Labio-velar approximant
w
Image
IPA number	170
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	w
Unicode (hex)	U+0077
X-SAMPA	w
Kirshenbaum	w
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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;^[1] 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.^[2]

Features[link]

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[link]

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		ауаҩы	[awaˈɥə]	'human'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		уэ	[wa]	'you'
Arabic	Standard[3]	وَرْد	[ward]	'roses'	See Arabic phonology
Basque		lau	[law]	'four'
Catalan[4]		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	[wɛlp]	'cub'	See Dutch phonology
English		weep	[wiːp]	'weep'	See English phonology
French[5]		oui	[wi]	'yes'	See French phonology
Hawaiian[6]		wikiwiki	[wikiwiki]	'fast'	May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology
Hebrew		דעוין	[dawin]	'showing off'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Irish		vóta	[ˈwoːt̪ˠə]	'vote'	See Irish phonology
Italian[7]		uomo	[ˈwɔmo]	'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[8]		łaska	[ˈwaska] (help·info)	'grace'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese[9]		água	[ˈaɡwɐ]	'water'	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[10]		cuanto	[ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞]	'as much'	See Spanish phonology
Swahili		mwanafunzi	[mwɑnɑfunzi]	'student'
Tagalog		araw	[aˈraw]	'day'	See Tagalog phonology
Thai[11]		แหวน/waen	[wɛn˩˩˦]	'ring'
Ukrainian		вона	[wɔˈnɑ]	'she'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese[12]		tuần	[t̪wən˨˩]	'week'	See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		gwae	[ɡwaɨ]	'woe'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian		skowe	[skoːwǝ]	'to shove'	Never occurs in word-initial positions.

See also[link]

• List of phonetics topics
• Nasal labio-velar approximant

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 227–232, DOI:10.1017/S0025100304001756 
• 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, http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/PhonLab/users/ohala/papers/story_of_w.pdf 
• 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 

v t e   International Phonetic Alphabet   IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the IPA Kiel convention (1989) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Naming conventions Phonetics Diacritics* Segments Tone letter Place of articulation Manner of articulation Special topics Case variants of IPA letters Extensions to the IPA Obsolete and nonstandard symbols IPA chart for English dialects Encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Conlang X-SAMPA Kirshenbaum TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode WorldBet   Consonants v t e IPA pulmonic consonants chartchart image • audio Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Radical Glottal ↓ Manner Bila​bial Labio​dental Den​tal Alve​olar Post​alv. Retro​flex Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn​geal Epi​glot​tal Glot​tal Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̪ n̥ n n̠ ɳ ɲ̥ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Trill ʙ r ɽ͡r ʀ я * Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̯ Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ ɭ˔̊ ʎ̥˔ ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝ Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ Lateral flap ɺ ɺ̠ ʎ̯ Non-pulmonic consonants Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ ʘ̃ ʘ̃ˀ ʘ͡q ʘ͡qʼ Implosives ɓ ɗ ʄ ᶑ ɠ ʛ Ejectives pʼ tʼ cʼ ʈʼ kʼ qʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ɬʼ xʼ χʼ tsʼ tɬʼ cʎ̝̥ʼ tʃʼ ʈʂʼ kxʼ kʟ̝̊ʼ Affricates p̪f b̪v ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ ʈʂ ɖʐ tɬ dɮ cç ɟʝ cʎ̥˔ kʟ̝̊ Co-articulated consonants Fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ Approximants ʍ w ɥ ɫ Stops k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] Where symbols appear in pairs, left—right represent the voiceless—voiced consonants. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible. * Symbol not defined in IPA. Chart image Pulmonics Non-pulmonics Affricates Co-articulated   Vowels Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ ə •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ ɐ •aɶ •ä •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Vowels: IPA help • chart •  chart with audio • view

The term labiovelar may refer to:

• a labial–velar consonant such as [k͡p] (a consonant made at two places of articulation, one at the lips and the other at the soft palate)
• a labialized velar consonant such as [kʷ] or [w] (a consonant with an approximant-like secondary articulation)
• a velarized bilabial consonant such as [pʷ] or [mʷ], also a consonant with an approximant-like secondary articulation

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