Bilabial consonant

This article containsphonetic transcriptionsin theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.For the distinction between[ ],/ /and ⟨⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Inphonetics,abilabial consonantis alabial consonant articulatedwith bothlips.

Frequency[edit]

Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, includingTlingit,Chipewyan,Oneida,andWichita,^[1]though all of these have a labial–velar approximant /w/.

Varieties[edit]

The bilabial consonants identified by theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(IPA) are:

IPA	Description	Example
IPA	Description	Language	Orthography	IPA	Meaning
m̥	voiceless bilabial nasal	Hmong	Hmoob	[m̥ɔ̃́]	Hmong
m	voiced bilabial nasal	English	man	[mæn]	man
p	voiceless bilabial plosive	English	spin	[spɪn]	spin
b	voiced bilabial plosive	English	bed	[bɛd]	bed
p͡ɸ	voiceless bilabial affricate	Kaingang^[2]	fy	[ˈp͡ɸɤ]	'seed'
b͡β	voiced bilabial affricate	Shipibo^[3]	boko	[ˈb͡βo̽ko̽]	'small intestine'
ɸ	voiceless bilabial fricative	Japanese	Núi Phú Sĩ(fujisan)	[ɸuʑisaɴ]	Mount Fuji
β	voiced bilabial fricative	Ewe	ɛʋɛ	[ɛ̀βɛ̀]	Ewe
β̞	bilabial approximant	Spanish	lobo	[loβ̞o]	wolf
ⱱ̟	voiced bilabial flap	Mono^[4]	vwa	[ⱱ̟a]	'send'
ʙ̥	voiceless bilabial trill	Pará Arára^[5]	[ʙ̥uta]		'to throw away'
ʙ	voiced bilabial trill	Nias	simbi	[siʙi]	lower jaw
pʼ	bilabial ejective stop	Adyghe	пӀэ	[pʼa]	meat
ɸʼ	bilabial ejective fricative	Yuchi^[6]	ḟasę	[ɸ’asẽ]	'good evening!'
ɓ̥	voiceless bilabial implosive	Serer	^{[example needed]}
ɓ	voiced bilabial implosive	Jamaican Patois	beat	[ɓiːt]	beat
k͡ʘq͡ʘ ɡ͡ʘɢ͡ʘ ŋ͡ʘɴ͡ʘ	bilabial clicks(many distinct consonants)	Nǁng	ʘoe	[k͡ʘoe]	meat

OwereIgbohas a six-way contrast among bilabial stops:[ppʰɓ̥bb̤ɓ].^{[citation needed]}

Other varieties[edit]

Theextensions to the IPAalso define abilabial percussive([ʬ]^ⓘ) forsmacking the lips together.A lip-smack in the non-percussive sense of the lips audibly parting would be[ʬ↓].^[7]

TheIPA chartshades outbilabial lateral consonants,which is sometimes read as indicating that such sounds are not possible. The fricatives[ɸ]and[β]are often lateral, but since no language makes a distinction for centrality, the allophony is not noticeable.

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

^Maddieson, Ian (2008),"Absence of Common Consonants",in Haspelmath, Martin; Dryer, Matthew S.; Gil, David; Comrie, Bernard (eds.),The World Atlas of Language Structures Online,Munich: Max Planck Digital Library
^Jolkesky (2009),pp. 680–681.
^Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001).
^Olson (2004:233)
^de Souza, Isaac Costa (2010)."3"(PDF).A Phonological Description of "Pet Talk" in Arara(MA). SIL Brazil. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2013-10-12.Retrieved2014-01-09.
^Crawford, James M. (1973). "Yuchi Phonology".International Journal of American Linguistics.39(3): 173–179.doi:10.1086/465261.S2CID 224808560.
^Heselwood, Barry (2013).Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice.Edinburgh University Press. p. 121.doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640737.001.0001.ISBN 978-0-7486-4073-7.JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt9qdrqz.S2CID 60269763.

Sources[edit]

General references

Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2009),"Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble",Anais do SETA,3,Campinas: Editora do IEL-UNICAMP: 675–685
Ladefoged, Peter;Maddieson, Ian(1996).The Sounds of the World's Languages.Oxford: Blackwell.ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
McDorman, Richard E. (1999).Labial Instability in Sound Change: Explanations for the Loss of /p/.Chicago: Organizational Knowledge Press.ISBN 0-9672537-0-5.
Olson, Kenneth S. (2004)."Mono"(PDF).Journal of the International Phonetic Association.34(2): 233–238.doi:10.1017/S0025100304001744.
Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Márquez Pinedo, Luis; Maddieson, Ian (2001)."Shipibo".Journal of the International Phonetic Association.31(2): 281–285.doi:10.1017/S0025100301002109.

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[1] Maddieson, Ian (2008),"Absence of Common Consonants",in Haspelmath, Martin; Dryer, Matthew S.; Gil, David; Comrie, Bernard (eds.),The World Atlas of Language Structures Online,Munich: Max Planck Digital Library

[FOOTNOTEJolkesky2009680–681-2] Jolkesky (2009),pp. 680–681.

[FOOTNOTEValenzuelaMárquez_PinedoMaddieson2001-3] Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001).

[4] Olson (2004:233)

[5] Souza, Isaac Costa (2010)."3"(PDF).A Phonological Description of "Pet Talk" in Arara(MA). SIL Brazil. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2013-10-12.Retrieved2014-01-09.

[6] Crawford, James M. (1973). "Yuchi Phonology".International Journal of American Linguistics.39(3): 173–179.doi:10.1086/465261.S2CID 224808560.

[7] Heselwood, Barry (2013).Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice.Edinburgh University Press. p. 121.doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640737.001.0001.ISBN 978-0-7486-4073-7.JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt9qdrqz.S2CID 60269763.

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