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Voiced bilabial fricative

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Voiced bilabial fricative
β
Audio sample
Encoding
X-SAMPAB

The voiced bilabial fricative is a sound used in some spoken languages. It is in the Spanish dialect of English but is similar to the v in have, and it is in Spanish too.

Characteristics

[change | change source]
  • The phonation is voiced. This means that the vocal cords vibrate while the sound is being pronounced.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is bilabial. This means that this sound is produced with both lips.
  • It is an oral consonant. This means that air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant. This means that this sound is produced by directing the air along the center of the tongue, but not to the sides.
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is fricative. This means that this sound is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, to make turbulence.

Examples

[change | change source]
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Akei[βati]'four'
Alekanohanuva[hɑnɯβɑ]'nothing'
Angorfufung[ɸuβuŋ]'horn'
BengaliEastern dialectsভিসাTemplate:Romanization needed[βisa]'Visa'Allophone of /v/ in Bangladesh and Tripura; /bʱ/ used in Western dialects.
Berta[βɑ̀lɑ̀ːziʔ]'no'
Catalan[1]abans[əˈβans]'before'Approximant or fricative. Allophone of /b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and /v/ merging) dialects. See Catalan phonology
Chinese dialectsFuzhou[2]初八 / chĕ̤ báik[t͡sœ˥˧βaiʔ˨˦]'eighth day of the month'Allophone of /p/ and /pʰ/ in certain intervocalic positions.[2]
Suburban Shanghainese碗盞 / ve tse[βe̝˧˧˦tsɛ̝˥]'bowl'Usually [ɦu] or [u] in other Wu dialects[3]
Comorianupvendza[uβendza]'to love'Contrasts with both [v] and [w]
CopticBohairicⲧⲱⲃⲓ[ˈdoːβi]'brick'Shifted to [w] with a syllable coda allophone of [b] in a later stage.
Sahidicⲧⲱⲱⲃⲉ[ˈtoːβə]
Dahalo[4][koːβo]'to want'Weak fricative or approximant. It is a common intervocalic allophone of /b/, and may be simply a plosive [b] instead.[4]
EnglishSome dialects[clarification needed]upvote[ˈʌpˌβoʊt]'upvote'Less-common allophone of /v/ after [p], [b], or [m] (the more-common alteration being the shifting of the earlier consonant to [p̪], [b̪], or [ɱ], respectively, although [p̪v]/[b̪v]/[ɱv] exist in free variation with [pβ]/[bβ]/[mβ]).
Chicanovery[βɛɹi]'very'May be realized as [b] instead.
Epena Pedee[5] náwe [ˈnãβ̃ẽ] 'mother' Word medial realization of /w/, in free variation with a nasalized approximant [w̃][5]
Ewe[6]Eʋe[èβe]'Ewe'Contrasts with both [v] and [w]
Fijianivava[iβaːβaː]'shoe'
German[7][8]aber[ˈaːβɐ]'but'Intervocalic and pre-lateral allophone of /b/ in casual speech.[7][8] See Standard German phonology
Hopitsivot[tsiːβot]'five'
Japanese[9]神戸 / kōbe[ko̞ːβe̞]'Kobe'Allophone of /b/ only in fast speech between vowels. See Japanese phonology
Kabylebri[βri]'to cut'
Kinyarwandaabana[aβaːna]'children'
Korean추후 / chuhu / 追後[ˈt͡ɕʰuβʷu]'later'Intervocalic allophone of /h/ before /u/ and /w/. See Korean phonology
LuhyaWanga DialectNabongo[naβonɡo]'title for a king'
Mapos Buang[10]venġévsën[βəˈɴɛβt͡ʃen]'prayer'Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as ⟨v⟩, and the approximant as ⟨w⟩.[10]
Marwari ब़ीरौTemplate:Romanization needed [βiːɾɔː] 'brother'
Nepali सभाTemplate:Romanization needed [sʌβä] 'meeting' Allophone of /bʱ/. See Nepali phonology
PortugueseEuropean[11][12]sábado[ˈsaβɐðu]'Saturday'Allophone of /b/. See Portuguese phonology
RipuarianColognian[source?]wing[βɪŋ]'wine'Allophone of syllable-initial /v/ for some speakers; can be [ʋ ~ w ~ ɰ] instead.[source?] See Colognian phonology
SardinianLogudorese[13]paba[ˈpäːβä]ⓘ'pope'Intervocalic allophone of /b/ as well as word-initial /p/ when the preceding word ends with a vowel and there is no pause between the words.[13]
Turkish[14]vücut[βy̠ˈd͡ʒu̞t̪]'body'Allophone of /v/ before and after rounded vowels.[14] See Turkish phonology
Turkmenwatan[βatan]'country'
Venda[15] davha /daβa/ 'work party held by one who wants to have the land ploughed or cultivated' Contrasts with /v/ and /w/
ZapotecTilquiapan[16][example needed]Allophone of /b/

Approximant

[change | change source]
Voiced bilabial approximant
β̞
Audio sample

The voiced bilabial approximant is a sound used in some spoken languages. It is not in English.

Characteristics

[change | change source]
  • The phonation is voiced. This means that the vocal cords vibrate while the sound is being pronounced.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is bilabial. This means that this sound is produced with both lips.
  • It is an oral consonant. This means that air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant. This means that this sound is produced by directing the air along the center of the tongue, but not to the sides.
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is approximant. This means that this sound is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place this sound is produced. However, it is not narrowed enough to produce a turbulent airstream.

Examples

[change | change source]

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Amharic[17]አበባ[aβ̞əβ̞a]'flower'Allophone of /b/ medially between sonorants.[17]
Asturianabanicu[aβ̞aˈniku]'swing'Allophone of /b/
Basque[18]alaba[alaβ̞a]'daughter'Allophone of /b/
Catalan[1]abans[əˈβ̞ans]'before'Approximant or fricative. Allophone of /b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and /v/ merging) dialects. See Catalan phonology
Cia-Cia ᄫᅡᆯ루 / walu [β̞alu] 'eight' Allophone of /β/
Dutch Southern[19] wang[β̞aŋ]ⓘ'cheek' Labiovelar [ʋ] in northern Dutch.
Indonesian tawa [taβ̞a] 'laugh' Allophone of /w/ by some younger speakers.
Japanese私 / watashi[β̞ätäɕi]'me'Usually represented phonemically as /w/.[20] See Japanese phonology
Katë[21]Westerndav[d̪aβ̞]'wood'Corresponds to [ʋʷ] and [v] in other dialects.
Kyrgyz ооба [оːˈβ̞a]ⓘ 'yes' Allophone of /b/ medially between vowels.
Limburgish[22][23]wèlle[ˈβ̞ɛ̝lə]'to want'The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Lombardel nava via[el ˈnaβ̞a ˈβ̞ia]'he was going away'Regular pronunciation of /v/ when intervocalic. Used also as an allophone for other positions.
Mapos Buang[10]wabeenġ[β̞aˈᵐbɛːɴ]'kind of yam'Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as ⟨v⟩, and the approximant as ⟨w⟩.[10]
OccitanGasconlavetz[laˈβ̞ets]'then'Allophone of /b/
RipuarianKerkrade[24]sjwaam[ʃβ̞aːm]'smoke'Weakly rounded; contrasts with /v/.[24] See Kerkrade dialect phonology
Spanish[25]lava[ˈläβ̞ä]'lava'Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[26] Allophone of /b/. See Spanish phonology
SwedishCentral Standard[27]Saudiarabien[ˈsɐ̠̂ɯ̯ᵝd̥iˑɐɾˌɒːβ̞ʝɜn]ⓘ'Saudi Arabia'Allophone of /b/ in casual speech. See Swedish phonology
Ukrainian[28]вона[β̞oˈnɑ]'she'An approximant; the most common prevocalic realization of /w/. Can vary with labiodental [ʋ].[28] See Ukrainian phonology

References

[change | change source]
  1. 1 2 Wheeler (2005:10)
  2. 1 2 Zhuqing (2002:?)
  3. ↑ Chao, Yuen Ren (1928). Hsien tai wu yü te yen chiu 現代吳語的研究 [Study on Modern Wu Chinese] (PDF). Peking: Tsing Hua College Research Institute. OCLC 222325327. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 Maddieson et al. (1993:34)
  5. 1 2 Harms (1994), pp. 4–5.
  6. ↑ Ladefoged (2005:156)
  7. 1 2 Krech et al. (2009:108)
  8. 1 2 Moosmüller, Sylvia (2007). "Vowels in Standard Austrian German: An Acoustic-Phonetic and Phonological Analysis" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved March 9, 2013.. This source mentions only intervocalic [β].
  9. ↑ Okada (1999:118)
  10. 1 2 3 4 Cite error: The named reference Rambok-2010 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  11. ↑ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:92)
  12. ↑ Mateus & d'Andrade (2000:11)
  13. 1 2 (Italian) http://www.antoninurubattu.it/rubattu/grammatica-sarda-italiano-sardo.html Archived 2015-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
  14. 1 2 Göksel & Kerslake (2005:6)
  15. ↑ Madiba, M; Nkomo, D (2010-12-13). "The Tshivenda–English Thalusamaipfi/Dictionary as a Product of South African Lexicographic Processes". Lexikos. 20 (1). doi:10.4314/lex.v20i1.62719. hdl:11427/8892. ISSN 1684-4904.
  16. ↑ Merrill (2008:109)
  17. 1 2 Hayward & Hayward (1999:48)
  18. ↑ Hualde (1991:99–100)
  19. ↑ Booij (1999), p. 8.
  20. ↑ Maekawa (2020).
  21. ↑ Halfmann, Jakob (2024). A Grammatical Description of the Katë Language (Nuristani) (PhD thesis). Köln: Universität zu Köln.
  22. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:155)
  23. ↑ Peters (2006:117)
  24. 1 2 Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997:17)
  25. ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:257)
  26. ↑ Phonetic studies such as Quilis (1981) have found that Spanish voiced stops may surface as spirants with various degrees of constriction. These allophones are not limited to regular fricative articulations, but range from articulations that involve a near complete oral closure to articulations involving a degree of aperture quite close to vocalization
  27. ↑ Engstrand (2004:167)
  28. 1 2 Žovtobrjux & Kulyk (1965:121–122)
[change | change source]
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