Voiced velar fricative

IPA number	141
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X-SAMPA	G
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The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɣ (a variant of the Greek letter gamma, which is used for this sound in Modern Greek; not to be confused with ɤ, the symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is G. The symbol ɣ is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, though that is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: ɣ̞ or ɣ˕.

Features

Features of the voiced velar fricative:

• Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is velar which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum).
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Alekano		gamó	[ɣɑmɤʔ]	'cucumber'
Angor		ranihı	[ɾɑniɣə]	'brother'
Angas		γür	[ɣyr]	'to pick up'
Arabic		غرفة	[ˈɣurfɐ]	'room'	May be post-velar or uvular depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology
Asu		[fiɣo]		'kidney'
Azerbaijani		ağac	[aɣad​ʒ]	'tree'
Catalan		bolígraf boníssim	[buˈliɣɾəv buˈnisim]	'excellent ballpoint'	See Catalan phonology
Chechen		гӀала/ġala	[ɣa:la]	'town'
Dinka		ɣo	[ɣo]	'us'
Dutch		gaan	[ɣaːn]	'to go'	See Dutch phonology
Georgian		ღარიბი	[ɣɑribi]	'poor'	May actually be post-velar or uvular
Gujarati		વાઘણ	[ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃]	'tigress'	See Gujarati phonology
Ghari		cheghe	[tʃeɣe]	'five'
Greek		γάλα	[ˈɣala]	'milk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gweno		[ndeɣe]		'bird'
Gwich'in		videeghàn	[viteːɣân]	'his/her chest'
Hän		dëgëghor	[təkəɣor]	'I am playing.'
Irish		dhorn	[ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ]	'fist'	See Irish phonology
Iwaidja		[mulaɣa]		'hermit crab'
Japanese		はげ	[haɣe]	'baldness'	Especially in fast and/or casual speech, See Japanese phonology
Navajo		’aghá	[ʔaɣa]	'best'
Ngwe	Mmockngie dialect	[nøɣə̀]		'sun'
Occitan	Gascon	digoc	[diˈɣuk]	'said (3sg.)'
Pashto		غاتر	[ɣɑtər]	'mule'
Persian		کاغذ	[kɒɣæz]	'paper'	See Persian phonology
Polish		niechże	[ɲeɣʐɛ]	'let,' 'suppose'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese	European	agora	[əˈɣorə]	'nose'	Allophone of /g/ in northern and central dialects. See Portuguese phonology
	Some Brazilian dialects	carro	[ˈkaɣu]	'car'	Rhotic consonant
Northern Qiang		?	[ɣnəʂ]	'February'
Romani	Lithuanian	γoines	[ɣoines]	'good'
Sardinian	Nuorese dialect	súghere	[ˡsuɣɛrɛ]	'to suck'
Sindhi		غم	[ɣəmʊ]	'sadness'
Spanish		lago	['laˈɣ̞o̞]	'lake'	See Spanish phonology
Swahili		[[Latin script|ghali	[ɣali]]]	'expensive'
Tadaksahak		?	[zoɣ]	'war'
Tajik		ғафс	[ɣafs]	'thick'
Tiwi		ngaga	[ˈŋaɣa]	'we inclusive'
Turkish		ağaç	[aɣatʃ]	'tree'	Certain dialects. See Turkish phonology
Tutchone	Northern	ihghú	[ihɣǔ]	'tooth'
	Southern	ghra	[ɣra]	'baby'
Vietnamese		ghê	[ɣe]	'to have a horror; terribly'	See Vietnamese phonology

See also

• List of phonetics topics

Bibliography

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