A voiced labialâÂÂvelar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. It is the sound denoted by the letter in the English alphabet; likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , or rarely . In most languages it is the semivocalic counterpart of a close back rounded vowel . In inventory charts of languages with other labialized velar consonants, will be placed in the same column as those consonants. When consonant charts have only labial and velar columns, may be placed in the velar column, labial column, or both. The placement may have more to do with convenience or phonological criteria than with phonetics.
For a labialized post-palatal approximant—sometimes also described as a voiced labialâÂÂprevelar approximant—which is more fronted in the place of articulation than a prototypical labialâÂÂvelar approximant, see .
Features of a voiced labialâÂÂvelar approximant:
The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of from the 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). Some languages, such as Japanese and perhaps the Northern Iroquoian languages, have a sound typically transcribed as where the lips are compressed, or in some cases may not have labial features at all. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol in such cases and instead use , or may use the under-rounding diacritic .
A nasalized voiced labialâÂÂvelar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is typically (a nasalized ), though for preciseness (a nasalized and labialized ) may also be seen.
Features of a nasal labialâÂÂvelar approximant: