Labiodental nasal

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IPA – number 115
IPA – text ɱ
IPA – image {{{imagesize}}}
Entity ɱ
X-SAMPA F
Kirshenbaum M
Sound sample (help·info)

The labiodental nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɱ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is F. The IPA symbol is a lowercase letter m with a leftward hook protruding from the lower right of the letter. Occasionally it is instead transcribed as an <m> with a dental diacritic: [m̪].

It is pronounced very similarly to the bilabial nasal [m], except 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 other labiodental consonants, like [f] and [v], though closure is obviously incomplete for the fricatives.

The labiodental nasal has not been confirmed to exist as a separate phoneme in any language. It has been reported from the Kukuya dialect of Teke, where it is "accompanied by strong protrusion of both lips". However, there is some doubt that a true stop can be made by this gesture.[1]

Nevertheless, it is extremely common phonetically, as it is the nearly universal allophone of /m/ (and sometimes /n/) before the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], as in English comfort or circumvent.

Contents

Features

Features of the labiodental nasal:

Occurrence

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Czech tramvaj [ˈtraɱvaj] 'tram' See Czech phonology
Dutch Belgian[2] omvallen [ˈʔɔɱvɑlə] 'to fall over' See Dutch phonology
English symphony [ˈsɪɱfəni] 'symphony' See English phonology
Finnish informaatio [ˈiɱfo̞rˌmɑːt̪io̞] 'information' See Finnish phonology
Greek έμβρυο [ˈe̞ɱvrio̞] 'embryo' See Modern Greek phonology
Gweno [ɱwiː] 'white/gray hair'
Italian[3] invece [iɱˈvetʃe] 'on the contrary' See Italian phonology
Norwegian komfyr [kɔɱˈfyːɾ] 'stove' See Norwegian phonology
Slovene simfonija [siɱfɔˈnija] 'symphony'
Spanish[4] influencia [ĩɱˈflwẽ̞nθja] 'influence' See Spanish phonology
Swedish amfibie [aɱˈfiːˌbjɛ] 'amphibia' See Swedish phonology

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:18)
  2. ^ Verhoeven (2005:243)
  3. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:118)
  4. ^ Martínez-Celdrán et al (2003:258)

References

v • d • e
Consonants
List · Table
Pulmonics Bila​bial Labio​d. Den​tal Alv. Post. Retro​fl. Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn. Epi​glot​t. Glot​tal Non-pulmonics and other symbols
Nasals m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ Clicks  ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ
Plosives p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Impl.  ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Fricatives  ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Eject.  pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ
Approxim.  ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Affr.  t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ t͡ʂ d͡ʐ t͡ɬ d͡ɮ p̪͡f
Trills ʙ r • ʀ • Other laterals  ɺ • ɫ
Flaps / taps • ѵ ɾ ɽ • • Co-art. fricatives  ɕ ʑ ɧ
Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ • • • Co-art. approxim.  ʍ w ɥ
Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ Co-articulated stops  k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
This table contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible.
See also IPA · Vowels