Voiced labio-velar approximant

For consonants followed by superscript ʷ, see Labialization.

Voiced labio-velar approximant
w
u̯
IPA Number	170
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	w
Unicode (hex)	U+0077
X-SAMPA	w
Braille

Compressed labio-velar approximant
ɰᵝ
wᵝ

The voiced labio-velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. It is the sound denoted by the letter ⟨w⟩ in the English alphabet; likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is a labialized velar approximant [ɰʷ], and the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel [u] - i.e. the non-syllabic close back rounded vowel. In inventory charts of languages with other labialized velar consonants, /w/ will be placed in the same column as those consonants. When consonant charts have only labial and velar columns, /w/ may be placed in the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both. The placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.

Features

Features of the voiced labialized velar approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream. The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of /w/ from the /u/ vowel position to a following vowel position. The term semivowel emphasizes that, although the sound is vocalic in nature, it is not 'syllabic' (it does not form the nucleus of a syllable).
• Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips. 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 a true labial–velar (as opposed to labialized velar) consonant. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol [w] in such cases, or may use the under-rounding diacritic, [w̜].
• 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
Abkhaz		ауаҩы	[awaˈɥə]	'human'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		оды	<phonos file="Wadə.ogg">[wadə]</phonos>	'thin'
Arabic	Standard	وَرْد	[ward]	'roses'	See Arabic phonology
Assamese		ৱাশ্বিংটন	[waʃiŋtɔn]	'Washington'
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic		ktawa	[kta:wa]	'book'	Most speakers. [v] and [ʋ] are used in the Urmia dialects.
Basque		lau	[law]	'four'
Bengali		ওয়াদা	[wada]	'promise'	See Bengali phonology
Catalan		creuar	[kɾəˈwa]	'to cross'	See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Cantonese	湖/wu4	[wuː˨˩]	'lake'	See Cantonese phonology
	Mandarin	王/wáng	[wɑŋ˧˥]	'king'	See Mandarin phonology
Dutch	Colloquial	koude	[ˈkʌu̯wə]	'cold'	Lenited allophone of /d/ after /ʌu̯/. See Dutch phonology
	Standard Surinamese	welp	[wɛɫp]	'cub'	Corresponds to [ʋ] in the Netherlands and to [β̞] in Belgium. See Dutch phonology
English		weep	[wiːp]	'weep'	See English phonology
French		oui	[wi]	'yes'	See French phonology
Hawaiian		wikiwiki	[wikiwiki]	'fast'	May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology
Hebrew	Oriental	כוח	[ˈkowaħ]	'power'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Irish		vóta	[ˈwoːt̪ˠə]	'vote'	See Irish phonology
Italian		uomo	[ˈwɔːmo]	'man'	See Italian phonology
Japanese		わたし/watashi	[ɰᵝataɕi]	'I'	Pronounced with lip compression. See Japanese phonology
Kabardian		уэ	<phonos file="Уэ.ogg">[wa]</phonos>	'you'
Korean		왜가리/waegari	[wɛɡɐɾi]	'heron'	See Korean phonology
Luxembourgish		zwee	[t͡swe̝ː]	'two'	Allophone of /v/ after /k, t͡s, ʃ/. See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay		wang	[waŋ]	'money'
Pashto		ﻭﺍﺭ	[wɑr]	'one time'
Polish		łaska	<phonos file="Pl-łaska.ogg">[ˈwäskä]</phonos>	'grace'	See Polish phonology. Corresponds to [ɫ] in older pronunciation and eastern dialects
Portuguese	Most dialects	quando	[ˈkwɐ̃du]	'when'	Post-lexically after /kʷ/. See Portuguese phonology
	General Brazilian	qual	[ˈkwaw]	'which'	Allophone of /l/ in coda position for most Brazilian dialects.
Romanian		dulău	[duˈləw]	'mastiff'	See Romanian phonology
Serbo-Croatian	Croatian	вук / vuk	[wûːk]	'wolf'	Allophone of /ʋ/ before /u/. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Seri		cmiique	[ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ]	'person'	Allophone of /m/
Slovene		cerkev	[ˈt͡sèːrkəw]	'church'	Allophone of /ʋ/ in the syllable coda. Voiceless [ʍ] before voiceless consonants. See Slovene phonology
Sotho		sewa	[ˈsewa]	'epidemic'	See Sesotho phonology
Spanish		cuanto	[ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞]	'as much'	See Spanish phonology
Swahili		mwanafunzi	[mwɑnɑfunzi]	'student'
Tagalog		araw	[ɐˈɾaw]	'day'	See Tagalog phonology
Thai		แหวน /waen	[wɛn˩˩˦]	'ring'
Ukrainian		любов	[lʲubɔw]	'love'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese		tuần	[t̪wən˨˩]	'week'	See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		gwae	[ɡwaɨ]	'woe'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian		skowe	[skoːwǝ]	'to shove'

See also

• Voiceless labialized velar approximant
• Nasal labialized velar approximant