Voiced labial–velar nasal

The voiced labial–velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ŋ͡m⟩.

The labial–velar nasal is found in West and Central Africa and eastern New Guinea, as well as in certain contexts in Vietnamese.^[1]^[2]

Features

Features of the voiced labial–velar nasal:

Its
nasal
, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
Its place of articulation is labial–velar, which means it is simultaneously articulated with the lips and with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum). The dorsal closure is made and released slightly before the labial closure, but they overlap for most of their duration.
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is a
nasal stops
) or in addition to through the mouth.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
The
intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles
, as in most sounds.

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Dangme^[3]	Dangme	[daŋ͡me]	'Dangme'
Igala^[4]	ñmọ	[ŋ͡mɔ̄]	'to drink'	Allophone of /m/. See Igala Phonology
Vietnamese^[5]	đúng	[ɗuŋ͡m]	'correct'	Allophone of /ŋ/ after /u, o, ɔ/. See Vietnamese phonology
Yele	ngmo	[ŋ͡mɔ]	'breast'	Contrasts /n̪, n̠, n̠ʲ, ŋ, ŋʷ, ŋʲ, n̪͡m, n̠͡m, ŋ͡m/.

In the

m̄⟩ in local orthographies, using a macron

South Efate, or Lenakel), the same segment is spelled ⟨m̃⟩ with a combining tilde

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Dorig^[6]	m̄sar	[ŋ͡mʷsar]	'poor'	Realized with an approximant release.
Lakon	um̄ä	[uŋ͡mʷæ]	'house'
Lenakel^[7]	noanəm̃ɨk	[noanəŋ͡mʷɨk]	'egg yolk'
Mwesen^[8]	tam̄sar	[taŋ͡mʷsar]	'person'

^ List of languages with [ŋm] on PHOIBLE
^ Kirby, James (2011). "Vietnamese" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 41 (3): 383.
^ Kropp Dakubu (1987), p. 13.
^ Idakwoji (2014), pp. 425.
^ Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
^ François (2010), p. 429.
^ Nehrbass (1994), p. 89.
^ François (2013), p. 200.