Labiovelar consonant
From Freepedia
The term labiovelar is ambiguous. It may mean labial-velar (a consonant made at two places of articulation, one at the lips and the other at the soft palate), or it may mean labialized velar (a consonant with an approximant-like secondary articulation).
When the manner of articulation is a plosive, nasal stop, or fricative, these are quite different. Labialized velars include [kʷ, gʷ, xʷ, ŋʷ], which are pronounced like a [k, g, x, ŋ] but with rounded lips. Labial-velars are less common, occurring principally in West and Central Africa, and include [k͡p, g͡b, ŋ͡m], which are pronounced like a simultaneous [k] and [p], [g] and [b], and [ŋ] and [m]. Labial-velar fricatives are not thought to be possible, since it is difficult to control the airstream precisely enough to produce frication at two places of articulation, and in any case the sound of the forward articulation would mask the other. ([ʍ] is not actually a fricative, but rather a voiceless approximant, and in any case is labialized, not labial-velar.)
The most common labiovelar consonant is the voiced approximant [w]. This is most commonly a labialized velar, as is its vocalic cousin [u]. (Labialization is called rounding in vowels, and a velar place is called back.) However, some languages have something closer to a truly labial-velar approximant [w], where the lips come together. Since the lips don't approach each other closely in either case, it is not always easy to distinguish the two.
See also
- Labial-velar consonant
- Labialisation
- Doubly articulated consonant
- Co-articulated consonant
- Proto-Indo-European language
- Yazgulyami
