Labial–velar consonant

Labial–velar consonants are doubly articulated at the velum and the lips, such as [k͡p]. They are sometimes called "labiovelar consonants", a term that can also refer to labialized velars, such as the stop consonant [kʷ] and the approximant [w].

Not to be confused with Labialized velar consonant.

Labial-velars are often written as digraphs. In the Kâte language, however, /k͡p/ is written Q q, and /ɡ͡b/ as Ɋ ɋ.

Globally, these types of consonants are quite rare, only existing in two regions: West and Central Africa on the one hand, Eastern New Guinea[1] and northern Vanuatu[2] on the other. There are 2 other isolated cases, allophonically in Vietnamese and in the Adu dialect of Nuosu (Yi).

Labial-velar stops

Truly doubly articulated labial-velars include the stops [k͡p, ɡ͡b] and the nasal [ŋ͡m]. To pronounce them, one must attempt to say the velar consonants but then close their lips for the bilabial component, and then release the lips. While 90% of the occlusion overlaps, the onset of the velar occurs slightly before that of the labial, and the release of the labial occurs slightly after that of the velar so the preceding vowel sounds as if it were followed by a velar, and the following vowel sounds as if it were preceded by a labial. The order of the letters in ⟨k͡p⟩ and ⟨ɡ͡b⟩ is therefore not arbitrary but motivated by the phonetic details of the sounds.

Phonemic labial–velars occur in the majority of languages in West and Central Africa (for example in the name of Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Ivory Coast; they are found in many Niger–Congo languages as well as in the Ubangian, Chadic and Central Sudanic families), and are relatively common in the eastern end of New Guinea. In Southeast Asia, they occur in the Adu dialect of Nuosu (Yi), which aside from its isolated location, is unusual in having a relatively large inventory of labial-velar consonants, including the rare aspirated version: /k͡pʰ, k͡p, ɡ͡b, ᵑɡ͡b, ŋ͡m/.[3]

Labial–velar stops also occur as ejective [k͡pʼ] (unattested) and implosive [ɠ͡ɓ] (often transcribed ⟨ɡ͡ɓ⟩). Floyd (1981) reports a voiced and voiceless implosive /ɠ͡ɓ, ƙ͜ƥ/ from Central Igbo.

The Yele language of Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea, has both labial–velars and labial–alveolar consonants. Labial–velar stops and nasals also occur in Vietnamese but only word-finally.

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning
k͡p voiceless labial–velar stop Logba ò-kpàyɔ̀ [òk͡pàjɔ̀] 'God'
ɡ͡b voiced labial–velar stop Ewe Ewegbe [ɛβɛɡ͡be] 'the Ewe language'
ŋ͡m labial-velar nasal Vietnamese cung [kuŋ͡m] 'sector'
ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b prenasalized voiced labial–velar stop Nen[4] dénḡ [dɪᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b] 'old-style bamboo pipe or container'

These sounds are clearly single consonants rather than consonant clusters. For example, Eggon contrasts /bɡ/, /ɡb/, and /ɡ͡b/. The following possibilities are possible if tone is ignored:

Single consonantTwo-consonant sequence
pomto poundkbato dig
abua dogbɡato beat, to kill
akua roomak͡pkia stomach
ɡomto breakɡ͡bɡato grind
k͡puto diekputo kneel
ɡ͡buto arriveɡbato divide

Allophonic labial-velars are known from Vietnamese, where they are variants of the plain velar consonants /k/ and /ŋ/.

Labialized labial-velars

Some languages, especially in Papua New Guinea and in Vanuatu, combine the labial–velar consonants with a labial–velar approximant release: [k͡pʷ], [ŋ͡mʷ]. The extinct language Volow had a prenasalised labial-velar stop with labialization [ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡bʷ].[5]

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning
k͡pʷ voiceless labial–velar stop with labialization Dorig rqa [rk͡pʷa][6] 'woman'
ŋ͡mʷ labial-velar nasal with labialization Mwesen ēm̄ [ɪŋ͡mʷ] 'house'
ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡bʷ prenasalized voiced labial–velar stop with labialization Volow n-leq̄evēn [nlɛᵑᵐɡ͡bʷɛβɪn] 'woman'

Velar labial clicks

Bilabial clicks are stops that involve closure at both the lips and the soft palate. Treatments often analyze the dorsal articulation as part of the airstream mechanism, and so consider such stops to be labial. However, there may be a distinction between the velar labial clicks [k͡ʘ ɡ͡ʘ ŋ͡ʘ] and the uvular labial clicks [q͡ʘ ɢ͡ʘ ɴ͡ʘ], which is not captured if they are described as simply labial.

See also

Notes
  1. Maddieson, Ian. "WALS Online – Chapter Presence of Uncommon Consonants". wals.info. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  2. See p.31 of François, Alexandre (2016). "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF). Faits de Langues. 47: 25–60. doi:10.1163/19589514-047-01-900000003. S2CID 171459404.
  3. Hajek, John (2006). "On doubly articulated labial-velar stops and nasals in Tibeto-Burman". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 29 (2): 127–130.
  4. See p.332 of: Evans, Nicholas; Miller, Julia Colleen (2016). "Nen". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 46 (3): 331–349. doi:10.1017/S0025100315000365. ISSN 1475-3502..
  5. See p.116 of: François, Alexandre (2005), "A typological overview of Mwotlap, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu", Linguistic Typology, 9 (1): 115–146, doi:10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.115, S2CID 55878308.
  6. See pp.429-430 of: François, Alexandre (2010), "Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: Resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment", Phonology, 27 (3): 393–434, doi:10.1017/s0952675710000205, S2CID 62628417

References
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