Voiced velar fricative
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɣ⟩ in IPA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A 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.[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 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɣ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0263 | ||
| X-SAMPA | G | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
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].
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 a 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 that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
Some of the consonants listed as post-velar may actually be fricative trills.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abaza | бгъьы/bğë | [bɣʲə] | 'leaf' | ||
| Adyghe | чъыгы/čëğë | ⓘ | 'tree' | ||
| Albanian | Arbëresh
Moresian (Pelloponesian) dialects of Arvanitika |
gliata | [ɣliɑtɑ] | 'tall' | |
| Alekano | gamó | [ɣɑmɤʔ] | 'cucumber' | ||
| Aleut | agiitalix | [aɣiːtalix] | 'with' | ||
| Angor | ranihɨ | [ɾɑniɣə] | 'brother' | ||
| Angas | γür | [ɣyr] | 'to pick up' | ||
| Arabic | Modern Standard[3] | غريب/ğarīb | ⓘ | 'strange' | May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect.[4] See Arabic phonology |
| Baghdad Jewish | עסכרׄ (ʿáskaġ) | [ˈʕaskaɣ] | 'army' | ||
| Aragonese | augua | [ˈawɣwa] | 'water' | Allophone of /ɡ/ | |
| Aromanian | ghini | [ˈɣi.ni] | 'well' | Allophone of /ɡ/ | |
| Aramaic | Eastern | ܦܓ̣ܪܐ paġrā | [pʌɣrɑ] | 'body' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. |
| Western | [fʌɣrɔ] | ||||
| Asturian | gadañu | [ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ] | 'scythe' | Allophone of /ɡ/ in almost all positions | |
| Azerbaijani | Northern | oğul | [oɣul] | 'son' | |
| Southern | اوغول/oğul | ||||
| Basque[5] | hego | [eɣo] | 'wing' | Allophone of /ɡ/ | |
| Belarusian | галава/halava | [ɣalaˈva] | 'head' | ||
| Brahui | غُرِّنگ/ġurring | [ɣurːiŋɡ] | 'to growl' | See Brahui language § Phonology. | |
| Breton | plac’h | [plaɣ] | 'daughter' | ||
| Catalan[6] | agrat | [əˈɣɾat] | 'liking' | Fricative or approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology | |
| Central Alaskan Yup'ik | auga | [ˈauːɣa] | 'his/her/its blood' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |
| Chechen | гӀала / ğala | [ɣaːla] | 'town' | ||
| Czech | bych byl | ⓘ | 'I would be' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Czech phonology. Occurs only in few Moravian dialects and even there it is rather /ɦ/ | |
| Dàgáárè | [pɔ́ɣɔ́] | 'woman' | May be realized with features closer to a velar tap [ɡ̆] (a sound previously considered impossible according to the IPA chart), based on acoustic analysis.[7] | ||
| Dinka | ɣo | [ɣo] | 'us' | ||
| Dogrib | weqa[clarification needed] | [weɣa] | 'for' | ||
| Dutch | Standard Belgian[8][9] | genoegen | ⓘ | 'satisfaction' | Often (partially) devoiced.[10] May be post-palatal [ʝ̠] instead.[9] See Dutch phonology |
| Southern accents[9] | |||||
| English | Scouse | grass | [ɣrɑːs] | 'grass' | Allophone of /g/. See British English phonology[11] |
| Northumbrian | [example needed] | Burr[12] | |||
| Georgian[13] | ღარიბი/ğaribi | [ɣɑribi] | 'poor' | May actually be post-velar or uvular | |
| German[14][15] | Austrian | rot | [ɣot] | 'red' | Intervocalic allophone of /r/ in casual speech.[14][15][16] See Standard German phonology |
| Ghari | cheghe | [tʃeɣe] | 'five' | ||
| Greek | γάλα/gála | [ˈɣala] | 'milk' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Gujarati | વાઘણ/vāġaṇ | [ʋa̤ɣəɽ̃] | 'tigress' | See Gujarati phonology | |
| Gweno | ndeghe | [ndeɣe] | 'bird' | ||
| Gwich’in | videeghàn | [viteːɣân] | 'his/her chest' | ||
| Haitian Creole | diri | [diɣi] | 'rice' | ||
| Hän | dëgëghor | [təkəɣor] | 'I am playing' | ||
| Hebrew | Classical | מִגְדָּל/miğdol | [miɣdɔl] | '[a] tower' | |
| Some Modern speakers (usually with a difficulty pronouncing [ʁ]) | שׁוֹמֵר/shomer | [ʃo̞ˈme̞ɣ] | '[a male] guard', '[he] guards' | [ʃo̞ˈme̞ʁ] by other Modern speakers | |
| Hindustani | Hindi[17] | ग़रीब/garib | ⓘ | 'poor' | Post-velar,[17] conservative Hindi speakers usually replace it with /g/. See Hindustani phonology |
| Urdu | غریب/gharib | ||||
| Icelandic | saga | [ˈsaːɣa] | 'saga' | See Icelandic phonology | |
| Irish | a dhorn | [ə ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ] | 'his fist' | See Irish phonology | |
| Istro-Romanian[18] | gură | [ˈɣurə] | 'mouth' | Corresponds to [ɡ][in which environments?] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology | |
| Iwaidja | [mulaɣa] | 'hermit crab' | |||
| Japanese[19] | はげ/hage | [haɣe] | 'baldness' | Allophone of /ɡ/, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology | |
| Judeo-Spanish | gato | [ˈɣ̞ato̪][20] | 'cat' | ||
| Haketia | gher | [ɣeɾ] | 'only' | appears as a phoneme in words from Arabic[21] | |
| Kabardian | гын/gyn | ⓘ | 'powder' | ||
| Komering | harong | [haɣoŋ] | 'charcoal' | ||
| Lezgian | гъел/ğel | [ɣel] | 'sleigh' | ||
| Lhaovo | Dago’ | qid | [ɣìt] | 'water' | |
| Yunnan | [ɣək˧˩] | ||||
| Limburgish[22][23] | gaw | [ɣɑ̟β̞] | 'quick' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. | |
| Lishan Didan | Urmi Dialect | עוטג/otogh | [ˠotʰoɣ] | 'room' | Generally post-velar |
| Lithuanian | humoras | [ˈɣʊmɔrɐs̪] | 'humor' | Preferred over [ɦ]. See Lithuanian phonology | |
| Low German[24] | gaan | [ˈɣɔ̃ːn] | 'to go' | Increasingly replaced with High German [ɡ] | |
| Macedonian | Berovo accent | дувна/duvna | [ˈduɣna] | 'it blew' | Corresponds to etymological /x/ of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology |
| Bukovo accent | глава/glava | [ˈɡɣa(v)a] | 'head' | Allophone of /l/ instead of usual [ɫ]. See Prilep-Bitola dialect | |
| Malay | Standard | loghat | [loɣat] | 'dialect' | Used in loanwords from Arabic that contain the sound. Replaced with /ɡ/ by Indonesian speakers. See Malay phonology |
| Johor-Riau | ramai | [ɣamaj] | 'crowded (with people)' | Corresponds to prevocalic and intervocalic /r/ in Standard Malay and to uvular /ʁ/ in certain other Malay varieties such as Kedah Malay. Silent in word-final position. | |
| Negeri Sembilan | |||||
| Kelantan-Pattani | [ɣama] | ||||
| Terengganu | |||||
| Pahang | [ɣamɛ̃(ː)] | ||||
| Sarawak | [ɣame] | Varies with uvular [ʁ]. See Sarawak Malay | |||
| Malto | पेद़ग़े/peðġe | [peðɣe] | 'to break open' | See Malto language § Phonology. | |
| Mandarin Chinese | Central Mandarin (Dongping dialect) | 俺/ǎn | [ɣän˥] | 'I' | |
| Central Mandarin (Ningyang dialect)[25] | 鹅 | [ɣə˦˨] | 'goose' | ||
| Mi'kmaq | nisaqan | [nisaɣan] | 'weir' | Allophone of /x/ between sonorants. See Mi'kmaq language § Phonology. | |
| Navajo | ’aghá | [ʔaɣa] | 'best' | ||
| Neapolitan | Central Lucanian (Accettura dialect) | chiahäte | [kjaˈɣɜ tə][26] | 'wounded' | Corresponds to /g/ in Standard Italian. The example "chiahäte" translates to "piagato" in Italian. |
| Nepali | कागज/kağdz | [käɣʌ(d)z] | 'paper' | Allophone of /ɡ/ and /ɡʱ/ in intervocalic positions. See Nepali phonology | |
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | ||
| Northern Qiang | hhnesh | [ɣnəʂ] | 'February' | ||
| Norwegian | Urban East[27] | å ha | [ɔ ˈɣɑː] | 'to have' | Possible allophone of /h/ between two back vowels; can be voiceless [x] instead.[27] See Norwegian phonology |
| Occitan | Gascon | digoc | [diˈɣuk] | 'said' (3rd pers. sg.) | |
| Okanagan | ɣəɣicɣc | [ɣəɣitʃɣtʃ] | 'Sparrow hawk' | ||
| Pashto | غاتر/ğatër | [ɣɑtər] | 'mule' | ||
| Pela | [ɣɔ˥] | 'to rain' | |||
| Persian | باغ/bāq | [bɒːɣ] | 'garden' | ||
| Polish | niechże | [ˈɲɛɣʐɛ] | 'let' (imperative particle) | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology | |
| Portuguese | European[28][29] | agora | [ɐˈɣɔɾɐ] | 'now' | Allophone of /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Some Brazilian dialects[30] | 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/ġarib | [ɣə̄riːb] | 'poor' | Less frequent in Gurmukhi varieties where it may be replaced by /ɡ/. |
| Shahmukhi | غریب/ġarīb | ||||
| Romani | γoines | [ɣoines] | 'good' | ||
| Russian | Southern | дорога/doroga | [dɐˈro̞ɣə] | 'road' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in standard |
| Standard | угу/ugu | [ʊˈɣu] | 'uh-huh' | Usually nasal, /ɡ/ is used when spoken. See Russian phonology | |
| горох же / goroh že | [ɡʌˈroɣ ʐe] | 'the peas' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants.[31] | ||
| Sakha | аҕа/ağa | [aɣa] | 'father' | ||
| Sardinian | Nuorese dialect | súghere | [ˈsuɣɛrɛ] | 'to suck' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Scottish Gaelic | laghail | [ɫ̪ɤɣal] | 'lawful' | More advanced than other velars. See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Serbo-Croatian[32] | ovih bi | [ǒ̞ʋiɣ bi] | 'of these would' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants.[32] See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
| S'gaw Karen | ဂ့ၤ/ghei | [ɣei] | 'good' | ||
| Shughni | ɣ̌īštow | [ɣiːʃtoːʷ] | 'to bark' | See Shughni phonology | |
| Sindhi | غم/ġamu | [ɣəmʊ] | 'sadness' | ||
| Slovak | bäch bäl | [bɛɐ̯ɣ bɛɐ̯l] | 'I could be' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Slovak phonology. Occurs only in few Moravian dialects and even there it is rather /ɦ/ | |
| Slovene | Standard | h gori | [ˈɣ‿ɡɔ̀ːɾí] | 'to the mountain' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced obstruents. See Slovene phonology |
| Some dialects | gajba | [ˈɣáːjbà] | 'crate' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in Standard Slovene. See Slovene phonology | |
| Spanish | amigo | ⓘ | 'friend' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[33] Allophone of /ɡ/, see Spanish phonology | |
| Standard European[34] | Predrag | [ˈpɾe̞ð̞ɾäɣ̞̊] | 'Predrag' | Also described as an approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/ before a pause.[34] See Spanish phonology | |
| Swahili | ghali | [ɣali] | 'expensive' | ||
| Swedish | Västerbotten Norrland dialects | meg | [mɪːɣ] | 'me' | Allophone of /ɡ/. Occurs between vowels and in word-final positions.[35] Here also /∅/ in Kalix. |
| Tadaksahak | zog | [zoɣ] | 'war' | ||
| Tajik | ғафс/cafs | [ɣafs] | 'thick' | ||
| Tamazight | aɣilas (aghilas) | [aɣilas] | 'leopard' | ||
| Tamil | Sri Lankan | பகை/pakai | [pɐɣɛ(i̯)] | 'hate' | Intervocalic singular /k/ has debuccalized for most except in Brahmin and Sri Lankan Tamil. In total it can be [kʰ x ɡ ɣ ɣʰ h][36] |
| Turkish | Non-standard | ağaç | [aɣat͡ʃ] | 'tree' | Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology |
| Tutchone | Northern | ihghú | [ihɣǔ] | 'tooth' | |
| Southern | ghra | [ɣra] | 'baby' | ||
| Tyap | ghan | [ˈɣan] | 'to hurry' | ||
| Ukrainian | чахохбі́лі | [tʃɐxoɣˈbil⁽ʲ⁾i] | ‘chakhokhbili’ | Occurs in specific rare cases only. | |
| Uzbek[37] | ёмғир / yomgʻir/yamğır | [ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪] | 'rain' | Post-velar.[37] | |
| Vietnamese[38] | ghế | [ɣe˧˥] | 'chair' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
| West Frisian | drage | [ˈdraːɣə] | 'to carry' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |
| Wu Chinese | Northern (Jinsha variety) | 合 | [ɣuoʔ˨˦] | 'to join' | |
| Xiang Chinese | Old (Loudi variety) | 湖南 | [ɣu˩˧nia˩˧] | 'Hunan (province)' | |
| Yi | ꊋ/we | [ɣɤ˧] | 'win' | ||
| Zhuang | Lwg roegbit | [lɯ˧ ɣo˧pi˥] | 'Wild duckling' | ||