Voiced labiodental fricative

A voiced labiodental fricative 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.

The sound is similar to voiced alveolar fricative /z/ in that it is familiar to most European speakersTemplate:Citation needed but is a fairly uncommon sound cross-linguistically, occurring in approximately 21.1% of languages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moreover, most languages that have /z/ also have /v/ and similarly to /z/, the overwhelming majority of languages with [v] are languages of Europe, Africa, or Western Asia, although the similar labiodental approximant /ʋ/ is also common in India. The presence of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and absence of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, is a very distinctive areal feature of European languages and those of adjacent areas of Siberia and Central Asia.Template:Citation needed Speakers of East Asian languages that lack this sound may pronounce it as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (Korean and Japanese), or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}/{{#invoke:IPA|main}} (Cantonese and Mandarin), and thus be unable to distinguish between a number of English minimal pairs.Template:Citation needed

In certain languages, such as Danish,<ref name="basb66">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Faroese,<ref name="arn115">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Icelandic or Norwegian<ref name="krist74">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> the voiced labiodental fricative is in a free variation with the labiodental approximant.

Features

Features of a voiced labiodental fricative:

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		lang}}	main}}	'Europe'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'oar'
Afrikaans		lang}}	main}}	'to be'	See Afrikaans phonology
Albanian		lang}}	main}}	'case'
Arabic	Algerian<ref name="auto" />	Template:Script/Arabic	main}}	'ataxy'	See Arabic phonology
	Hejazi	lang}}	main}}	'virus'	main}} by many speakers.
	Siirt<ref name="auto">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	lang}}	main}}	'gold'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian	Eastern<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'six'
Assyrian		lang}}	main}}]	'book'	Only in the Urmia dialects. Template:IPAblink is also predominantly used. Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in the other varieties.
Bai	Dali	?	main}}	'fish'
Bulgarian		lang}}	main}}	'water'	See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan	Alguerese<ref name=":0" />	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA|main}}	'old'	See Catalan phonology
	Balearic<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation					CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Wheeler|2002|p=13"/>
	Valencian<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|2002|p=13">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref name=":0" />
Chechen		lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'brother'
Chinese	Wu	饭	main}}	'cooked rice'
	Sichuanese	五	main}}	'five'	main}} in standard Mandarin.
Czech		lang}}	main}}	'water'	See Czech phonology
Chichewa<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Template:Example needed || || || Has both plain and labialized.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Danish	Standard<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	lang}}	main}}	'know(s)'	Most often an approximant Template:IPAblink.<ref name="basb66"/> See Danish phonology
Dutch	All dialects	lang}}	main}}	'revenge'	main}} before {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. See Dutch phonology
	Most dialects	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA|main}}	'strange'	Often devoiced to Template:IPAblink by speakers from the Netherlands. See Dutch phonology
	Standard<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
English	All dialects	valve	Template:Audio-IPA	'valve'	See English phonology
	African AmericanTemplate:Sfnp	breathe	main}}	'breathe'	Does not occur word-initially. See th-fronting
	CockneyTemplate:Sfnp		main}}
Esperanto		lang}}	main}}	'wound'	See Esperanto phonology
Ewe<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'he is evil'
Faroese<ref name="arn115"/>		lang}}	main}}	'speech'	main}}, in free variation with an approximant Template:IPAblink.<ref name="arn115"/> See Faroese phonology
French<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'valve'	See French phonology
Georgian<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'narrow'
German		lang}}	main}}	'guard'	See Standard German phonology
Greek		lang}}	main}}	'varnish'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew		lang}}	main}}	'back'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindi<ref name="ref25lojir">Template:Citation</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'fast'	See Hindustani phonology
Hmong		Template:Script / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'king', 'vang clan last name'
Hungarian		lang}}	main}}	'danger'	See Hungarian phonology
Irish		lang}}	main}}	'home'	See Irish phonology
Italian<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'miserly' (f. pl.)	See Italian phonology
Judaeo-Spanish		lang}}	main}}	'nine'
Kabardian		lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'star'	main}} in Adyghe
Macedonian		lang}}	main}}	'water'	See Macedonian phonology
Malayalam		lang}}	main}}	'sweat'
Maltese		lang}}	main}}	'yes'
Norwegian	Urban East<ref name="krist74"/>	lang}}	main}}	'friend'	main}} before a pause and in emphatic speech.<ref name="krist74"/> See Norwegian phonology
Occitan	Auvergnat	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA|main}}	'flight'	See Occitan phonology
	Limousin
	Provençal
Persian	Western	lang}}	main}}	'sport'	See Persian phonology
Polish<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'bag'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'town'	See Portuguese phonology
Romanian		lang}}	main}}	'wave'	See Romanian phonology
Russian<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref name="yb">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'hair'	Contrasts with palatalized form. May be a lenited fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or an approximant Template:IPAblink instead.<ref name="yb"/> See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic		lang}}	main}}	'over here'	Loosely articulated, can resemble Template:IPAblink. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-Croatian		lang}}	main}}	'water'	See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovak<ref name="hh374">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'height'	main}} is an approximant Template:IPAblink.<ref name="hh374"/> See Slovak phonology
Slovene<ref name="her16">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	Standard	lang}}	main}}	'philosopher goes'	main}} before voiced consonants.<ref name="her16"/> See Slovene phonology
	Some dialects	lang}}	main}}	'water'	main}}. See Slovene phonology
Spanish<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'Afghan'	main}} before voiced consonants. See Spanish phonology
Swedish		lang}}	main}}	'wall'	See Swedish phonology
Turkish<ref name="gk6">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'due date'	main}}; realized as bilabial {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in certain contexts.<ref name="gk6"/> See Turkish phonology
Tamil		lang}}	main}}	'word'	See Tamil phonology
Tyap		lang}}	main}}	'road'
Umbundu<ref name="Umbundu">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || || Template:Example needed || || || Has both plain and nasalized.<ref name="Umbundu" />
Urdu		ورزش	[vəɾzɪʃ]	‘exercise’	See Hindustani phonology
Vietnamese<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'and'	In southern dialects, is in free variation with {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian		lang}}	main}}	'to weave'	Never occurs in word-initial positions. See West Frisian phonology
Welsh		lang}}	main}}	'I'	See Welsh phonology
Yi		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'intestines'

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

References

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External links

• Template:Phoible