{{Short description|Consonant articulated with both lips}} {{IPA notice}} In phonetics, a '''bilabial consonant''' is a labial consonant articulated with both lips.
== Frequency == Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingit, Chipewyan, Oneida, and Wichita,<ref>{{ citation | last= Maddieson | first= Ian | date=2008 | chapter= Absence of Common Consonants | editor1-last= Haspelmath | editor1-first= Martin | editor2-last= Dryer | editor2-first= Matthew S. |editor3-last= Gil | editor3-first= David |editor4-last= Comrie |editor4-first= Bernard |title= The World Atlas of Language Structures Online |place= Munich |publisher= Max Planck Digital Library | chapter-url= http://wals.info/feature/18}}</ref> though all of these have a labial–velar approximant {{IPAslink|w}}.
==Varieties== Some bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are:
{|class=wikitable |- ! rowspan="2" | IPA ! rowspan="2" | Description ! colspan="4" | Example |- ! Language ! Orthography ! IPA ! Meaning |- ! {{IPA|m̥}} | voiceless bilabial nasal | Hmong | {{lang|hmn|'''Hm'''oob}} | {{IPA|[m̥ɔ̃́]}} | Hmong |- ! {{IPA|m}} | voiced bilabial nasal | English | '''m'''an | {{IPA|['''m'''æn]}} | man |- ! {{IPA|p}} | voiceless bilabial plosive | English | s'''p'''in | {{IPA|[s'''p'''ɪn]}} | spin |- ! {{IPA|b}} | voiced bilabial plosive | English | '''b'''ed | {{IPA|['''b'''ɛd]}} | bed |- ! {{IPA|p͜ɸ}} | voiceless bilabial affricate |Kaingang{{sfnp|Jolkesky|2009|pp=680-681}} | {{lang|kgp|'''f'''y}} | {{IPA|[ˈp͜ɸɤ]}} | 'seed' |- ! {{IPA|b͜β}} | voiced bilabial affricate | Shipibo{{sfnp|Valenzuela|Márquez Pinedo|Maddieson|2001|p=}} | {{lang|shp|'''b'''oko}} | {{IPA|[ˈb͜βo̽ko̽]}} | 'small intestine' |- ! {{IPA|ɸ}} | voiceless bilabial fricative | Japanese | {{lang|ja|富士山}} ({{Transliteration|ja|'''f'''ujisan}}) | {{IPA|['''ɸ'''ɯʑisaɴ]}} | Mount Fuji |- ! {{IPA|β}} | voiced bilabial fricative | Ewe | {{lang|ee|ɛ'''ʋ'''ɛ}} | {{IPA|[ɛ̀'''β'''ɛ̀]}} | Ewe |- ! {{IPA|β̞}} | bilabial approximant | Spanish | {{lang|es|lo'''b'''o}} | {{IPA|[lo'''β̞'''o]}} | wolf |- ! {{IPA|ⱱ̟}} | voiced bilabial flap | Mono<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Olson|2004|p=233}}</ref> | {{lang|mnh|'''vw'''a}} | {{IPA|['''ⱱ̟'''a]}} | 'send' |- ! {{IPA|ʙ̥}} | voiceless bilabial trill | Pará Arára<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=de Souza|first=Isaac Costa|title=A Phonological Description of "Pet Talk" in Arara|type=MA|chapter=3|chapter-url=http://www-01.sil.org/americas/brasil/publcns/ling/ARPetTlk.pdf|year=2010|publisher=SIL Brazil|access-date=2014-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012055939/http://www-01.sil.org/americas/brasil/publcns/ling/ARPetTlk.pdf|archive-date=2013-10-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> |colspan=2 | {{IPA|[ʙ̥uta]}} | 'to throw away' |- ! {{IPA|ʙ}} | voiced bilabial trill | Nias | {{lang|nia|si'''mb'''i}} | {{IPA|[si'''ʙ'''i]}} | lower jaw |- ! {{IPA|pʼ}} | bilabial ejective stop | Adyghe | {{lang|ady|'''п'''Ӏэ}} | {{IPA|['''pʼ'''a]}} | meat |- ! {{IPA|ɸʼ}} | bilabial ejective fricative | Yuchi<ref>{{cite journal|last=Crawford|first=James M.|year=1973|title=Yuchi Phonology|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=39|issue=3|pages=173–179|doi=10.1086/465261|s2cid=224808560}}</ref> | {{lang|yuc|'''ḟ'''asę}} | {{IPA|['''ɸ’'''asẽ]}} |{{gloss|good evening!}} |- ! {{IPA|ɓ̥}} | voiceless bilabial implosive | Kaqchikel | {{lang|cak|'''b'<nowiki/>'''ojoy}} |{{IPA|['''ɓ̥'''oχoj]|lang=cak}} |'pot' |- ! {{IPA|ɓ}} | voiced bilabial implosive | Jamaican Patois | {{lang|jam|'''b'''eat}} | {{IPA|['''ɓ'''iːt]}} | beat |- ! {{IPA|k͡ʘ q͡ʘ<br>ɡ͡ʘ ɢ͡ʘ<br>ŋ͡ʘ ɴ͡ʘ}} | bilabial clicks (many distinct consonants) | Nǁng | {{lang|ngh|'''ʘ'''oe}} | {{IPA|['''k͡ʘ'''oe]}} | meat |}
Owere Igbo has a six-way contrast among bilabial stops: {{IPA|[p pʰ ɓ̥ b b̤ ɓ]}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
The IPA chart shades out ''bilabial lateral consonants''. This is because lateral consonants are defined as ones in which the airflow passes over the side of the tongue; the category therefore does not apply to labial consonants. (See also labiodental consonant, which very commonly have airflow at the side of the mouth.)
== Other varieties ==
The extensions to the IPA also define a '''{{vanchor|bilabial percussive}}''' ({{IPAblink|ʬ|audio=y}}) for smacking the lips together. A lip-smack in the non-percussive sense of the lips audibly parting would be an ingressive {{IPA|[ʬ↓]}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heselwood |first=Barry |title= Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice |year=2013 |page=121 |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640737.001.0001 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |jstor=10.3366/j.ctt9qdrqz|isbn=978-0-7486-4073-7 |s2cid=60269763 }}</ref>
==See also== * Place of articulation * Index of phonetics articles
== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
==== General references ==== {{refbegin}} * {{citation |last=Jolkesky |first=Marcelo Pinho de Valhery |year=2009 |title=Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble |journal=Anais do SETA |volume=3 |pages=675–685 |place=Campinas |publisher=Editora do IEL-UNICAMP |url=http://www.iel.unicamp.br/revista/index.php/seta/article/view/557/474}} * {{SOWL}} * {{cite book |last=McDorman |first=Richard E. |year=1999 |title=Labial Instability in Sound Change: Explanations for the Loss of /p/ |location=Chicago |publisher=Organizational Knowledge Press |isbn=0-9672537-0-5}} * {{cite journal |last=Olson |first=Kenneth S. |year=2004 |title=Mono |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=233–238 |doi=10.1017/S0025100304001744 |url=http://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/11/37/52/113752932904084361138922206226269471614/Olson2004.pdf |doi-access=free}} * {{cite journal |last1=Valenzuela |first1=Pilar M. |last2=Márquez Pinedo |first2=Luis |last3=Maddieson |first3=Ian |year=2001 |title=Shipibo |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=281–285 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40852342 |doi=10.1017/S0025100301002109 |doi-access=free}} {{refend}}
{{articulation navbox}} {{IPA navigation}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilabial Consonant}} Category:Place of articulation Category:Bilabial consonants