Voiced velar fricative
The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in various spoken languages. It is not found in Modern English but existed in Old English.[1] 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[2] use for the voiced velar fricative.
Voiced velar fricative | |||
---|---|---|---|
ɣ | |||
IPA Number | 141 | ||
Encoding | |||
Entity (decimal) | ɣ | ||
Unicode (hex) | U+0263 | ||
X-SAMPA | G | ||
Braille | |||
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Audio sample | |||
source · help |
The symbol ⟨ɣ⟩ is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, which, however, is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: [ɣ̞] or [ɣ˕]. The IPA also provides a dedicated symbol for a velar approximant, [ɰ], but there can be stylistic reasons to avoid using it in phonetic transcription.
There is also a voiced post-velar fricative, also called pre-uvular, in some languages. For the voiced pre-velar fricative, also called post-palatal, see voiced palatal fricative.
Features
Features of the voiced velar fricative:
- Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
- Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
- 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
Some of the consonants listed as post-velar may actually be trill fricatives.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abaza | бгъьы | [bɣʲə] | 'leaf' | ||
Adyghe | чъыгы | 'tree' | |||
Aklanon | baeay | [baɣaj] | 'house' | ||
Alekano | gamó | [ɣɑmɤʔ] | 'cucumber' | ||
Aleut | agiitalix | [aɣiːtalix] | 'with' | ||
Angor | ranih | [ɾɑniɣə] | 'brother' | ||
Angas | γür | [ɣyr] | 'to pick up' | ||
Arabic | Modern Standard[3] | غريب | [ɣæˈriːb] | 'stranger' | May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect.[4] See Arabic phonology |
Aromanian | ghini | [ˈɣi.ni] | 'well' | Allophone of /g/ | |
Assyrian/Syriac | Eastern | ܦܓ̣ܪܐ / paġrā | [pʰʌɣrʌ] | 'body' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. |
Western | [fʌɣrɔ] | ||||
Asturian | gadañu | [ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ] | 'scythe' | Allophone of /ɡ/ in almost all positions | |
Azerbaijani | ağac | [ɑɣɑd͡ʒ] | 'tree' | ||
Basque[5] | hego | [heɣo] | 'wing' | Allophone of /ɡ/ | |
Belarusian | галава | [ɣalava] | 'head' | ||
Catalan[6] | figuera | [fiˈɣeɾə] | 'fig tree' | Allophone of /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology | |
Chechen | гӀала / ġala | [ɣaːla] | 'town' | ||
Chinese | Xiang | 湖南 | [ɣu˩˧nia˩˧] | 'Hunan (province)' | |
Czech | bych byl | [bɪɣ bɪl] | 'I would be' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Czech phonology | |
Dinka | ɣo | [ɣo] | 'us' | ||
Dutch | Standard Belgian[7][8] | gaan | [ɣaːn] | 'to go' | May be post-palatal [ʝ̠] instead.[8] See Dutch phonology |
Southern accents[8] | |||||
Georgian[9] | ღარიბი | [ɣɑribi] | 'poor' | May actually be post-velar or uvular | |
German[10][11] | damalige | [ˈdaːmaːlɪɣə] | 'former' | Intervocalic allophone of /g/ in casual Austrian speech.[10][11] See Standard German phonology | |
Ghari | cheghe | [tʃeɣe] | 'five' | ||
Greek | γάλα/gála | [ˈɣɐlɐ] | 'milk' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
Gujarati | વાઘણ | [ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃] | 'tigress' | See Gujarati phonology | |
Gweno | [ndeɣe] | 'bird' | |||
Gwich’in | videeghàn | [viteːɣân] | 'his/her chest' | ||
Haitian Creole | diri | [diɣi] | 'rice' | ||
Hän | dëgëghor | [təkəɣor] | 'I am playing' | ||
Hebrew | Yemenite | מִגְדָּל | [miɣdɔl] | 'tower' | |
Hindustani | Hindi[12] | ग़रीब | [ɣ̄əriːb] | 'poor' | Post-velar.[12] See Hindustani phonology |
Urdu | غریب | ||||
Iranian Turkic | اوغول | [oɣul] | 'son' | ||
Icelandic | saga | [ˈsaːɣaː] | 'saga' | See Icelandic phonology | |
Irish | a dhorn | [ə ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ] | 'his fist' | See Irish phonology | |
Istro-Romanian[13] | gură | [ˈɣurə] | 'mouth' | Corresponds to [g] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology | |
Iwaidja | [mulaɣa] | 'hermit crab' | |||
Japanese[14] | はげ/hage | [haɣe] | 'baldness' | Allophone of /ɡ/, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology | |
Kabardian | гын | 'powder' | |||
Korean | 아가/aga | [aɣa] | 'baby' | ||
Lezgian | гъел | [ɣel] | 'sleigh' | ||
Limburgish[15][16] | gaw | [ɣɑ̟β̞] | 'quick' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. | |
Lithuanian | humoras | [ˈɣʊmɔrɐs̪] | 'humor' | Preferred over [ɦ]. See Lithuanian phonology | |
Low German[17] | gaan | [ˈɣɔ̃ːn] | 'to go' | Increasingly replaced with High German [g] | |
Malay | Standard Malay | ghaib | [ɣai̯b] | 'unseen' | Mostly in loanwords from Arabic. Indonesians tend to replace the sound with /g/. |
Kelantan dialect | ramai | [ɣamaː] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology | |
Terengganu dialect | |||||
Negeri Sembilan dialect | [ɣamai̯] | ||||
Pahang dialect | [ɣamɛ̃ː] | ||||
Sarawak dialect | [ɣamɛː] | ||||
Macedonian | Berovo accent | дувна | [ˈduɣna] | 'it blew' | Corresponds to etymological /x/ of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology |
Bukovo accent | глава | [ˈɡɣa(v)a] | 'head' | Allophone of /l/ instead of usual [ɫ]. See Prilep-Bitola dialect | |
Mandarin | Dongping dialect | 俺 | [ɣän55] | 'I' | |
Navajo | ’aghá | [ʔaɣa] | 'best' | ||
Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | ||
Northern Qiang | ? | [ɣnəʂ] | 'February' | ||
Norwegian | Urban East[18] | å ha | [ɔ ˈɣɑː] | 'to have' | Possible allophone of /h/ between two back vowels; can be voiceless [x] instead.[18] See Norwegian phonology |
Occitan | Gascon | digoc | [diˈɣuk] | 'said' (3rd pers. sg.) | |
Pashto | غاتر | [ɣɑtər] | 'mule' | ||
Persian | غلتیدن | [ɣæltidæn] | 'rolling' | ||
Polish | niechże | [ˈɲɛɣʐɛ] | 'let' (imperative particle) | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology | |
Portuguese | European[19][20] | agora | [əˈɣɔɾə] | 'now' | Allophone of /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology |
Some Brazilian dialects[21] | mármore | [ˈmaɣmuɾi] | 'marble', 'sill' | Allophone of rhotic consonant (voiced equivalent to [x], itself allophone of /ʁ/) between voiced sounds, most often as coda before voiced consonants. | |
Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਗ਼ਰੀਬ | [ɣ̄əriːb] | 'poor' | |
Shahmukhi | غریب | ||||
Ripuarian | Colognian | noch ein[en] | [ˈnɔɣ‿ən] | 'another one' | Allophone of word-final /x/; occurs only immediately before a word that starts with a vowel. See Colognian phonology |
Kerkrade dialect[22] | vroage | [ˈvʀoə̯ɣə] | 'to ask' | Occurs only after back vowels.[22] | |
Romani | γoines | [ɣoines] | 'good' | ||
Russian | Southern | дорога | [dɐˈro̞ɣə] | 'road' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in standard |
Standard | угу | [ʊˈɣu] | 'uh-huh' | Usually nasal, /g/ is used when spoken. See Russian phonology | |
Sakha | аҕа | [aɣa] | 'father' | ||
Sardinian | Nuorese dialect | súghere | [ˈsuɣɛrɛ] | 'to suck' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
Scottish Gaelic | laghail | [ɫ̪ɤɣal] | 'lawful' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |
Serbo-Croatian[23] | ovih bi | [ǒ̞ʋiɣ bi] | 'of these would' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants.[23] See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
S'gaw Karen | ဂ့ၤ | [ɣei] | 'good' | ||
Sindhi | غم | [ɣəmʊ] | 'sadness' | ||
Spanish | amigo | [a̠ˈmiɣo̟] | 'friend' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[24] Allophone of /ɡ/, see Spanish phonology | |
Swahili | ghali | [ɣali] | 'expensive' | ||
Swedish | Westrobothnian | meg | [mɪːɣ] | 'me' | Allophone of /ɡ/. Occurs between vowels and in word-final positions.[25] Here also /∅/ in Kalix. |
Tadaksahak | zog | [zoɣ] | 'war' | ||
Tajik | ғафс | [ɣafs] | 'thick' | ||
Tamazight | aɣilas (aghilas) | [aɣilas] | 'leopard' | ||
Turkish | Non-standard | ağaç | [aɣat͡ʃ] | 'tree' | Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology |
Tutchone | Northern | ihghú | [ihɣǔ] | 'tooth' | |
Southern | ghra | [ɣra] | 'baby' | ||
Ukrainian | Allophone of /x/. See Ukrainian phonology | ||||
Uzbek[26] | ёмғир / yomgʻir | [ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪] | 'rain' | Post-velar.[26] | |
Vietnamese[27] | ghế | [ɣe˧˥] | 'chair' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
West Frisian | drage | [ˈdraːɣə] | 'to carry' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |
Yi | ꊋ/we | [ɣɤ˧] | 'win' | ||
Central Alaskan Yup'ik | auga | [ˈauːɣa] | 'his/her/its blood' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. |
Notes
- Baker, Peter Stuar (2012). Introduction to Old English (3rd ed.). pp. 15. ISBN 9781444354195. OCLC 778433078 – via Internet Archive.
Between voiced sounds dotless g is pronounced [ɣ], a voiced velar spirant. This sound became [w] in Middle English, so English no longer has it.
- Such as Booij (1999) and Nowikow (2012).
- Watson (2002), pp. 17 and 19-20.
- Watson (2002), pp. 17, 19-20, 35-36 and 38.
- Hualde (1991), pp. 99–100.
- Wheeler (2005), p. 10.
- Verhoeven (2005:243)
- Collins & Mees (2003:191)
- Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
- Krech et al. (2009:108)
- Sylvia Moosmüller (2007). "Vowels in Standard Austrian German: An Acoustic-Phonetic and Phonological Analysis" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- Kachru (2006), p. 20.
- Pop (1938), p. 30.
- Okada (1999), p. 118.
- Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:159)
- Peters (2006:119)
- R.E. Keller, German Dialects. Phonology and Morphology, Manchester 1960
- Vanvik (1979), p. 40.
- Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 92.
- Mateus & d'Andrade (2000), p. 11.
- Barbosa & Albano (2004), p. 228.
- Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997:17)
- Landau et al. (1999:67)
- Phonetic studies such as Quilis (1981) have found that Spanish voiced stops may surface as spirants with various degrees of constriction. These allophones are not limited to regular fricative articulations, but range from articulations that involve a near complete oral closure to articulations involving a degree of aperture quite close to vocalization
- http://runeberg.org/nfaq/0347.html
- Sjoberg (1963), p. 13.
- Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
References
- Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756
- Booij, Geert (1999), The phonology of Dutch, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823869-X
- Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003) [First published 1981], The Phonetics of English and Dutch (5th ed.), Leiden: Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004103406
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
- Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, University of Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies, 29: 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526
- Hualde, José Ignacio (1991), Basque phonology, New York: Routledge
- Kachru, Yamuna (2006), Hindi, John Benjamins Publishing, ISBN 90-272-3812-X
- Krech, Eva Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz-Christian (2009), Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6
- Landau, Ernestina; Lončarić, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
- Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000), The Phonology of Portuguese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823581-X
- Nowikow, Wieczysław (2012) [First published 1992], Fonetyka hiszpańska (3rd ed.), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, ISBN 978-83-01-16856-8
- Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
- Peters, Jörg (2006), "The dialect of Hasselt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 117–124, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002428
- Pop, Sever (1938), Micul Atlas Linguistic Român, Muzeul Limbii Române Cluj
- Quilis, Antonio (1981), Fonética acústica de la lengua española, Gredos
- Shosted, Ryan K.; Chikovani, Vakhtang (2006), "Standard Georgian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
- Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963), Uzbek Structural Grammar, Uralic and Altaic Series, 18, Bloomington: Indiana University
- Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997) [1987], Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (2nd ed.), Kerkrade: Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer, ISBN 90-70246-34-1, archived from the original on 2015-09-19, retrieved 2015-09-09
- Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language, 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
- Vanvik, Arne (1979), Norsk fonetikk, Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo, ISBN 82-990584-0-6
- Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 243–247, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
- Watson, Janet C. E. (2002), The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, New York: Oxford University Press
- Wheeler, Max W (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925814-7
External links
- List of languages with [ɣ] on PHOIBLE