The voiced labiovelar (actually labialized velar) approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spokenlanguages, including English. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is w, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w.
Features
Features of the voiced labialized velar approximant:
Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
Its place of articulation is labializedvelar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) raised toward the soft palate (the velum) and the lipsrounded. 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 closer to a true labial-velar consonant. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol [w] in such cases, or may use the under-rounding diacritic, [w̜].
Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
This page contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged impossible.
