Voiced labiodental nasal

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Voiced labiodental nasal
ɱ
IPA Number
115
Audio sample
help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɱ
Unicode (hex)U+0271
X-SAMPAF
Braille⠖ (braille pattern dots-235)⠍ (braille pattern dots-134)

The voiced labiodental nasal is a type of

extIPA, where the two transcriptions are presented as variants).[1]

The

bilabial nasal [m], but instead of the lips touching each other, the lower lip touches the upper teeth. The position of the lips and teeth is generally the same as for the production of the labiodental fricatives
[f] and [v], though air escapes between the lip and the teeth in the case of the fricatives.

Although commonly appearing in languages, it is overwhelmingly an allophone restricted to a position before the labiodental consonants [f] and [v]. A phonemic /ɱ/ has only been reported for the Kukuya language, which contrasts it with /m, mpf, mbv/ and is "accompanied by strong protrusion of both lips". It is [ɱʷ] before /a/ and [ɱ] before /i/ and /e/, perhaps because labialization is constrained by the spread front vowels; it does not occur before the back (rounded) vowels /o/ and /u/.[2]

It is doubted by some scholars that true closure can be made by a labiodental gesture because of gaps between the incisors, which for many speakers would allow air to flow during the occlusion.

nasal occlusive
.

Nonetheless, [ɱ] is extremely common around the world phonetically, as it is the universal allophone of /m/ and a very common allophone of /n/ before the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], as for example in English comfort and circumvent, and, for many people, infinitive and invent. In the Angami language, [ɱ] occurs as an allophone of /m/ before /ə/. In Drubea, [ɱ] is reported as an allophone of /v/ before nasal vowels.[5]

A proposal to retire the letter ɱ was made in the run-up to the

Kiel Convention of 1989, with the labiodental nasal to be transcribed solely by , but the proposal was defeated in committee.[6][7]

Features

Features of the voiced labiodental nasal:

  • Its
    nasal
    , the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
  • Its
    teeth
    .
  • 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.
  • Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the centrallateral dichotomy does not apply.
  • The
    intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles
    , as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Phonemic /ɱ/ is extremely rare. As an allophone of nasal consonants before [f] or [v], however, [ɱ] is very common.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Arabic Hejazi قُرُنْفُل gurunful [gʊrʊɱfʊl] 'clove' See Hejazi Arabic phonology
Catalan
limfa
[ˈlĩɱfɐ] 'lymph' See Catalan phonology
Czech tramvaj [ˈtraɱvaj] 'tram' See Czech phonology
Danish
symfoni
[syɱfoˈniˀ] 'symphony' See Danish phonology
Dutch[8][9] omvallen [ˈʔɔɱvɑlə(n)] 'to fall over' See Dutch phonology
English symphony [ˈsɪɱfəni] 'symphony' Allophone of /m/ before /f/ and /v/ See English phonology.
Finnish
kamferi
[ˈkɑɱfe̞ri] 'camphor' See Finnish phonology
German nf [fʏɱf] 'five' See
German phonology
Greek[10] έμβρυο émvryo [ˈe̞ɱvrio̞] 'embryo' Learned or careful pronunciation. See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew סימפוניה simfonya [siɱˈfonja] 'symphony' See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hungarian hamvad [ˈhɒɱvɒd] 'smoulder' See Hungarian phonology
Italian[11]
invece
[iɱˈveːt͡ʃe] 'instead' See Italian phonology
Kukuya[12] [ɱíì] 'eyes' Phonemic, distinguishes /m/ and /ɱ/.
Macedonian трамвај tramvaj [traɱˈvaj] 'tram' See Macedonian phonology
Norwegian
komfyr
[kɔɱˈfyːɾ] 'stove' See Norwegian phonology
Polish symfonia [sɘ̟ɱˈfɔɲ̟ä] 'symphony' See Polish phonology
Romanian învăța [ɨɱvəˈt͡sä] 'to learn' See Romanian phonology
Russian амфора amfora ['aɱfərə] 'amphora' See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian[13] трамвај / tramvaj [trǎɱʋäj] 'tram' Allophone of /
n/ before /f/ and /ʋ/.[13] See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovene[14] simfonija [siɱfoˈníːjà] 'symphony' Allophone of /
n/ before /f/ and /ʋ/.[14]
Spanish[15] influir [iɱfluˈiɾ] 'to have influence' See Spanish phonology
Swedish framför [ˈfɾâɱˌfɶːɾ] 'in front of', 'performs' See Swedish phonology
West Frisian ûnwis [uːɱ'ʋɪs] 'unsure' Allophone of /n/ before labiodental sounds.

Yuanmen

戴 (帽子) [ɱoː⁶] 'wear' Was briefly phonemic before merging with /m/.[16]

See also

References

Bibliography

External links