Voiced velar fricative
| Voiced velar fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɣ | |||
| IPA number | 141 | ||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɣ |
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| Unicode (hex) | U+0263 | ||
| X-SAMPA | G |
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| Kirshenbaum | Q |
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| Braille |   |
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| Sound | |||
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The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. It is not found in English today, but did exist in Old English. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɣ⟩ (a variant of the Greek letter gamma, ⟨γ⟩, which is used for 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. The symbol ɣ is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, though that is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: [ɣ̞] or [ɣ˕]. The IPA also provides a dedicated symbol for a velar approximant, [ɰ], though there can be stylistic reasons to not use it in phonetic transcription.
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 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
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abaza | бгъьы | [bɣʲǝ] | 'leaf' | ||
| Adyghe | Адыгэ | [aːdəɣa] | 'adyghe' | ||
| Alekano | gamó | [ɣɑmɤʔ] | 'cucumber' | ||
| Aleut | agiitalix | [aɣiːtalix] | 'with' | ||
| Asturian | gadañu | [ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ] | 'scythe' | Allophone of /ɡ/ in almost all positions. | |
| Angor | ranih |
[ɾɑniɣə] | 'brother' | ||
| Angas | γür | [ɣyr] | 'to pick up' | ||
| Arabic | Modern Standard | غرفة | [ˈɣurfɐ] | 'room' | May be post-velar or uvular depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology |
| Azerbaijani | ağac | [ɑɣɑd͡ʒ] | 'tree' | ||
| Basque[1] | hego | [heɣo] | 'wing' | Allophone of /ɡ/. | |
| Berber | aɣilas (aghilas) | [aɣilas] | 'leopard' | ||
| Catalan[2] | figuera | [fiˈɣeɾə] | 'fig tree' | Allophone of /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology | |
| Chechen | гӀала / ġala | [ɣaːla] | 'town' | ||
| Dinka | ɣo | [ɣo] | 'us' | ||
| Dutch | Some dialects | gaan | [ɣaːn] | 'to go' | More common in northern dialects.[3] See Dutch phonology |
| Standard Netherlandic | |||||
| Netherlandic | liegen | [ˈliɣə(n)] | 'to lie' | Intervocallic allophone of [χ ~ x], written ⟨g⟩. Present in many dialects. See Dutch phonology | |
| Georgian[4] | ღარიბი | [ɣɑribi] | 'poor' | May actually be post-velar or uvular | |
| German | Austrian[5] | hege | [ˈheːɣe] | 'I take care' | Intervocallic allophone of /ɡ/ in casual speech. See German phonology |
| Gujarati | વાઘણ | [ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃] | 'tigress' | See Gujarati phonology | |
| Ghari | cheghe | [tʃeɣe] | 'five' | ||
| Greek | γάλα gála | [ˈɣala] | 'milk' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Gweno | [ndeɣe] | 'bird' | |||
| Gwich’in | videeghàn | [viteːɣân] | 'his her chest' | ||
| Haitian Creole | diri | [diɣi] | 'rice' | ||
| Hän | dëgëghor | [təkəɣor] | 'I am playing' | ||
| Hebrew | Yemenite | מגדּל | [miɣdʌl] | 'tower' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hindi | ग़रीब | [ɣəriːb] | 'poor' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology | |
| Icelandic | lagði | [laɣðɪ] | '(I) laid' | See Icelandic phonology | |
| Irish | dhorn | [ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ] | 'fist' | See Irish phonology | |
| Iwaidja | [mulaɣa] | 'hermit crab' | |||
| Japanese[6] | はげ hage | [haɣe] | 'baldness' | Allophone of /ɡ/, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology | |
| Kabardian | гын | [ɣən] | 'powder' | ||
| Macedonian | Bukovo accent | глава | [ˈɡɣa(v)a] | 'head' | Allophone of /l/ instead of usual [ɫ]. See Prilep-Bitola dialect |
| Berovo accent | дувна | [ˈduɣna] | 'it blew' | Corresponds to etymological /x/ of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology | |
| Navajo | ’aghá | [ʔaɣa] | 'best' | ||
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | ||
| Occitan | Gascon | digoc | [diˈɣuk] | 'said (3sg.)' | |
| Pashto | غاتر | [ɣɑtər] | 'mule' | ||
| Persian | حقیقت | [hæɣiːˈɢæt] | 'truth' | See Persian phonology | |
| Polish | niechże | [ˈɲeɣʐɛ] | 'let [intensified]' (imperative particle) | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology | |
| Portuguese | European[7] | agora | [əˈɣɔɾə] | 'now' | Allophone of /ɡ/, mainly in European Portuguese.[8] In Brazil, this lenition can also occur in some particular contexts. See Portuguese phonology |
| Some Brazilian dialects[9] | amiga | [ɐˈmiɣə] | 'friend' (f.) | ||
| Some Brazilian dialects[10] | 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. | |
| Northern Qiang | ? | [ɣnəʂ] | 'February' | ||
| Romani | Lithuanian | γoines | [ɣoines] | 'good' | |
| Russian | Southern | дорога | [dɐˈro̞ɣa] | 'a way' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in other dialects. |
| Standard | Господи | [ˈɣospədʲɪ] | 'Lord' 'three-day' |
Occurs in interjections, some religious (stylized as Old Church Slavonic) words, and as an allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Russian phonology. | |
| Sardinian | Nuorese dialect | súghere | [ˈsuɣɛrɛ] | 'to suck' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Scottish Gaelic | laghail | [ɫ̪ɤɣal] | 'lawful' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Sindhi | غم | [ɣəmʊ] | 'sadness' | ||
| Swahili | ghali | [ɣali] | 'expensive' | ||
| Dawsahak | ? | [zoɣ] | 'war' | ||
| Tajik | ғафс | [ɣafs] | 'thick' | ||
| Tiwi | ngaga | [ˈŋaɣa] | 'we (inclusive)' | ||
| Turkish | ağa | [aɣa] | 'agha' | Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology | |
| Tutchone | Northern | ihghú | [ihɣǔ] | 'tooth' | |
| Southern | ghra | [ɣra] | 'baby' | ||
| Urdu | غریب | [ɣəriːb] | 'poor' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology | |
| Vietnamese[11] | ghế | [ɣe˧˥] | 'chair' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
| West Frisian | drage | [ˈdraːɣə] | 'to carry' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |
| Yi | ꊋ we | [ɣɤ˧] | 'win' | ||
References
- ^ Hualde (1991:99–100)
- ^ Wheeler (2005:10)
- ^ Pieter van Reenen; Nanette Huijs (2000). "De harde en de zachte g, de spelling gh versus g voor voorklinker in het veertiende-eeuwse Middelnederlands.". Taal en Tongval, 52(Thema nr.), 159–181 (in Dutch). Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:255)
- ^ Sylvia Moosmüller (2007). "Vowels in Standard Austrian German: An Acoustic-Phonetic and Phonological Analysis". p. 6. Retrieved March 09, 2013.
- ^ Okada (1991:95)
- ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:92)
- ^ Mateus & d'Andrade (2000:11)
- ^ Fernando Sérgio – a friendly advice In this radio recording, at 0:11, standard for the programme – that was changed with the presenter, now Heleno Rotay, and still got a similar pronunciation – it is possible to hear that at least in the dialect of Rio de Janeiro (again, at 0:12, now in natural prosody) there is lenition at this position.
- ^ Barbosa & Albano (2004:228)
- ^ Thompson (1959:458–461)
Bibliography
- Barbosa, Plínio A. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
- Hualde, José Ignacio (1991), Basque phonology, New York: Routledge
- Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000), The Phonology of Portuguese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823581-X
- Okada, Hideo (1991), "Japanese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 21 (2): 94–97, doi:10.1017/S002510030000445X
- Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
- Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
- Wheeler, Max W (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925814-7
External links
Recordings of the voiced and voiceless velar fricatives are also available at
