Labio-velar approximant

Labio-velar approximant
w
IPA number	170
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	w
Unicode (hex)	U+0077
X-SAMPA	w
Kirshenbaum	w
Image
Sound

Compressed labio-velar approximant
ɰᵝ
wᵝ

The (voiced) labiovelar 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⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is a labialized velar approximant [ɰʷ], and the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel [u]. As labio-velar consonants do not easily fit into consonant charts with only labial and velar columns, [w] may be put in either the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both, though the latter is rare outside of the official IPA chart; the placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.

Features

Features of the voiced labialized velar approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
• Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips. Some languages, such as Japanese and perhaps the Northern Iroquoian languages, have a sound typically transcribed as [w] where the lips are compressed (or at least not rounded), which is a true labial–velar (as opposed to labialized velar) consonant. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol [w] in such cases, or may use the under-rounding diacritic, [w̜].
• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		ауаҩы	[awaˈɥə]	'human'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		уэ	[wa]	'you'
Arabic	Standard	وَرْد	[ward]	'roses'	See Arabic phonology
Basque		lau	[law]	'four'
Catalan		creuar	[kɾəˈwa]	'to cross'	See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Cantonese	湖 wu4	[wuː˨˩]	'lake'	See Cantonese phonology
	Mandarin	王 wáng	[wɑŋ˧˥]	'king'	See Mandarin phonology
Dutch	Belgium	welp	[wɛɫp]	'cub'	Standard Belgian pronunciation, may be realised as [β̞] in some dialects. See Dutch phonology
English		weep	[wiːp]	'weep'	See English phonology
French		oui	[wi]	'yes'	See French phonology
Hawaiian		wikiwiki	[wikiwiki]	'fast'	May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology
Hebrew		כוח	[ˈkowaħ]	'power'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Irish		vóta	[ˈwoːt̪ˠə]	'vote'	See Irish phonology
Italian		uomo	[ˈwɔ:mo]	'man'	See Italian phonology
Japanese		わたし watashi	[ɰᵝataɕi]	'I'	Pronounced with lip compression. See Japanese phonology
Kabardian		уэ	[wa]	'you'
Korean		왜가리 waegari	[wɛɡɐɾi]	'heron'	See Korean phonology
Malay		wang	[waŋ]	'money'
Pashto		ﻭﺍﺭ	[wɑr]	'one time'
Polish		łaska	[ˈwäskä]	'grace'	See Polish phonology. Corresponds to [ɫ] in older pronunciation and eastern dialects.
Portuguese		quando	[ˈkwɐ̃d̪u]	'when'	Non-syllabic allophone of /u/ except when after velar occlusives. Brazilian dialects that have [ʊ] prefer [ʊ̯] when in coda position. See Portuguese phonology
Romanian		dulău	[duˈləw]	'mastiff'	See Romanian phonology
Seri		cmiique	[ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ]	'person'	Allophone of /m/
Sesotho		sewa	[ˈsewa]	'epidemic'	See Sesotho phonology
Spanish		cuanto	[ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞]	'as much'	See Spanish phonology
Swahili		mwanafunzi	[mwɑnɑfunzi]	'student'
Tagalog		araw	[ɐˈɾaw]	'day'	See Tagalog phonology
Thai		แหวน waen	[wɛn˩˩˦]	'ring'
Ukrainian		вона	[wɔˈnɑ]	'she'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese		tuần	[t̪wən˨˩]	'week'	See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		gwae	[ɡwaɨ]	'woe'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian		skowe	[skoːwǝ]	'to shove'

See also

• List of phonetics topics
• Nasal labio-velar approximant

Bibliography

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• Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1-2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618 
• Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874 
• Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191 
• Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373 
• Ohala, James; Lorentz (1977), "Story of [w]: An exercise in the phonetic explanation for sound patterns", Berkeley Linguistics Society annual meeting 3 proceedings, pp. 577–599 
• Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, ISBN 0-8248-0703-0 
• Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628 
• Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232 
• Watson, Janet (2002), The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, New York: Oxford University Press