voiced velar approximant

{{Short description|Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɰ⟩ in IPA}}

{{for|the Armenian letter պ|Pe (Armenian)}}

{{for|the Cyrillic letter Ꚇ|Abkhazian Che#Cche}}

{{distinguish|Labio-velar approximant}}

{{Infobox IPA

|ipa symbol=ɰ

|ipa number=154

|decimal=624

|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x0270.svg

|imagesize=150px

|x-sampa=M\

|kirshenbaum=j<vel>

|braille=“

|braille2=m

}}

The voiced velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|ɰ}}, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is M\.

The consonant is absent in English, but may be approximated by making {{IPAblink|ɡ}} but with the tongue body lowered or {{IPAblink|w}} but with the lips apart. The voiced velar approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic counterpart of the close back unrounded vowel {{IPA|[ɯ]}}. {{angbr IPA|ɰ}} and {{angbr IPA|ɯ̯}} with the non-syllabic diacritic are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

In some languages, such as Spanish, the voiced velar approximant is an allophone of {{IPA|/g/}} – see below.

The symbol for the velar approximant originates from {{angbr IPA|ɯ}}, but with a vertical line. Compare {{angbr IPA|u}} and {{angbr IPA|ɥ}} for the labio-palatal approximant.

Features

Features of the voiced velar approximant:

{{approximant}} The most common type of this approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of {{IPA|[ɰ]}} from the {{IPAblink|ɯ}} 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). For a description of the approximant consonant variant used e.g. in Spanish, see below.

{{velar}}

{{voiced}}

{{oral}}

{{central articulation}}

{{pulmonic}}

Occurrence

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Language !! Word !! IPA !! Meaning !! Notes

colspan="2" | Aragonese{{sfnp|Mott|2007|pp=104–105}}{{lang|an|caixigo}}{{IPA|[kajˈʃiɣ̞o̞]}}'oak tree'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.
rowspan="4" | Astur-LeoneseAsturian{{fix|text=example needed|date=July 2016}}rowspan="4" | Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.
Extremaduran{{fix|text=example needed|date=July 2016}}
Leonese{{fix|text=example needed|date=July 2016}}
Mirandese{{fix|text=example needed|date=July 2016}}
colspan="2" | Catalan{{sfnp|Carbonell|Llisterri|1992|p=55}}{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=204}}{{lang|ca|aigua}}{{IPA|[ˈajɣ̞wə]}}'water'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.{{sfnp|Carbonell|Llisterri|1992|p=55}}{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=204}} See Catalan phonology
colspan="2" | Cherokee {{lang|chr-Latn|wa-tsi}}{{IPA|[ɰad͡ʒi]}}'watch'Found only in the Western dialect. Its equivalent in other dialects is [w]. Also represented by Ꮺ, Ꮻ, Ꮼ, Ꮽ, and Ꮾ
DanishOlder speakers{{sfnp|Grønnum|2005|p=123}}{{lang|da|talg}}{{IPA|[ˈtsʰalˀɣ̞]}}'tallow'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Still used by some older speakers in high register, much more commonly than a fricative {{IPAblink|ɣ}}.{{sfnp|Grønnum|2005|p=123}} Depending on the environment, it corresponds to {{IPA|[w]}} or {{IPAblink|j}} in young speakers of contemporary Standard Danish.{{sfnp|Basbøll|2005|pp=211–212}} See Danish phonology
DutchWestern East Flemish{{sfnp|Taeldeman|1979}}Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Corresponds to a fricative {{IPAblink|ɣ}} in other dialects.{{sfnp|Taeldeman|1979}}
FrenchBelgian{{sfnp|Demolin|2001|pp=65, 71}}{{lang|fr|ara}}{{IPA|[aɣ̞a]}}'macaw'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Intervocalic, word-internal allophone of {{IPA|/ʀ/}} for some speakers.{{sfnp|Demolin|2001|pp=65, 71}} See French phonology
colspan="2" | Galician{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=203–204}}{{lang|gl|auga}}{{IPA|[ˈɑwɣ̞ɑ]}}'water'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=203–204}} See Galician phonology
GreekCypriot{{sfnp|Arvaniti|1999|p=174}}{{lang|el|μαγαζί}}{{IPA|[maɰaˈzi]}}'shop'Allophone of {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.
rowspan="2" | Guarani

|

{{lang|gn|gotyo}}{{IPA|[ɰoˈtɨo]}}'near, close to'Contrasts with {{IPA|[w]}}
Ñandewa Paulista-Paranaense{{Sfnp|Costa|2012|p=78}}

|

|{{IPA|[adʒaˈɰa]}}

|'I cut'

|Contrasts with {{IPAblink|ɡ}}.{{Sfnp|Costa|2012|p=78}}

colspan="2" | Hiwter̄og{{IPA|[təɡ͡ʟɔɣ̞]}}'peace'Contrasts with {{IPA|/w/}} and with {{IPA|/ɡ͡ʟ/}}.{{sfnp|François|2010|pp=397-400}}
colspan="2" |Ibibio{{sfnp|Urua|2004|p=106}}ufok{{IPA|[úfʌ̟̀ɰɔ̞]}}{{fix|text=translation needed|date=October 2015}}Intervocalic allophone of {{IPA|/k/}}; may be a uvular tap {{IPAblink|ɢ̆}} instead.{{sfnp|Urua|2004|p=106}}
colspan="2" | Icelandic{{lang|is|saga}}{{IPA|[ˈs̺äːɣ̞ä]}}'saga'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. See Icelandic phonology
colspan="2" | Irish{{lang|ga|naoi}}{{IPA|[n̪ˠɰiː]}}'nine'Occurs only between broad consonants and front vowels. See Irish phonology
colspan="2" | Korean{{lang|ko|의사}} / {{lang|ko-Latn|uisa}}{{IPA|[ɰisɐ]}}'doctor'Occurs only before {{IPA|/i/}}. See Korean phonology
colspan="2" | Mwotlaphaghag{{IPA|[haɣ̞haɣ̞]}}'sit'Contrasts with {{IPA|[w]}}.{{sfnp|François|2001|p=60}}
colspan="2" | Shipibo{{sfnp|Valenzuela|Márquez Pinedo|Maddieson|2001|p=282}}{{lang|shp|igi}}{{IPA|[i̞ɣ̞i̞]}}{{fix|text=translation needed|date=January 2016}}Unspecified for rounding; varies between an approximant and a fricative. Allophone of {{IPA|/k/}} in certain high-frequency morphemes.{{sfnp|Valenzuela|Márquez Pinedo|Maddieson|2001|p=282}}
colspan="2" | Spanish{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=202–204}}{{lang|es|pagar}}{{Audio-IPA|Es_pagar.ogg|[päˈɣ̞äɾ]|help=no}}'to pay'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=202–204}} See Spanish phonology
SwedishCentral Standard{{sfnp|Engstrand|2004|p=167}}{{lang|sv|agronom}}{{nowrap|{{IPA|[äɣ̞ɾʊˈn̪oːm]}}}}'agronomist'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} in casual speech. See Swedish phonology
colspan="2" | Tagalogigriega''{{IPA|[iːɡɾɪˈje̞ɣ̞ɐ]}}'y (letter)'Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; intervocalic allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}. See Tagalog phonology
colspan="2" | Tiwi{{lang|tiw|ngaga}}{{IPA|[ˈŋaɰa]}}'we (inclusive)'
Vietnamese

|Southern

gà{{nowrap|{{IPA|[ɣ̞a:˨˩]}}}}'chicken'Typical realization of {{IPA|/ɡɣ/ or /ɣ/}} in other dialects. Variant is in complementary distribution before open vowels.

=Pre-velar=

{{Infobox IPA

|above=Voiced pre-velar approximant

|ipa symbol=ɰ˖

|ipa symbol2=j˗

|ipa symbol3=ɨ̯

|x-sampa=j-

|kirshenbaum=j"

}}

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Language !! Word !! IPA !! Meaning !! Notes

colspan="2" | Spanish{{sfnp|Canellada|Madsen|1987|p=21}}{{lang|es|seguir|italic=yes}}{{Audio-IPA|Es-seguir.ogg|[se̞ˈɣ̞iɾ]|help=no}}'to follow'Approximant consonant. Lenited allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before front vowels;{{sfnp|Canellada|Madsen|1987|p=21}} typically transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ɣ}}. See Spanish phonology
TurkishStandard prescriptive{{sfnp|Zimmer|Orgun|1999|p=155}}{{lang|tr|ğün|italic=yes}}{{IPA|[ˈd̪y̠jy̠n̪]}}'marriage'Either post-palatal or palatal; phonetic realization of {{IPA|/ɣ/}} (also transcribed as {{IPA|/ɰ/}}) before front vowels.{{sfnp|Zimmer|Orgun|1999|p=155}} See Turkish phonology

{{clear}}

Voiced velar bunched approximant

{{Infobox IPA

|above=Voiced velar bunched approximant

|ipa symbol=ɹ̈

|x-sampa=r\_"

}}

Some languages have a velar approximant that is produced with the body of the tongue bunched up at the velum and simultaneous pharyngealization. This gives rise to a type of retroflex resonance resembling {{IPAblink|ɻ}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=200}} The extension to the IPA recommends the use of the "centralized" diacritic combined with the IPA sign for the English alveolar approximant (as in {{angbr IPA|ɹ̈}}) to distinguish the bunched realization from the prototypical apical {{IPAblink|ɹ}}, which may be specified as {{angbr IPA|ɹ̺}}. Typically, the diacritic is omitted, so that the sound is transcribed simply with {{angbr IPA|ɹ}} or {{angbr IPA|ɻ}} (in broader transcriptions: {{angbr IPA|r}}), as if it were a coronal consonant.

In Dutch, this type of r is called {{lang|nl|Gooise r}} {{IPA|nl|ˌɣoːisə ˈʔɛr|}} 'Gooi r'. It is named after het Gooi, a region of the Netherlands where Hilversum (the main centre for television and radio broadcasting) is located.

=Features=

Features of the voiced velar bunched approximant:

{{approximant}} The body of the tongue is bunched up at the velum, rather than just approaching it as it is the case with the prototypical velar approximant.

{{velar}}

{{voiced}}

{{oral}}

{{central articulation}}

{{pulmonic}}

=Occurrence=

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Language !! Word !! IPA !! Meaning !! Notes

rowspan="2" | DutchRandstad varieties{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=200}}rowspan="2" | {{lang|nl|maar}}rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[ˈmaːɹ̈]}}rowspan="2" | 'but'Pre-velar. Common allophone of {{IPA|/r/}} in the syllable coda, where it contrasts with {{IPAblink|w}}. The bunching and pharyngealization may be lost in connected speech, resulting in a semivowel such as {{IPAblink|j}} or {{IPA|[ə̯]}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=200–1}} See Dutch phonology
Standard Northern{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=200}}Pre-velar. Common allophone of {{IPA|/r/}} in the syllable coda, where it contrasts with {{IPAblink|w}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=200}} See Dutch phonology
rowspan="2" | EnglishAmerican{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=225–6}}{{lang|en|red}}{{IPA|[ɹ̈ʷɛd]}}'red'Possible realization of {{IPA|/r/}}; indistinguishable from apical {{IPA|[ɹ̺]}}.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=225–6}} See Pronunciation of English /r/
Received Pronunciation{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=225–6}}{{lang|en|curious}}{{IPA|[ˈkj̊ʊːɹ̈iəs]}}'curious'Possible allophone of {{IPA|/r/}} before front vowels; indistinguishable from apical {{IPA|[ɹ̺]}}.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=225–6}} See Pronunciation of English /r/

Relation with {{IPA|[ɡ]}} and {{IPA|[ɣ]}}

Some languages have a voiced velar approximant that is unspecified for rounding, and therefore cannot be considered the semivocalic equivalent of either {{IPA|[ɯ]}} or its rounded counterpart {{IPAblink|u}}. Examples of such languages are Catalan, Galician and Spanish, in which the approximant consonant (not semivowel) unspecified for rounding appears as an allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=203–204}}

Eugenio Martínez Celdrán describes the voiced velar approximant consonant as follows:{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|pp=202–203}}

{{blockquote|text=

As for the symbol {{angbr IPA|ɰ}}, it is quite evidently inappropriate for representing the Spanish voiced velar approximant consonant. Many authors have pointed out the fact that {{IPA|[ɰ]}} is not rounded; for example, Pullum & Ladusaw (1986:98) state that 'the sound in question can be described as a semi-vowel (glide) with the properties "high", "back", and "unrounded"'. They even establish an interesting parallelism: 'the sound can be regarded as an unrounded {{IPAblink|w}}'. It is evident, then, that {{angbr IPA|ɰ}} is not an adequate symbol for Spanish. First of all, because it has never been taken into consideration that there is a diphthong in words like {{lang|es|paga}} 'pay', {{lang|es|vago}} 'lazy', {{lang|es|lego}} 'lay', etc., and, secondly, because this sound is rounded when it precedes rounded vowels. Besides, it would be utterly wrong to transcribe the word {{lang|es|jugo}} 'juice' with {{angbr IPA|ɰ}} *{{IPA|[ˈχuɰo]}}, because the pronunciation of that consonant between two rounded vowels is completely rounded whereas {{IPA|[ɰ]}} is not. [...]

The symbol I have always proposed is {{angbr IPA|ɣ̞}}, the correlate to the other central approximants in Spanish, {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|β̞}} {{IPAplink|ð̞}}]}} (Martínez Celdrán 1991, 1996:47). This coincides with Ball & Rahilly (1999:90), whose example for the three approximants is the Spanish word {{lang|es|abogado}} 'lawyer'[...]. Ball & Rahilly too criticise in a footnote the confusion between these symbols: 'The difference between an approximant version of the voiced velar fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and the velar semi-vowel {{IPA|[ɰ]}} is that the latter requires spread lips, and must have a slightly more open articulatory channel so that it becomes {{IPAblink|ɯ}} if prolonged' (p. 189, fn. 1).

}}

There is a parallel problem with transcribing the palatal approximant.

The symbol {{angbr IPA|ɣ̞}} may not display properly in all browsers. In that case, {{angbr IPA|ɣ˕}} should be substituted. In broader transcriptions,See e.g. {{Harvcoltxt|Carbonell|Llisterri|1992}}. the lowering diacritic may be omitted altogether, so that the symbol is rendered {{angbr IPA|ɣ}}, i.e. as if it represented the corresponding fricative.

See also

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

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{{Refend}}