Voiced velar plosive

Last updated
Voiced velar plosive
ɡ
IPA Number 110
Audio sample
source  · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɡ
Unicode (hex)U+0261
X-SAMPA g
Braille Braille G7.svg

The voiced velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages.

Contents

Some languages have the voiced pre-velar plosive, [1] which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as front as the prototypical palatal plosive.

Conversely, some languages have the voiced post-velar plosive, [2] which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as back as the prototypical uvular plosive.

IPA symbol

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɡ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is g. Strictly, the IPA symbol is the so-called single-storey G Opentail g.svg , but the double-storey G Looptail g.svg is considered an acceptable alternative. The Unicode character U+0067gLATIN SMALL LETTER G renders as either a single-storey G or a double-storey G depending on font; the character U+0261ɡLATIN SMALL LETTER SCRIPT G is always a single-storey G, but it is generally available only in fonts with the IPA Extensions Unicode character block.

Features

Voiced velar plosive.svg

Features of the voiced velar stop:

Varieties

IPADescription
ɡplain ɡ
ɡʱ breathy ɡ
ɡʲ palatalized ɡ
ɡʷ labialized ɡ
ɡ̚ɡ with no audible release
ɡ̥ voiceless ɡ
ɡ͈ tense ɡ

Occurrence

Of the six stops that would be expected from the most common pattern worldwide—that is, three places of articulation plus voicing ([pb,td,kɡ])—[p] and [ɡ] are the most frequently missing, being absent in about 10% of languages that otherwise have this pattern. Absent stop [p] is an areal feature (see also Voiceless bilabial stop). Missing [ɡ], (when the language uses voicing to contrast stops) on the other hand, is widely scattered around the world, for example /ɡ/ is not a native phoneme of Belarusian, Dutch, Czech, or Slovak and occurs only in borrowed words in those languages. A few languages, such as Modern Standard Arabic and part of the Levantine dialects (e.g. Lebanese and Syrian), are missing both, although most Modern Arabic dialects have /ɡ/ in their native phonemic systems as a reflex of ⟨ ق ⟩ or less commonly of ⟨ ج ⟩.

It seems that [ɡ] is somewhat more difficult to articulate than the other basic stops. Ian Maddieson speculates that this may be due to a physical difficulty in voicing velars: Voicing requires that air flow into the mouth cavity, and the relatively small space allowed by the position of velar consonants means that it will fill up with air quickly, making voicing difficult to maintain in [ɡ] for as long as it is in [d] or [b]. This could have two effects: [ɡ] and [k] might become confused, and the distinction is lost, or perhaps a [ɡ] never develops when a language first starts making voicing distinctions. With uvulars, where there is even less space between the glottis and tongue for airflow, the imbalance is more extreme: Voiced [ɢ] is much rarer than voiceless [q]. [3]

In many Indo-Aryan languages, such as Hindustani, plain [g] and aspirated [gh] are in contrastive distribution.

LanguageWord IPA MeaningNotes
Abkhaz ажыга /ažëga[aˈʐəɡa]'shovel'See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe Shapsug гьэгуалъэ /gägwaĺa [ɡʲaɡʷaːɬa] ⓘ 'toy'Dialectal. Corresponds to [d͡ʒ] in other dialects.
Temirgoy чъыгы / čëgë [t͡ʂəɡə] ⓘ 'tree'Dialectal. Corresponds to [ɣ] in other dialects.
Albanian gomar [ˈɡomaɾ]'donkey'
Arabic [4] Moroccan أݣادير‎/'agaadiir[ʔaɡaːdiːr]'Agadir'
Tunisian ڨفصة‎‎/gafs'a [ɡɑfsˤɑ] ⓘ 'Gafsa'⟨ ڨ ⟩ is also used in Algeria
Hejazi قمر /gamar[ɡamar]'moon'Corresponds to [ q ] in Classical and Modern Standard Arabic.
Najdi [ɡəmar]
Sa'idi [ɡɑmɑr]
Yemeni قال /gääl[gæːl]'(he) said'Pronunciation of ⟨ ق ⟩ in San'ani dialect in the North and Center and Hadhrami in the East
جمل /gämäl[gæmæl]'camel'Pronunciation of ⟨ ج ⟩ in Ta'izzi-Adeni dialects in the South and Tihami in the West
Egyptian راجل /raagel[ˈɾɑːɡel]'man'Standard pronunciation of ⟨ ج ⟩ in Egypt and corresponds to /dʒ/, /ʒ/ or /ɟ/ in other pronunciations.
Armenian Eastern [5] գանձ /gandz [ɡɑndz] ⓘ 'treasure'
Assyrian ܓܢܐ ɡana [ɡaːna]'self'Used predominantly in Urban Koine. Corresponds to [dʒ] in Urmia, some Tyari and Jilu dialects.
Azerbaijani qara [ɡɑɾɑ]'black'
Basque galdu [ɡaldu]'lose'
Bengali গান/gan[ɡan]'song'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Bulgarian гора/gora[ɡora]'forest'See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan [6] guant [ˈɡwɑnt]'glove'See Catalan phonology
Chechen говр /gowr[ɡɔʊ̯r]'horse'
Czech gram [ɡram]'gram'See Czech phonology
Danish Standard [7] [8] lykke [ˈløɡə]'happiness'Only partially voiced; possible allophone of /ɡ/ in the intervocalic position. More often voiceless [ k ]. [7] [8] See Danish phonology
Dutch All dialects zakdoek [ˈzɑɡduk] ⓘ 'tissue'Allophone of /k/, occurring only before voiced consonants in native words. See Dutch phonology
Standard [9]
Many speakers goal [ɡoːɫ] ⓘ 'goal'Only in loanwords. Some speakers may realize it as [ ɣ ] ~ [ ʝ ] ~ [ χ ] ~ [ x ] (like a normal Dutch ⟨g⟩), or as [ k ].
Amelands goëd [ɡuə̯d]'good'
English gaggle [ˈɡæɡɫ̩]'gaggle'See English phonology
Filipino gulo [ɡulɔ]'commotion'
French [10] gain [ɡɛ̃]'earnings'See French phonology
Georgian [11] გული /guli[ˈɡuli]'heart'
German Lüge [ˈlyːɡə] ⓘ 'lie'See Standard German phonology
Greek γκάρισμα / gkárisma [ˈɡɐɾizmɐ]'donkey's bray'See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati ગાવું /gávu[gaːʋʊ̃]'to sing'See Gujarati phonology
Hebrew גב /gav[ɡav]'back'See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani गाना/gáná / gáná/گانا [ɡɑːnɑː]'song'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian engedély [ɛŋɡɛdeːj]'permission'See Hungarian phonology
Irish gaineamh [ˈɡanʲəw]'sand'See Irish phonology
Italian [12] gare [ˈɡäːre]'competitions'[g] is represented by letter G when followed by vowels [a], [o] [u], while when in front of vowels [i], [e] and [ɛ], the pronunciation changes to d͡ʒ, for the phoneme [g] to appear on the vowels [i], [e] and [ɛ], the GH digraph is used.
Japanese [13] 外套 / gaito [ɡaitoː]'overcoat'See Japanese phonology
Kabardian Baslaney гьанэ / gäna [ɡʲaːna] ⓘ 'shirt'Dialectal. Corresponds to [dʒ] in other dialects.
Kagayanen [14] kalag[kað̞aɡ]'spirit'
Khmer ហ្គាស / gas[gaːh]'gas'See Khmer phonology
Korean 메기 / megi [meɡi]'catfish'See Korean phonology
Limburgish zegke[zεgə]'say'Common. Example from the Weert dialect.
Lithuanian garai [ɡɐrɐɪ̯ˑ]'steam'See Lithuanian phonology
Luxembourgish [15] agepack[ˈɑɡəpaːk]'gone about'More often voiceless [ k ]. [15] See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonian гром /grom[ɡrɔm]'thunder'See Macedonian phonology
Malay guni [ɡuni]'sack'
Marathi गवत/gëvët [ɡəʋət]'grass'See Marathi phonology
Nepali गाउँ [ɡä̃ũ̯]'village'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Nepali phonology
Norwegian gull [ɡʉl]'gold'See Norwegian phonology
Odia ଗଛ/gočho[ɡɔtʃʰɔ]'tree'Contrasts with aspirated form.
Persian گوشت/guşt[guʃt]'meat'
Polish [16] gmin [ɡmʲin̪] ⓘ 'plebs'See Polish phonology
Portuguese [17] língua [ˈɫĩɡwɐ]'tongue'See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi ਗਾਂ/gaa[ɡɑ̃ː]'cow'
Romanian [18] gând [ɡɨnd]'thought'See Romanian phonology
Russian [19] голова /golova [ɡəɫɐˈva] ⓘ 'head'See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian [20] гост / gost [gȏ̞ːs̪t̪]'guest'See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovak miazga [ˈmjäzɡä]'lymph'See Slovak phonology
Slovene gost [ˈɡɔ̂s̪t̪]'guest'See Slovene phonology
Somali gaabi[ɡaːbi]'to shorten'See Somali phonology
Southern Min Hokkien 我/góa [ɡua˥˧]'I'
Spanish [21] gato [ˈɡät̪o̞]'cat'See Spanish phonology
Swahili giza [ˈɡīzɑ]'darkness'See Swahili phonology
Swedish god [ɡuːd̪]'tasty'May be an approximant in casual speech. See Swedish phonology
Telugu గచ్చు/gacu [ɡat͡sːu]'Floor'contrasts with aspirated form (which is articulated as breathy consonant).
Turkish salgın [säɫˈɡɯn]'epidemic'See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian [22] ґанок / ganok[ˈɡɑn̪ok]'porch'See Ukrainian phonology
Welsh gwyn[ɡwɪn] or [ɡwɨ̞n]'white'See Welsh phonology
West Frisian gasp[ɡɔsp]'buckle' (n.)See West Frisian phonology
Wu Shanghainese 狂/guaon6[ɡuɑ̃23]'crazy'
Xiang 共/wong[ɡoŋ]'together'
Yi ꈨ / gge [ɡɤ˧]'hear'
Zapotec Tilquiapan [23] gan[ɡaŋ]'will be able'Depending on speaker and carefulness of speech, [ɡ] may be lenited to [ɣ]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Instead of "pre-velar", it can be called "advanced velar", "fronted velar", "front-velar", "palato-velar", "post-palatal", "retracted palatal" or "backed palatal".
  2. ↑ Instead of "post-velar", it can be called "retracted velar", "backed velar", "pre-uvular", "advanced uvular" or "fronted uvular".
  3. ↑ WALS Online : Chapter 5 – Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems Archived 2012-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Watson (2002), pp. 16–17.
  5. ↑ Dum-Tragut (2009), p. 13.
  6. ↑ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
  7. 1 2 Goblirsch (2018), pp. 134–5, citing Fischer-Jørgensen (1952) and Abrahams (1949, pp. 116–21, 228–30).
  8. 1 2 Puggaard-Rode, Horslund & Jørgensen (2022).
  9. ↑ Gussenhoven (1992), p. 45.
  10. ↑ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  11. ↑ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
  12. ↑ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117.
  13. ↑ Okada (1999), p. 117.
  14. ↑ Olson et al. (2010), pp. 206–207.
  15. 1 2 Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 67–68.
  16. ↑ Jassem (2003), p. 103.
  17. ↑ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  18. ↑ DEX Online :
  19. ↑ Padgett (2003), p. 42.
  20. ↑ Landau et al. (1999), p. 66.
  21. ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
  22. ↑ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  23. ↑ Merrill (2008), p. 108.

Related Research Articles

Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth.

The voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨k⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced velar nasal</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ŋ⟩ in IPA

The voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ng in English sing as well as n before velar consonants as in English and ink. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ŋ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N. The IPA symbol ⟨ŋ⟩ is similar to ⟨ɳ⟩, the symbol for the retroflex nasal, which has a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem, and to ⟨ɲ⟩, the symbol for the palatal nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the left stem.

The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in loch, broch or saugh (willow).

The voiceless alveolar, dental and postalveolarplosives are types of consonantal sounds used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiceless dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is ⟨t⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t. The voiceless dental plosive can be distinguished with the underbridge diacritic, ⟨t̪⟩ and the postalveolar with a retraction line, ⟨t̠⟩, and the Extensions to the IPA have a double underline diacritic which can be used to explicitly specify an alveolar pronunciation, ⟨t͇⟩.

The voiceless bilabial plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in most spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨p⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is p.

The voiced bilabial plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨b⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial stop occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the letter ⟨b⟩ in obey (oU"beI).

The voiced alveolar, dental and postalveolarplosives are types of consonantal sounds used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is ⟨d⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is d.

The voiceless uvular plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is pronounced like a voiceless velar plosive, except that the tongue makes contact not on the soft palate but on the uvula. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨q⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is q.

The voiced labial–velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. It is the sound denoted by the letter ⟨w⟩ in the English alphabet; likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w⟩, or rarely, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel. In inventory charts of languages with other labialized velar consonants, will be placed in the same column as those consonants. When consonant charts have only labial and velar columns, may be placed in the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both. The placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced palatal plosive</span> Consonantal sound

The voiced palatal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɟ⟩, a barred dotless ⟨j⟩ that was initially created by turning the type for a lowercase letter ⟨f⟩. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J\.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced uvular plosive</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɢ⟩ in IPA

The voiced uvular plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɢ⟩, a small capital version of the Latin letter g, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is G\.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced velar fricative</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɣ⟩ in IPA

The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in various spoken languages. It is not found in most varieties of Modern English but existed in Old English. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɣ⟩, a Latinized variant of the Greek letter gamma, ⟨γ⟩, which has this sound in Modern Greek. It should not be confused with the graphically-similar ⟨ɤ⟩, the IPA symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel, which some writings use for the voiced velar fricative.

The voiceless palatal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in some vocal languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨c⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is c.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiceless uvular fricative</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨χ⟩ in IPA

The voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨χ⟩, the Greek chi. The sound is represented by ⟨x̣⟩ in Americanist phonetic notation. It is sometimes transcribed with ⟨x⟩ in broad transcription.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced postalveolar affricate</span> Consonantal sound

The voiced palato-alveolar sibilant affricate, voiced post-alveolar affricate or voiced domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨d͡ʒ⟩, or in some broad transcriptions ⟨ɟ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA representation is dZ. This affricate has a dedicated symbol U+02A4ʤLATIN SMALL LETTER DEZH DIGRAPH, which has been retired by the International Phonetic Association but is still used. Alternatives commonly used in linguistic works, particularly in older or American literature, are ⟨ǰ⟩, ⟨ǧ⟩, ⟨ǯ⟩, and ⟨dž⟩. It is familiar to English speakers as the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in jump.

The voiced labial–velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is a and pronounced simultaneously and is considered a double articulation. To make this sound, one can say go but with the lips closed as if one were saying Bo; the lips are to be released at the same time as or a fraction of a second after the g of go is pronounced. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɡ͡b⟩. Its voiceless counterpart is voiceless labial–velar plosive,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiceless velar implosive</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɠ̊⟩ in IPA

A voiceless velar implosive is a very rare consonantal sound. The symbol for this sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨ɠ̊⟩ or ⟨kʼ↓⟩. A dedicated IPA letter, ⟨ƙ⟩, was withdrawn in 1993.

The voiceless velar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound are ⟨k͡x⟩ and ⟨k͜x⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k_x. The tie bar may be omitted, yielding ⟨kx⟩ in the IPA and kx in X-SAMPA.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.