Voiced velar approximant
Template:Short description Template:For Template:For Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox IPA
A 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. In order to not imply that the approximant is spread as the vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is, it may instead be transcribed Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, or Template:Angbr IPA.
This consonant is absent from 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, a voiced velar approximant is an allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} – see below.
The symbol for a 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.
Features
Features of a 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
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AragoneseTemplate: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 | ||||
| CatalanTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | Template:Audio-IPA | 'water' | main}}.Template:SfnpTemplate: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 FlemishTemplate:Sfnp | Approximant consonant unspecified for rounding. Corresponds to a fricative Template:IPAblink in other dialects.Template:Sfnp | |||
| French | BelgianTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | main}} | 'macaw' | main}} for some speakers.Template:Sfnp See French phonology |
| GalicianTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | Template:Audio-IPA | 'organ' | main}}.Template:Sfnp See Galician phonology | |
| Greek | CypriotTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | main}} | 'shop' | main}}. |
| Guarani | lang}} | main}} | 'near, close to' | main}} | |
| Ñandewa Paulista-ParanaenseTemplate:Sfnp | main}} | 'I cut' | Contrasts with Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp | ||
| Hiw | wr̄og | main}} | 'through' | main}} and with {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp | |
| IbibioTemplate:Sfnp | ufokọ | main}} | Template:Fix | main}}; may be a uvular tap Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp | |
| Icelandic | lang}} | Template:Audio-IPA | 'Skagabyggð' | Approximant consonant<ref>Template:Harvp "[It is] doubtful whether the voiced fricatives are to be classified as such, rather than as approximants.". Template:Harvp "The weakness of the articulation of the voiced sounds makes them at times more like approximants, and they are very easily deleted intervocalically in natural speech, making pronunciations like [taːr̥] for {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss [...] quite common." </ref> unspecified for rounding.Template:Citation needed See Icelandic phonology | |
| Irish | lang}} | Template:Audio-IPA | 'nine' | Occurs only between broad consonants and front vowels. See Irish phonology | |
| Japanese | lang}} / Template:Transliteration | main}} | 'third rank' | Syllable-final moraic nasal realization; broadly described as dorso-velar, though exact placement of articulation varies.Template:Sfnp See Japanese phonology | |
| Korean | lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} | main}} | 'doctor' | main}}. See Korean phonology | |
| Mwotlap | haghag | main}} | 'sit' | main}}.Template:Sfnp | |
| Nizaa | ŋun | main}} | 'boy/girl' | Only occurs as a nasalized approximant.<ref name="Kjelsvik-2002">Template:Cite thesis</ref> See Nizaa phonology. | |
| ShipiboTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | main}} | Template:Fix | main}} in certain high-frequency morphemes.Template:Sfnp | |
| SpanishTemplate: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 | gặp | Template:Audio-IPA | 'to meet, to see' | main}} in other dialects. Variant is in complementary distribution before open vowels. |
Voiced velar bunched approximant
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 that is indistinguishable from Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp The extension to the IPA recommends the use of the "centralized" diacritic, Template:Angbr IPA, to distinguish the bunched realization from the apical articulation Template:Angbr IPA. Typically, the diacritic is omitted, so that the sound is transcribed simply with Template:Angbr IPA or 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.
Features
Features of a 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
Occurrence
| 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 |
| Standard NorthernTemplate:Sfnp | main}} in the syllable coda, where it contrasts with Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology | ||||
| English | AmericanTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | main}} | 'red' | main}}; auditorily indistinguishable from apical {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp See Pronunciation of English /r/ |
| Received PronunciationTemplate:Sfnp | lang}} | main}} | 'curious' | main}} before front vowels; auditorily indistinguishable from apical {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp See Pronunciation of English /r/ | |
Relation with {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
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
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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.
In broad transcription,<ref>See e.g. Template:Harvcoltxt.</ref> the lowering diacritic may be omitted, so that the symbol is rendered Template:Angbr IPA as with the corresponding fricative.
See also
Notes
References
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