Voiceless labial–velar plosive

The voiceless labial–velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is a [k] and [p] pronounced simultaneously and is considered a double articulation.[1] To make this sound, one can say Coe but with the lips closed as if one were saying Poe; the lips are to be released at the same time as or a fraction of a second after the C of Coe. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨k͡p⟩.

Voiceless labial–velar plosive
k͡p
IPA Number109 (101)
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)k​͡​p
Unicode (hex)U+006B U+0361 U+0070

The voiceless labial–velar plosive is found in Vietnamese and various languages in West and Central Africa. In Yoruba it is written with a simple ⟨p⟩.

Features

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Features of the voiceless labial–velar stop:

Occurrence

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Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Dangme[2] kpà [k͡pà] 'to roam'
Ega[3] [k͡pá] 'build a hedge to enclose a field'
Ibibio[4] kpa [k͡pɐ́] 'to die'
Igbo[5] kpọ́ [k͡pɔ́] 'call'
Kalabari[6] àkpà [àk͡pà] 'bag'
Mono[7] kpa [k͡pa] 'flee'
Nigerian Pidgin[8] [example needed] Phonemic. Found in substrate words and later loanwords from native Nigerian languages. See Languages of Nigeria.
Saramaccan[9] akpó [ak͡pó] 'arrow type' Possibly allophonic with /kʷ/, but possibly phonemic as well
Vietnamese[10] c [luk͡p˧˥] 'time' Allophone of /k/ after /u, o, ɔ/. See Vietnamese phonology
Tyap kpa [k͡pa] 'pestle'
Yoruba pápá [k͡pák͡pá] 'field'

Rounded variant

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Voiceless labialized labial–velar plosive
k͡pʷ

Some languages, especially in Papua New Guinea and in Vanuatu, combine this voiceless labial–velar stop with a labial–velar approximant release, hence [k͡pʷ]. Thus Mwotlap (Banks Islands, north Vanuatu) has [k͡pʷɪlɣɛk] ('my father-in-law').[11]

In the Banks Islands languages which have it, the phoneme /k͡pʷ/ is written q in local orthographies. In other languages of Vanuatu further south (such as South Efate, or Lenakel), the same segment is spelled .

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Catford 2006, p. 438:

    … the commonest double articulations consist of the simultaneous articulation of stops at two locations, most frequently labial-velar [kp] [gb], written [k͡p] [ɡ͡b] when the coarticulation has to be made explicit in transcription. This particular type of double articulation is often called ‘labiovelar,’ a term which must be avoided in a strictly systematic phonetic taxonomy in which the first half of such a compound term refers to the lower articulator.

  2. ^ Kropp Dakubu (1987:13)
  3. ^ Connell, Ahoua & Gibbon (2002:100)
  4. ^ Urua (2004:106)
  5. ^ Eme & Uba (2016:71)
  6. ^ Harry (2003:113)
  7. ^ Olson (2004:233)
  8. ^ Faraclas (1996), pp. 248–249.
  9. ^ McWhorter & Good (2012).
  10. ^ Thompson (1959:458–461)
  11. ^ François (2005:117)

References

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  • Catford, J.C.; Esling, John (2006). "Articulatory phonetics". In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (2 ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 425–442. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00002-X.
  • Connell, Bruce; Ahoua, Firmin; Gibbon, Dafydd (2002), "Ega", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 32 (1): 99–104, doi:10.1017/S002510030200018X
  • Eme, Cecilia Amaoge; Uba, Ebele Deborah (2016), "A Contrastive Study of the Phonology of Igbo and Yoruba", UJAH: Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities, 17 (1): 65–84, doi:10.4314/ujah.v17i1.4, retrieved 2021-12-13
  • François, Alexandre (2005), "A typological overview of Mwotlap, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu", Linguistic Typology, 9 (1): 115–146, doi:10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.115, S2CID 55878308
  • Harry, Otelemate (2003), "Kalaḅarị-Ịjo", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 113–120, doi:10.1017/S002510030300121X
  • Kropp Dakubu, M. E. (1987), The Dangme Language: An Introductory Survey, London: Macmillan
  • McWhorter, John H.; Good, Jeff (2012). A grammar of Saramaccan Creole. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 9783110278262. OCLC 823841958.
  • Olson, Kenneth S. (2004), "Mono" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 233–238, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001744
  • Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language, 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
  • Urua, Eno-Abasi E. (2004), "Ibibio", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 105–109, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001550
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