# Velar consonant

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Place of articulation

**Velar consonants** are [consonants](/source/Consonant) [articulated](/source/Place_of_articulation) with the back part of the [tongue](/source/Tongue) (the dorsum) against the [soft palate](/source/Soft_palate), the back part of the roof of the mouth (also known as the "velum").

Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive and the movements of the dorsum are not very precise, velars easily undergo [assimilation](/source/Assimilation_(linguistics)), shifting their articulation back or to the front depending on the quality of adjacent vowels.[1] They often become automatically *fronted*, that is partly or completely [palatal](/source/Palatal_consonant) before a following front vowel, and *retracted*, that is partly or completely [uvular](/source/Uvular_consonant) before back vowels.

[Palatalised](/source/Palatalization_(phonetics)) or [advanced](/source/Advanced_articulation) velars (like English /k/ in *keen* or *cube*) are sometimes referred to as **palatovelars**.[a] Many languages also have [labialized](/source/Labialization) velars, such as [kʷ], in which the articulation is accompanied by rounding of the lips. There are also [labial–velar consonants](/source/Labial%E2%80%93velar_consonant), which are doubly articulated at the velum and at the lips, such as [k͡p]. This distinction disappears with the [approximant consonant](/source/Approximant_consonant) [w] since labialization involves adding of a labial approximant articulation to a sound, and this ambiguous situation is often called **labiovelar**.

A velar [trill](/source/Trill_consonant) or [tap](/source/Flap_consonant) is not possible according to the [International Phonetics Association](/source/International_Phonetics_Association): see the shaded boxes on the [table of pulmonic consonants](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet#Consonants). In the velar position, the tongue has an extremely restricted ability to carry out the type of motion associated with trills or taps, and the body of the tongue has no freedom to move quickly enough to produce a [velar trill](/source/Velar_trill) or flap.[2]

## Examples

Some velar consonants identified by the [International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) are:

IPA Description Example Language Orthography IPA Meaning ŋ̊ voiceless velar nasal Burmese[3] ငှါး/nga: [ŋ̊á] 'borrow' ŋ voiced velar nasal English ring [ɹʷɪŋ] 'ring' k voiceless velar plosive English skip [skɪp] 'skip' ɡ voiced velar plosive English ago [əɡoʊ̯] 'ago' k͜x voiceless velar affricate Korean 크다/keuda [k͜xɯ̽da] 'big' ɡ͡ɣ voiced velar affricate English[b] good [ˈɡ͡ɣʊˑd̥] 'good' x voiceless velar fricative German Bauch [baʊx] 'abdomen' ɣ voiced velar fricative Greek γάτα [ˈɣata] 'cat' ɰ voiced velar approximant Irish naoi [n̪ˠɰiː] 'nine' ʍ voiceless labial-velar approximant English which[c] [ʍɪtʃ] 'which' w voiced labio-velar approximant English witch [wɪtʃ] 'witch' k͜𝼄 voiceless velar lateral affricate Archi[4] лӀон/ƛon [k͜𝼄on] 'a flock' ɡ͡ʟ̝ voiced velar lateral affricate Hiw qr̄ē [kʷg​͡ʟɪ] 'dolphin' 𝼄 voiceless velar lateral fricative Wahgi[5] nòⱡ [no𝼄˩] 'water' ʟ̝ voiced velar lateral fricative Archi[4] наӏлъдут [naˤʟ̝dut] 'blue' ʟ voiced velar lateral approximant Wahgi aʟaʟe [aʟaʟe] 'dizzy' ʟ̆ voiced velar lateral tap Melpa [example needed] kʼ velar ejective stop Archi кӀан [kʼan] 'bottom' k͜xʼ velar ejective affricate Hadza dlaggwa [c͜𝼆ʼak͜xʷ’a] 'to cradle' xʼ velar ejective fricative Tlingit xʼáaxʼ [xʼáːxʼ]ⓘ 'apple' k͜𝼄ʼ velar lateral ejective affricate Sandawe tl’ungu [k͜𝼄ʼùŋɡȕ] 'sky' ɠ̊ (ƙ) voiceless velar implosive Uspantek[6] k'aam [ɠ̊aːm] 'cord/twine' ɠ voiced velar implosive Sindhi ڳرو/g̈əro [ɠəro] 'heavy' ʞ velar-released click Wolof (paralexical) [ʞ] (allophonic with uvular [ʞ᫢]) 'yes'

## Lack of velars

The only languages recorded to lack phonemic velars (and any dorsal consonant at all) include [Xavante](/source/Xavante_language), standard [Tahitian](/source/Tahitian_language) (though /tVt/ is pronounced [kVt], a pattern also found in the [Niihau dialect](/source/Niihau_dialect) of Hawaiian), and arguably several [Skou languages](/source/Skou_languages) ([Wutung](/source/Wutung_language), the Dumo dialect of [Vanimo](/source/Vanimo_language), and [Bobe](/source/Bobe_language_(Papuan))), which have a coda [ŋ] that has been analyzed as the realization of [nasal vowels](/source/Nasal_vowel). No velar consonants have been found in data for [Omurano](/source/Omurano_language), a language isolate of Peru.[7] In [Pirahã](/source/Pirah%C3%A3_language), men lack the only velar consonant.

Other languages lack simple velars. An areal feature of the [indigenous languages of the Americas](/source/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas) of the coastal regions of the [Pacific Northwest](/source/Pacific_Northwest) is that historical *k was palatalized. When such sounds remained stops, they were transcribed ⟨kʸ⟩ in [Americanist phonetic notation](/source/Americanist_phonetic_notation), presumably corresponding to IPA ⟨c⟩, but in others, such as the [Saanich dialect](/source/Saanich_dialect) of [Coastal Salish](/source/Coast_Salish_languages), [Salish-Spokane-Kalispel](/source/Salish-Spokane-Kalispel_language), and [Chemakum](/source/Chemakum_language), *k went further and affricated to [tʃ]. Likewise, historical *k’ has become [tʃʼ] and historical *x has become [ʃ]; there was no *g or *ŋ. In the [Northwest Caucasian languages](/source/Northwest_Caucasian_languages), historical *[k] has also become palatalized, becoming /kʲ/ in [Ubykh](/source/Ubykh_language) and /tʃ/ in most [Circassian](/source/Circassian_languages) varieties. In both regions the languages retain a [labialized velar series](/source/Labialized_velar_consonant) (e.g. [kʷ], [kʼʷ], [gʷ], [xʷ], [w] in the North Caucasus) as well as [uvular consonants](/source/Uvular_consonant).[8] In the languages of those families that retain plain velars, both the plain and labialized velars are *pre-velar*, perhaps to make them more distinct from the uvulars which may be *post-velar*. Prevelar consonants are susceptible to palatalization. A similar system, contrasting *kʲ with *kʷ and leaving *k marginal at best, is reconstructed for [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language).

Apart from the voiceless plosive [k], no other velar consonant is particularly common, even the [w] and [ŋ] that occur in English. There can be no phoneme /ɡ/ in a language that lacks voiced stops, like [Mandarin Chinese](/source/Mandarin_Chinese),[d] but it is sporadically missing elsewhere. Of the languages surveyed in the *World Atlas of Language Structures*, about 10% of languages that otherwise have /p b t d k/ are missing /ɡ/.[9]

[Pirahã](/source/Pirah%C3%A3_language) has both a [k] and a [ɡ] phonetically. However, the [k] does not behave as other consonants, and the argument has been made that it is phonemically /hi/, leaving Pirahã with only /ɡ/ as an underlyingly velar consonant.

[Hawaiian](/source/Hawaiian_language) does not distinguish [k] from [t]; ⟨k⟩ tends toward [k] at the beginning of utterances, [t] before [i], and is variable elsewhere, especially in the dialect of Niʻihau and Kauaʻi. Since Hawaiian has no [ŋ], and ⟨w⟩ varies between [w] and [v], it is not clearly meaningful to say that Hawaiian has phonemic velar consonants.

Several [Khoisan languages](/source/Khoisan_languages) have limited numbers or distributions of pulmonic velar consonants. (Their click consonants are articulated in the uvular or possibly velar region, but that occlusion is part of the [airstream mechanism](/source/Airstream_mechanism) rather than the place of articulation of the consonant.) [Khoekhoe](/source/Khoekhoe_language), for example, does not allow velars in medial or final position, but in [Juǀʼhoan](/source/Ju%C7%80%CA%BChoan_dialect) velars are rare even in initial position.

## Velodorsal consonants

Normal velar consonants are *dorso-velar*: The dorsum (body) of the tongue rises to contact the velum (soft palate) of the roof of the mouth. In disordered speech there are also *velo-dorsal* stops, with the opposite articulation: The velum lowers to contact the tongue, which remains static. In the [extensions to the IPA](/source/Extensions_to_the_IPA) for disordered speech, these are transcribed by reversing the IPA letter for a velar consonant, e.g. ⟨𝼃⟩ for a voiceless velodorsal stop,[e] ⟨𝼁⟩ for voiced, and ⟨𝼇⟩ for a nasal.

extIPA HTML Description 𝼃 k Voiceless velodorsal plosive 𝼁 ɡ Voiced velodorsal plosive 𝼇 ŋ Velodorsal nasal

This convention will not work for the fricatives *x* and *ɣ*, though a downtack (⟨𝼃̞⟩, ⟨𝼁᫛⟩ ~ ⟨𝼁̞⟩) can be used to fill the gap.

## See also

- [Velarization](/source/Velarization)

- [Place of articulation](/source/Place_of_articulation)

- [List of phonetics topics](/source/List_of_phonetics_topics)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** These also may be called "retracted palatal", "backed palatal", "post-palatal", "pre-velar", "fronted velar", or "front-velar".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Occasional allophone of /ɡ/ for some speakers of Scouse, RP and Cockney.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** In [dialects](/source/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language) that distinguish between *which* and *witch*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** What is written *g* in [pinyin](/source/Pinyin) is /k/, though that sound does have an allophone [ɡ] in atonic syllables.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** The old letter for a [back-released velar click](/source/Back-released_velar_click), turned-k ⟨ʞ⟩, was used from 2008 to 2015.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Stroud,_2013_1-0)** Stroud, Kevin (August 2013). ["Episode 5: Centum, Satem and the Letter C | The History of English Podcast"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130824213343/http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/08/04/episode-5-centum-satem-and-the-letter-c-2/). *The History of English Podcast*. Archived from [the original](http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/08/04/episode-5-centum-satem-and-the-letter-c-2/) on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [The International phonetic Alphabet](http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/linguistic/ipa/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELadefogedMaddieson1996111_4-0)** [Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996)](#CITEREFLadefogedMaddieson1996), p. 111.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Handout_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Handout_7-1) ["The Archi Language Tutorial"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110904070032/http://www.archi.surrey.ac.uk/handout.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.archi.surrey.ac.uk/handout.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2009-12-23. (The source uses the symbol for the [voiced alveolar lateral fricative](/source/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_fricative), ⟨ɮ⟩, but also notes that the sound to be prevelar.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Donald J. Phillips (1976). [*Wahgi Phonology and Morphology*](https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145138/1/PL-B36.pdf) (PDF). B-36. Pacific Linguistics. p. 18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_9-0)** Bennett, Ryan; Harvey, Meg; Henderson, Robert; Méndez López, Tomás Alberto (September 2022). ["The phonetics and phonology of Uspanteko (Mayan)"](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Flnc3.12467). *Language and Linguistics Compass*. **16** (9) e12467. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/lnc3.12467](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Flnc3.12467). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1749-818X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1749-818X). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [252453913](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:252453913).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:02_10-0)** O’Hagan, Zachary (2023-01-16), Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev (eds.), ["20 Omurano"](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110432732-007/html), *Language Isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré*, De Gruyter, pp. 939–956, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1515/9783110432732-007](https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9783110432732-007), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-11-043273-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-11-043273-2), retrieved 2025-03-14{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Viacheslav A. Chirikba, 1996, *Common West Caucasian: the reconstruction of its phonological system and parts of its lexicon and morphology*, p. 192. Research School CNWS: Leiden.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [The World Atlas of Language Structures Online:Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems](http://wals.info/feature/5)

## Further reading

- [Ladefoged, Peter](/source/Peter_Ladefoged); [Maddieson, Ian](/source/Ian_Maddieson) (1996). [*The Sounds of the World's Languages*](/source/The_Sounds_of_the_World's_Languages). Oxford: Blackwell. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-631-19815-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-19815-6).

v t e Articulation Articulatory phonetics – Co-articulation – International Phonetic Alphabet Place Labial Bilabial Labiodental Dentolabial Coronal Linguolabial Interdental Dental Denti-alveolar Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Active place Apical Laminal Subapical Dorsal Alveolo-palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Laryngeal Pharyngeal/epiglottal Glottal Double articulation Labial–coronal Labial–alveolar Labial–retroflex Labial–palatal Labial–velar Labial–uvular Coronal–velar Uvular–epiglottal Pathological Velopharyngeal Other Bidental Manner Obstruent Plosive Pre-plosion Lateral release Nasal release Unreleased Affricate Trilled Fricative Sibilant Sonorant Nasal Prenasal Vowel Nasal Strident Approximant Semivowel Vibrant Tap/flap Trill Liquid Rhotic Lateral Occlusive Continuant Nonexplosive Airstream Egressive Pulmonic Ingressive Glottalic Ejective Implosive Click Pulmonic Ejective Nasal Glottalized Percussive Secondary articulation Labialization Roundedness Palatalization Labio-palatalization Velarization Uvularization Pharyngealization Related Nasalization Sulcalization Phonation (Voice) Glottal Voiceless Tenuis Whispery Aspirated Preaspirated Breathy Slack Modal Stiff Creaky Glottalized Supra-glottal Faucal Harsh Register Whistle Falsetto Vocal fry Transitional Vibrato Passaggio Resonance Onset time

v t e International Phonetic Alphabet (chart) IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the alphabet Extensions for disordered speech (extIPA) Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Special topics Cursive forms Case variants Obsolete and nonstandard symbols Naming conventions Sinological extensions World Orthography IPA chart for English dialects Encodings ASCII encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Usenet ASCII-IPA TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode IPA number IPA Braille Consonants Pulmonic consonants Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal Manner ↓ Bi­labial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Post­alveolar Retro­flex (Alve­olo-)​palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal Glottal Nasal m̥ m ɱ̊ ɱ n̼ n̪̊ n̪ n̥ n n̠̊ n̠ ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant affricate t̪s̪ d̪z̪ ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ tʂ dʐ tɕ dʑ Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh Sibilant fricative s̪ z̪ s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ Approximant β̞ ʋ ð̞ ɹ ɹ̠ ɻ j ɰ ˷ Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̮ Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r r̠ ɽ̊r̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ tꞎ d𝼅 c𝼆 ɟʎ̝ k𝼄 ɡʟ̝ Lateral fricative ɬ̪ ɬ ɮ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼆 ʎ̝ 𝼄 ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l̪ l̥ l l̠ ɭ̊ ɭ ʎ̥ ʎ ʟ̥ ʟ ʟ̠ Lateral tap/flap ɺ̥ ɺ 𝼈̊ 𝼈 ʎ̮ ʟ̆ IPA help audio full chart template Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Non-pulmonic consonants BL LD D A PA RF P V U Implosive Voiced ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ Voiceless ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̊ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥ Ejective Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ Affricate p̪fʼ t̪θʼ tsʼ t̠ʃʼ tʂʼ tɕʼ kxʼ qχʼ Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ Lateral affricate tɬʼ c𝼆ʼ k𝼄ʼ q𝼄ʼ Lateral fricative ɬʼ Click (top: velar; bottom: uvular) Tenuis kʘ qʘ kǀ qǀ kǃ qǃ k𝼊 q𝼊 kǂ qǂ Voiced ɡʘ ɢʘ ɡǀ ɢǀ ɡǃ ɢǃ ɡ𝼊 ɢ𝼊 ɡǂ ɢǂ Nasal ŋʘ ɴʘ ŋǀ ɴǀ ŋǃ ɴǃ ŋ𝼊 ɴ𝼊 ŋǂ ɴǂ ʞ Tenuis lateral kǁ qǁ Voiced lateral ɡǁ ɢǁ Nasal lateral ŋǁ ɴǁ IPA help audio full chart template Co-articulated consonants Nasal n͡m Labial–alveolar ɳ͡m Labial–retroflex ŋ͡m Labial–velar Plosive t͡p d͡b Labial–alveolar ʈ͡p ɖ͡b Labial–retroflex k͡p ɡ͡b Labial–velar q͡ʡ Uvular–epiglottal q͡p Labial–uvular Fricative/approximant ɥ̊ ɥ Labialized palatal ʍ w Labialized velar ɧ Sj-sound (variable) Lateral approximant ɫ Velarized alveolar Implosive ɠ̊͜ɓ̥ ɠ͡ɓ Labial–velar Ejective t͡pʼ Labial–alveolar IPA help full chart template Other Voiceless bidental fricative [h̪͆] Voiceless bilabially post-trilled dental stop [t̪ʙ̥] Voiceless upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟] Voiced upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟̬] Bilabial percussive [ʬ] Bidental percussive [ʭ] Sublaminal lower-alveolar percussive [¡] Vowels Front Central Back Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o Mid e̞ ø̞ ə ɤ̞ o̞ Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ Near-open æ ɐ Open a ɶ ä ɑ ɒ IPA help audio full chart template Legend: unrounded • rounded

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Velar consonant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velar_consonant) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velar_consonant?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.