Nasal labialized velar approximant

Nasal labialized velar approximant
w̃

The nasal labio-velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w̃⟩, that is, a w with a tilde. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w~.

The nasal approximants [ȷ̃] and [w̃] may also be called nasal glides. In some languages like Portuguese, they form a second element of nasal diphthongs.

Features

Features of the nasal labio-velar approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.

• Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips.

• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

• It is a nasal consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (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 airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Kaingang[1]		[w̃ĩ]		'to see'	Possible word-initial realization of /w/ before a nasal vowel.[2]
Polish		są	[sɔũ̯]	'they are'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese	Most dialects[3][4]	são	[sɐ̃w̃]	'they are'	Allophone of /w/ after nasal vowels. See Portuguese phonology
	Some dialects[5]	muamba	[ˈmw̃ɐ̃bɐ]	'smuggling', 'jobbery', 'stash'	Non-syllabic allophone of /u/ between nasal sounds.
Seri		cmiique	[ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ]	'person'	Allophone of /m/
Shipibo[6]		?	[βɐ̃ˈw̃ɐ̃]	'parrot'	Allophone of /w/ after nasal vowels.[6]
Uwa		táw̃aya	[ˈtaw̃aja]	'yellow'

See also

• Palatal nasal
• Nasal palatal approximant
• Labiodental nasal, which may be an approximant in the one language in which it is phonemic
• Voiceless nasal glottal approximant
• Index of phonetics articles

References

1. Jolkesky (2009:676, 681)
2. Jolkesky (2009:681)
3. Cruz-Ferreira (1995:127)
4. Bisol (2005:179)
5. Portuguese vinho: diachronic evidence for biphonemic nasal vowels
6. Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001:283)

Bibliography

• Bisol, Leda (2005), Introdução a estudos de fonologia do português brasileiro (in Portuguese), Porto Alegre - Rio Grande do Sul: EDIPUCRS, ISBN 85-7430-529-4
• Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
• Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2009), "Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble", Anais do SETA, Campinas: Editora do IEL-UNICAMP, 3: 675–685
• Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Márquez Pinedo, Luis; Maddieson, Ian (2001), "Shipibo", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 31 (2): 281–285, doi:10.1017/S0025100301002109