisianskowe[skoːwə]'to shove'

See also

Notes

  • 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, S2CID 249411809
  • Engstrand, Olle (2004), Fonetikens grunder (in Swedish), Lund: Studenlitteratur, ISBN 91-44-04238-8
  • Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L. (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451
  • France, Angela (2004). "Problemas na variante tensa da fala carioca" [Problems with tense variant of carioca speech]. DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada (in Portuguese). 20 (spe). São Paulo: 33–58. doi:10.1590/S0102-44502004000300005. ISSN 0102-4450.
  • Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278
  • 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
  • Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (2nd ed.), Blackwell
  • 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, S2CID 249404451
  • 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
  • Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.

References

  1. Guidelines for Transcription of English Consonants and Vowels (PDF); see the examples on the fifth page. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ohalad/Phonetics/docs/TransGuid.PDF ↩

  2. Ohala & Lorentz (1977), p. 577. - 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 http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/PhonLab/users/ohala/papers/story_of_w.pdf ↩

  3. Instead of "pre-velar", it can be called "advanced velar", "fronted velar", "front-velar", "palato-velar", "post-palatal", "retracted palatal" or "backed palatal". ↩

  4. Watson (2002), p. 13. - Watson, Janet (2002), The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, New York: Oxford University Press ↩

  5. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 55. - Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618, S2CID 249411809 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004618 ↩

  6. "Recording dialect from Egmond aan Zee (Bergen), North Holland)". www.meertens.knaw.nl. Retrieved 26 January 2022. https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/ndb/soundbites.php?p=E041p ↩

  7. "Recording and video from dialect of Katwijk, South Holland". YouTube. Retrieved 26 January 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsnQaXSuMso&t=97s ↩

  8. Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 75. - Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L. (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874 ↩

  9. Pukui & Elbert (1986), p. xvii. - Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, ISBN 0-8248-0703-0 ↩

  10. Ladefoged (2005), p. 141. - Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (2nd ed.), Blackwell ↩

  11. Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117. - Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001628 ↩

  12. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 67, 69. - Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000278 ↩

  13. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 69. - Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000278 ↩

  14. Masica (1991), p. 107. - Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2. ↩

  15. Jassem (2003), p. 103. - Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100303001191 ↩

  16. Barbosa & Albano (2004), p. 230. - Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001756 ↩

  17. France (2004). - France, Angela (2004). "Problemas na variante tensa da fala carioca" [Problems with tense variant of carioca speech]. DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada (in Portuguese). 20 (spe). São Paulo: 33–58. doi:10.1590/S0102-44502004000300005. ISSN 0102-4450. https://doi.org/10.1590%2FS0102-44502004000300005 ↩

  18. Barbosa & Albano (2004), p. 230. - Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001756 ↩

  19. Landau et al. (1999), p. 68. - 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 ↩

  20. Landau et al. (1999), p. 68. - 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 ↩

  21. Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999), p. 136. - 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, S2CID 249404451 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874 ↩

  22. Greenberg (2006), p. 18. - Greenberg, Mark L. (2006), A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene, Kansas: University of Kansas http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/mainframe.jsp?nLanguageID=8 ↩

  23. Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999), p. 136. - 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, S2CID 249404451 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874 ↩

  24. Greenberg (2006), p. 18. - Greenberg, Mark L. (2006), A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene, Kansas: University of Kansas http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/mainframe.jsp?nLanguageID=8 ↩

  25. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 256. - 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 https://www.academia.edu/11365507 ↩

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

  27. Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461. - Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language, 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232 https://doi.org/10.2307%2F411232 ↩