Voiced velar approximant

Template:Short description Template:For Template:For Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox IPA

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 Template:Angbr IPA, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is M\.

The consonant is absent in English, but may be approximated by making Template:IPAblink but with the tongue body lowered or Template:IPAblink but with the lips apart. The voiced velar approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic counterpart of the close back unrounded vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA 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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}} – see below.

The symbol for the velar approximant originates from Template:Angbr IPA, but with a vertical line. Compare Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA for the labio-palatal approximant.

FeaturesEdit

Features of the voiced velar approximant:

Template:Approximant The most common type of this approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} from the Template:IPAblink 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. Template:Velar Template:Voiced Template:Oral Template:Central articulation Template:Pulmonic

OccurrenceEdit

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Aragonese Template:Sfnp		lang}}	main}}	'oak tree'	main}}.
Astur-Leonese	Asturian	Template:Fix			Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding; allophone of {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}.
	Extremaduran	Template:Fix
	Leonese	Template:Fix
	Mirandese	Template:Fix
Catalan Template:Sfnp Template:Sfnp		lang}}	main}}	'water'	main}}.Template:Sfnp Template:Sfnp See Catalan phonology
Cherokee		ᏩᏥ {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	main}}	'watch'	Found only in the Western dialect. Its equivalent in other dialects is [w]. Also represented by Ꮺ, Ꮻ, Ꮼ, Ꮽ, and Ꮾ
Danish	Older speakersTemplate:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'tallow'	Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Still used by some older speakers in high register, much more commonly than a fricative Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp Depending on the environment, it corresponds to {{#invoke:IPA\|main}} or Template:IPAblink in young speakers of contemporary Standard Danish.Template:Sfnp See Danish phonology
Dutch	Western East Flemish Template:Sfnp				Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Corresponds to a fricative Template:IPAblink in other dialects.Template:Sfnp
French	Belgian Template:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'macaw'	main}} for some speakers.Template:Sfnp See French phonology
Galician Template:Sfnp		lang}}	main}}	'water'	main}}.Template:Sfnp See Galician phonology
Greek	Cypriot Template:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'shop'	main}}.
Guarani		lang}}	main}}	'near, close to'	main}}
Guarani	Ñandewa Paulista-Paranaense Template:Sfnp		main}}	'I cut'	Contrasts with Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
Hiw		ter̄og	main}}	'peace'	main}} and with {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}.Template:Sfnp
Ibibio Template:Sfnp		ufokọ	main}}	Template:Fix	main}}; may be a uvular tap Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp
Icelandic		lang}}	main}}	'saga'	Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. See Icelandic phonology
Irish		lang}}	main}}	'nine'	Occurs only between broad consonants and front vowels. See Irish phonology
Korean		lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	main}}	'doctor'	main}}. See Korean phonology
Mwotlap		haghag	main}}	'sit'	main}}.Template:Sfnp
Shipibo Template:Sfnp		lang}}	main}}	Template:Fix	main}} in certain high-frequency morphemes.Template:Sfnp
Spanish Template:Sfnp		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'to pay'	main}}.Template:Sfnp See Spanish phonology
Swedish	Central StandardTemplate:Sfnp	lang}}	Template:Nowrap	'agronomist'	main}} in casual speech. See Swedish phonology
Tagalog		igriega	main}}	'y (letter)'	main}}. See Tagalog phonology
Tiwi		lang}}	main}}	'we (inclusive)'
Vietnamese	Southern	gà	Template:Nowrap	'chicken'	main}} in other dialects. Variant is in complementary distribution before open vowels.

Pre-velarEdit

Template:Infobox IPA

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Spanish Template:Sfnp		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'to follow'	main}} before front vowels;Template:Sfnp typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Spanish phonology
Turkish	Standard prescriptiveTemplate:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'marriage'	main}} (also transcribed as {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}) before front vowels.Template:Sfnp See Turkish phonology

Voiced velar bunched approximantEdit

Template:Infobox IPA 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 Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp The extension to the IPA recommends the use of the "centralized" diacritic combined with the IPA sign for the English alveolar approximant (as in Template:Angbr IPA) to distinguish the bunched realization from the prototypical apical Template:IPAblink, which may be specified as Template:Angbr IPA. Typically, the diacritic is omitted, so that the sound is transcribed simply with Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA (in broader transcriptions: Template:Angbr IPA), as if it were a coronal consonant.

In Dutch, this type of r is called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} '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.

FeaturesEdit

Features of the voiced velar bunched approximant:

Template: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. Template:Velar Template:Voiced Template:Oral Template:Central articulation Template:Pulmonic

OccurrenceEdit

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Dutch	Randstad varietiesTemplate:Sfnp	{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	'but'	main}} in the syllable coda, where it contrasts with Template:IPAblink. The bunching and pharyngealization may be lost in connected speech, resulting in a semivowel such as Template:IPAblink or {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
Dutch	Standard NorthernTemplate:Sfnp	{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	'but'	main}} in the syllable coda, where it contrasts with Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
English	American Template:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'red'	main}}; indistinguishable from apical {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}.Template:Sfnp See Pronunciation of English /r/
English	Received Pronunciation Template:Sfnp	lang}}	main}}	'curious'	main}} before front vowels; indistinguishable from apical {{#invoke:IPA\|main}}.Template:Sfnp See Pronunciation of English /r/

Relation with {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}Edit

Some languages have a voiced velar approximant that is unspecified for rounding, and therefore cannot be considered the semivocalic equivalent of either {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or its rounded counterpart Template:IPAblink. Examples of such languages are Catalan, Galician and Spanish, in which the approximant consonant (not semivowel) unspecified for rounding appears as an allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp

Eugenio Martínez Celdrán describes the voiced velar approximant consonant as follows:Template:Sfnp

As for the symbol Template:Angbr IPA, it is quite evidently inappropriate for representing the Spanish voiced velar approximant consonant. Many authors have pointed out the fact that {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 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 Template:IPAblink'. It is evident, then, that Template:Angbr IPA 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'pay', {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'lazy', {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'lay', etc., and, secondly, because this sound is rounded when it precedes rounded vowels. Besides, it would be utterly wrong to transcribe the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'juice' with Template:Angbr IPA *{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, because the pronunciation of that consonant between two rounded vowels is completely rounded whereas {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is not. [...]

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

The symbol Template:Angbr IPA may not display properly in all browsers. In that case, Template:Angbr IPA should be substituted. In broader transcriptions,<ref>See e.g. Template:Harvcoltxt.</ref> the lowering diacritic may be omitted altogether, so that the symbol is rendered Template:Angbr IPA, i.e. as if it represented the corresponding fricative.