Velar consonant

{{Short description|Place of articulation}}

'''Velar consonants''' are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the 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, shifting their articulation back or to the front depending on the quality of adjacent vowels.<ref name="Stroud, 2013">{{cite web|last1=Stroud|first1=Kevin|title=Episode 5: Centum, Satem and the Letter C {{!}} The History of English Podcast|url=http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/08/04/episode-5-centum-satem-and-the-letter-c-2/|website=The History of English Podcast|access-date=29 January 2017|date=August 2013|archive-date=24 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824213343/http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/08/04/episode-5-centum-satem-and-the-letter-c-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref> They often become automatically ''fronted'', that is partly or completely palatal before a following front vowel, and ''retracted'', that is partly or completely uvular before back vowels.

Palatalised or advanced velars (like English {{IPA|/k/}} in ''keen'' or ''cube'') are sometimes referred to as '''palatovelars'''.{{efn|These also may be called "retracted palatal", "backed palatal", "post-palatal", "pre-velar", "fronted velar", or "front-velar".}} Many languages also have labialized velars, such as {{IPA|[kʷ]}}, in which the articulation is accompanied by rounding of the lips. There are also labial–velar consonants, which are doubly articulated at the velum and at the lips, such as {{IPA|[k͡p]}}. This distinction disappears with the approximant consonant {{IPA|[w]}} since labialization involves adding of a labial approximant articulation to a sound, and this ambiguous situation is often called '''labiovelar'''.

A velar trill or tap is not possible according to the International Phonetics Association: see the shaded boxes on the table of pulmonic 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 or flap.<ref>[http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/linguistic/ipa/ The International phonetic Alphabet]</ref>

==Examples== Some velar consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

{|class=wikitable |- ! rowspan="2" | IPA ! rowspan="2" | Description ! colspan="4" | Example |- ! Language ! Orthography ! IPA ! Meaning |- ! {{IPA|ŋ̊}} | voiceless velar nasal | Burmese{{sfnp|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=111}} | {{lang|my|ငှါး}}/{{Transliteration|my|nga:}} | {{IPA|['''ŋ̊'''á]}} | 'borrow' |- ! {{IPA|ŋ}} | voiced velar nasal | English | ''ri'''ng''''' | {{IPA|[ɹʷɪ'''ŋ''']}} | 'ring' |- ! {{IPA|k}} | voiceless velar plosive | English | ''s'''k'''ip'' | {{IPA|[s'''k'''ɪp]}} | 'skip' |- ! {{IPA|ɡ}} | voiced velar plosive | English | ''a'''g'''o'' | {{IPA|[ə'''ɡ'''oʊ̯]}} | 'ago' |- ! {{IPA|k͜x}} | voiceless velar affricate | Korean |'''크'''다/'''''k'''euda'' |{{IPA|['''k͜x'''ɯ̽da]}} |'big' |- ! {{IPA|ɡ͡ɣ}} | voiced velar affricate | English{{efn|Occasional allophone of /ɡ/ for some speakers of Scouse, RP and Cockney.}} | '''''g'''ood'' | {{IPA|[ˈ'''ɡ͡ɣ'''ʊˑd̥]}} | 'good' |- ! {{IPA|x}} | voiceless velar fricative | German | {{lang|de|Bau'''ch'''}} | {{IPA|[baʊ'''x''']}} | 'abdomen' |- ! {{IPA|ɣ}} | voiced velar fricative | Greek | {{lang|el|'''γ'''άτα}} | {{IPA|[ˈ'''ɣ'''ata]}} | 'cat' |- ! {{IPA|ɰ}} | voiced velar approximant | Irish | {{lang|ga|n'''ao'''i}} | {{IPA|[n̪ˠ'''ɰ'''iː]}} | 'nine' |- ! {{IPA|ʍ}} | voiceless labial-velar approximant | English | '''''wh'''ich{{efn|In dialects that distinguish between ''which'' and ''witch''.}}'' | {{IPA|['''ʍ'''ɪtʃ]}} | 'which' |- ! {{IPA|w}} | voiced labio-velar approximant | English | '''''w'''itch'' | {{IPA|['''w'''ɪtʃ]}} | 'witch' |- ! {{IPA|k͜𝼄}} | voiceless velar lateral affricate | Archi<ref name="Handout"/> | ''{{lang|aqc|'''лӀ'''он}}/{{Transliteration|aqc|ƛon}}'' |{{IPA|['''k͜𝼄'''on]}} | 'a flock' |- ! {{IPA|ɡ͡ʟ̝}} | voiced velar lateral affricate |Hiw |{{lang|hiw|q'''r̄'''ē}} |{{IPA|[kʷ'''g​͡ʟ'''ɪ]}} |'dolphin' |- ! {{IPA|𝼄}} | voiceless velar lateral fricative | Wahgi<ref>{{Cite book |author=Donald J. Phillips |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145138/1/PL-B36.pdf |title=Wahgi Phonology and Morphology |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=1976 |series=B-36 |page=18}}</ref> | ''nò'''ⱡ''''' | {{IPA|[no'''𝼄'''˩]}} | 'water' |- ! {{IPA|ʟ̝}} | voiced velar lateral fricative | Archi<ref name="Handout">{{Cite web |url=http://www.archi.surrey.ac.uk/handout.pdf |title=The Archi Language Tutorial |access-date=2009-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904070032/http://www.archi.surrey.ac.uk/handout.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-04 |url-status=dead }} (The source uses the symbol for the voiced alveolar lateral fricative, {{angbr IPA|ɮ}}, but also notes that the sound to be prevelar.)</ref> | {{lang|aqc|наӏ'''лъ'''дут}} |{{IPA|[naˤ'''ʟ̝'''dut]}} |'blue' |- ! {{IPA|ʟ}} | voiced velar lateral approximant | Wahgi | ''a'''ʟ'''a'''ʟ'''e'' | {{IPA|[a'''ʟ'''a'''ʟ'''e]}} | 'dizzy' |- ! {{IPA|ʟ̆}} | voiced velar lateral tap | Melpa |colspan=3| {{example needed|date=September 2023}} |- ! {{IPA|kʼ}} | velar ejective stop | Archi | {{lang|aqc|'''кӀ'''ан}} | {{IPA|['''kʼ'''an]}} | 'bottom' |- ! {{IPA|k͜xʼ}} | velar ejective affricate | Hadza | {{lang|hts|dla'''gg'''wa}} | {{IPA|[c͜𝼆ʼak͜xʷ’a]}} | 'to cradle' |- ! {{IPA|xʼ}} | velar ejective fricative | Tlingit | {{lang|tli|'''xʼ'''áa'''xʼ'''}} | {{Audio-IPA|Xʼáaxʼ.ogg|[xʼáːxʼ]}} | 'apple' |- ! {{IPA|k͜𝼄ʼ}} | velar lateral ejective affricate | Sandawe | {{lang|sad|'''tl’'''ungu}} | {{IPA|[k͜𝼄ʼùŋɡȕ]}} | 'sky' |- ! {{IPA|ɠ̊}} {{IPA|(ƙ)}} |voiceless velar implosive |Uspantek<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Ryan |last2=Harvey |first2=Meg |last3=Henderson |first3=Robert |last4=Méndez López |first4=Tomás Alberto |date=September 2022 |title=The phonetics and phonology of Uspanteko (Mayan) |journal=Language and Linguistics Compass |language=en |volume=16 |issue=9 |article-number=e12467 |doi=10.1111/lnc3.12467 |issn=1749-818X |s2cid=252453913 |doi-access=free}}</ref> | {{lang|usp|'''k{{'}}'''aam}} |{{IPA|[ɠ̊aːm]}} |'cord/twine' |- ! {{IPA|ɠ}} | voiced velar implosive | Sindhi | {{lang|sd|ڳرو}}/{{Transliteration|sd|'''g̈'''əro}} | {{IPA|['''ɠ'''əro]}} | 'heavy' |- ! {{IPA|ʞ}} | velar-released click | Wolof (paralexical) |colspan=2| {{IPA|[ʞ]}} (allophonic with uvular {{IPA|[ʞ᫢]}}) | 'yes' |}

==Lack of velars== The only languages recorded to lack phonemic velars (and any dorsal consonant at all) include Xavante, standard Tahitian (though /tVt/ is pronounced [kVt], a pattern also found in the Niihau dialect of Hawaiian), and arguably several Skou languages (Wutung, the Dumo dialect of Vanimo, and Bobe), which have a coda {{IPA|[ŋ]}} that has been analyzed as the realization of nasal vowels. No velar consonants have been found in data for Omurano, a language isolate of Peru.<ref name=":02">{{Citation |last=O’Hagan|first=Zachary|title=20 Omurano|date=2023-01-16|work=Language Isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré|pages=939–956|editor-last=Epps|editor-first=Patience|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110432732-007/html|access-date=2025-03-14|publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110432732-007|isbn=978-3-11-043273-2|editor2-last=Michael|editor2-first=Lev|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In Pirahã, men lack the only velar consonant.

Other languages lack simple velars. An areal feature of the indigenous languages of the Americas of the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest is that historical *k was palatalized. When such sounds remained stops, they were transcribed {{angbr IPA|kʸ}} in Americanist phonetic notation, presumably corresponding to IPA {{angbr IPA|c}}, but in others, such as the Saanich dialect of Coastal Salish, Salish-Spokane-Kalispel, and Chemakum, *k went further and affricated to {{IPA|[tʃ]}}. Likewise, historical *k’ has become {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}} and historical *x has become {{IPA|[ʃ]}}; there was no *g or *ŋ. In the Northwest Caucasian languages, historical *{{IPA|[k]}} has also become palatalized, becoming {{IPA|/kʲ/}} in Ubykh and {{IPA|/tʃ/}} in most Circassian varieties. In both regions the languages retain a labialized velar series (e.g. {{IPA|[kʷ], [kʼʷ], [gʷ], [xʷ], [w]}} in the North Caucasus) as well as uvular consonants.<ref>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.</ref> 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 {{IPA|*kʲ}} with {{IPA|*kʷ}} and leaving {{IPA|*k}} marginal at best, is reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European.

Apart from the voiceless plosive {{IPA|[k]}}, no other velar consonant is particularly common, even the {{IPA|[w]}} and {{IPA|[ŋ]}} that occur in English. There can be no phoneme {{IPA|/ɡ/}} in a language that lacks voiced stops, like Mandarin Chinese,{{efn|What is written ''g'' in pinyin is {{IPA|/k/}}, though that sound does have an allophone {{IPA|[ɡ]}} in atonic syllables.}} but it is sporadically missing elsewhere. Of the languages surveyed in the ''World Atlas of Language Structures'', about 10% of languages that otherwise have {{IPA|/p b t d k/}} are missing {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.<ref>[http://wals.info/feature/5 The World Atlas of Language Structures Online:Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems]</ref>

Pirahã has both a {{IPA|[k]}} and a {{IPA|[ɡ]}} phonetically. However, the {{IPA|[k]}} does not behave as other consonants, and the argument has been made that it is phonemically {{IPA|/hi/}}, leaving Pirahã with only {{IPA|/ɡ/}} as an underlyingly velar consonant.

Hawaiian does not distinguish {{IPA|[k]}} from {{IPA|[t]}}; {{angbr|k}} tends toward {{IPA|[k]}} at the beginning of utterances, {{IPA|[t]}} before {{IPA|[i]}}, and is variable elsewhere, especially in the dialect of Ni{{okina}}ihau and Kaua{{okina}}i. Since Hawaiian has no {{IPA|[ŋ]}}, and {{angbr|w}} varies between {{IPA|[w]}} and {{IPA|[v]}}, it is not clearly meaningful to say that Hawaiian has phonemic velar consonants.

Several 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 rather than the place of articulation of the consonant.) Khoekhoe, for example, does not allow velars in medial or final position, but in Juǀʼhoan velars are rare even in initial position.

=={{vanchor|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 for disordered speech, these are transcribed by reversing the IPA letter for a velar consonant, e.g. {{angbr IPA|𝼃}} for a voiceless velodorsal stop,{{efn|The old letter for a back-released velar click, turned-k {{angbr IPA|ʞ}}, was used from 2008 to 2015.}} {{angbr IPA|𝼁}} for voiced, and {{angbr IPA|𝼇}} for a nasal.

{|class=wikitable |- ! extIPA ! HTML ! Description |- | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|&#x1DF03;}} | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|{{mirtxt|h|k}}}} |Voiceless velodorsal plosive |- | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|&#x1DF01;}} | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|{{mirtxt|h|ɡ}}}} |Voiced velodorsal plosive |- | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|&#x1DF07;}} | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|{{mirtxt|h|ŋ}}}} |Velodorsal nasal |}

This convention will not work for the fricatives ''x'' and ''ɣ'', though a downtack ({{angbr IPA|𝼃̞}}, {{angbr IPA|𝼁᫛}} ~ {{angbr IPA|𝼁̞}}) can be used to fill the gap.

==See also== * Velarization * Place of articulation * List of phonetics topics

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{SOWL}}

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Category:Place of articulation Category:Velar consonants