Editing Yoruba language (section)

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan=2| &nbsp;
!rowspan=2|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!rowspan=2|[[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!rowspan=2|[[postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]/<br/>[[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
!colspan=2|[[velar consonant|Velar]]
!rowspan=2|[[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>labial</small>
|-
![[stop consonant|Stop]]
| align=center | {{IPA link|b}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|t}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|d}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|ɟ}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|k}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɡ}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|k͡p}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɡ͡b}}
| &nbsp;
|-
![[fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| align=center | {{IPA link|f}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|s}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA link|h}}
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]/[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| align=center | {{IPA link|m}}
| align=center| {{IPA link|l}} ~ {{IPA link|n}}
| align=center| {{IPA link|j}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|ŋ}} ~ {{IPA link|ŋ̍}}
| align=center| {{IPA link|w}}
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA link|ɾ}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}

The voiceless plosives {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} are slightly aspirated; in some Yoruba varieties, {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} are more dental. The [[rhotic consonant]] is realized as a flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=George L. |url=https://archive.org/details/concisecompendiu0000camp/page/588/mode/2up |title=Concise compendium of the world's languages |last2=Campbell |first2=George L. |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-11392-2 |location=London; New York |pages=588}}</ref> or, in some varieties (notably Lagos Yoruba), as the [[alveolar and postalveolar approximants|alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}} due to English influence. This is particularly common with Yoruba–English bilinguals.

Like many other languages of the region, Yoruba has the [[voiceless labial–velar stop|voiceless]] and [[voiced labial–velar stop]]s {{IPA|/k͡p/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ͡b/}}: {{lang|yo|pápá}} {{IPA|[k͡pák͡pá]}} 'field', ''{{lang|yo|gbogbo}}'' {{IPA|[ɡ͡bōɡ͡bō]}} 'all'.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Notably, in Nigeria it lacks a [[voiceless bilabial stop]] {{IPA|/p/}}, apart from [[phonaesthesia]], such as [pĩpĩ] for vehicle horn sounds, and [[Marginal phonemes|marginal segments]] found in recent loanwords, such as <nowiki><pẹ́ńsù></nowiki> [k͡pɛ́ńsù~pɛ́ńsù] for "pencil".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ufomata |first=Titilayo |date=March 1991 |title=Englishization of Yoruba phonology |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1991.tb00135.x |journal=World Englishes |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=33–51 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-971X.1991.tb00135.x |issn=0883-2919|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Yoruba also lacks a [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/n/}}; the letter {{angle bracket|n}} is used for the sound in the orthography, but strictly speaking, it refers to an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/l/}} immediately preceding a nasal vowel.

There is also a [[syllabic consonant|syllabic nasal]], which forms a [[syllable#Nucleus|syllable nucleus]] by itself. When it precedes a vowel, it is a velar nasal {{IPA|[ŋ]}}: {{lang|yo|n ò lọ}} {{IPA|[ŋ ò lɔ̄]}} 'I didn't go'. In other cases, its place of articulation is [[homorganic consonants|homorganic]] with the following consonant: {{lang|yo|ó ń lọ}} {{IPA|[ó ń lɔ̄]}} 'he is going', {{lang|yo|ó ń fò}} {{IPA|[ó ḿ fò]}} 'he is jumping'.

C, Q, V, X and Z only appear in words borrowed from English or French.