Velar approximant

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Template:Infobox IPA The velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is Template:IPA, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is M\.

Contents 1 Features 2 In English 3 In other languages 3.1 Cherokee 3.2 Spanish 3.3 French 4 See also

Features

Features of the 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 velar which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum).
• 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.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

In English

English does not have the velar approximant. However, it does have the similar labial-velar approximant [w]. [w] has two places of articulation, labial and velar, whereas Template:IPA has only one, velar. To give some idea of how to pronounce Template:IPA, try to make a "w" sound without the labial articulation, that is, without bringing the lips together.

In other languages

Cherokee

Cherokee has Template:IPA as a phoneme, although it is sometimes realized as its allophone [w]. It is usually Romanized as "w". In the Cherokee syllabary, it occurs in the following syllables: Ꮹ wa, Ꮺ we, Ꮻ wi, Ꮼ wo, Ꮽ wu, Ꮾ wv (Template:IPA).

Spanish

Spanish has Template:IPA as an allophone of Template:IPA, which is only realised as Template:IPA initially or after nasals, and as Template:IPA elsewhere (compare gato Template:IPA with el gato Template:IPA).

French

French has Template:IPA as an allophone of Template:IPA before a vowel, like in ta gueule Template:IPA.

See also

• List of phonetics topics

Template:Consonantsde:Stimmhafter velarer Approximant fr:Consonne spirante vélaire voisée sv:Velar approximant