Voiceless velar plosive

The voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨k⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k.

Voiceless velar plosive
k
IPA Number109
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)k
Unicode (hex)U+006B
X-SAMPAk
Braille⠅ (braille pattern dots-13)

The [k] sound is a very common sound cross-linguistically. Most languages have at least a plain [k], and some distinguish more than one variety. Most Indo-Aryan languages, such as Hindi and Bengali, have a two-way contrast between aspirated and plain [k]. Only a few languages lack a voiceless velar plosive, e.g. Tahitian and Mongolian.

Some languages have the voiceless pre-velar plosive,[1] which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as front as the prototypical palatal plosive.

Conversely, some languages have the voiceless post-velar plosive,[2] which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as back as the prototypical uvular plosive.

Features

Features of the voiceless velar stop:

  • Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
  • Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • 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 intercostal muscles and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Varieties
IPADescription
kplain k
kʰaspirated k
kʲpalatalized k
kʷlabialized k
k̚k with no audible release
k̬voiced k
k͈tense k
kʼejective k

Occurrence
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Abkhazақалақь/ak̇halak̇h’[ˈakalakʲ]'the city'See Abkhaz phonology
AdygheShapsugкьэт/k′ėt[kʲat]ⓘ'chicken'Dialectal; corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects.
Temirgoyпскэн/pskėn[pskan]'to cough'
Ahtnagistaann[kɪstʰɐːn]'six'
Aleut[3]kiikax̂[kiːkaχ]'cranberry bush'
ArabicModern Standard[4]كتب/kataba[ˈkatabɐ]'he wrote'See Arabic phonology
ArmenianEastern[5]քաղաք/ k'aġak'/k'aghak[kʰɑˈʁɑkʰ]'town'Contrasts with unaspirated form.
Assameseকম/kom[kɔm]'less'
Assyrianܟܬܒ̣ܐ ctava[ktava]'book'Used in most varieties, with the exception of the Urmia and Nochiya dialects
where it corresponds to [t͡ʃ].
Basquekatu[kat̪u]'cat'
Bengaliকম/kom[kɔm]'less'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Bulgarianкак/kak[kak]'how'See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan[6]cors[ˈkɔ(ɾ)s]'hearts'See Catalan phonology
ChineseCantonese家 / gā[kaː˥]ⓘ'home'Contrasts with aspirated and or labialized forms. See Cantonese phonology
Hokkien歌 koa [kua] 'song'
Mandarin高 / gāo[kɑʊ˥]ⓘ'high'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Mandarin phonology
Chuvashкукка[ku'kːɑ]'mother's brother'
Czechkost[kost]'bone'See Czech phonology
DanishStandard[7]gås[ˈkɔ̽ːs]'goose'Usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɡ̊⟩ or ⟨ɡ⟩. Contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨kʰ⟩ or ⟨k⟩. See Danish phonology
Dutch[8]koning[ˈkoːnɪŋ]'king'See Dutch phonology
Englishkiss[kʰɪs]ⓘ'kiss'See English phonology
Esperantorakonto[raˈkonto]'tale'See Esperanto phonology
Estoniankõik[kɤik]'all'See Estonian phonology
Filipinokuto[ˈkuto]'lice'
Finnishkakku[kɑkːu]'cake'See Finnish phonology
French[9]cabinet[kabinɛ]'office'See French phonology
Georgian[10]ქვა/kva[kʰva]'stone'
GermanKäfig[ˈkʰɛːfɪç]'cage'See Standard German phonology
Greekκαλόγερος / kalógeros[kaˈlo̞ʝe̞ro̞s̠]'monk'See Modern Greek phonology
Gujaratiકાંદો/kaṃde[kɑːnd̪oː]'onion'See Gujarati phonology
Hebrewכסף / kesef[ˈkesef]'money'See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hiligaynonkadlaw[kad̪law]'laugh'
Hindustaniकाम / کام[kɑːm]'work'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology
Hungarianakkor[ɒkkor]'then'See Hungarian phonology
Italian[11]casa[ˈkäːzä]'house'See Italian phonology
Japanese[12]鞄 / kaban[kabaɴ]'handbag'See Japanese phonology
Kagayanen[13]kalag[kað̞aɡ]'spirit'
Khmerកម្ពុជា / kâmpŭchéa[kampuciːə]'Cambodia'See Khmer phonology
Korean감자 / kamja[kamdʑa]'potato'See Korean phonology
Lakotakimímela[kɪˈmɪmela]'butterfly'
Luxembourgish[14]geess[ˈkeːs]'goat'Less often voiced [ɡ]. It is usually transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɡ⟩, and it contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed ⟨k⟩.[14] See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonianкој[kɔj]'who'See Macedonian phonology
Marathiकवच[kəʋət͡s]'armour'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Marathi phonology
Malaykaki[käki]'leg'Unreleased in syllable codas in some words, See Malay phonology
Malayalamകഥ/kada[käd̪ʰä]'story'See Malayalam phonology
Nepali केरा[keɾä]'banana'Contrasts with aspirated form. See Nepali phonology
Norwegiankake[kɑːkɛ]'cake'See Norwegian phonology
Odiaକାମ/kāma[kämɔ]'work'Contrasts with aspirated form.
Pashtoكال/kal[kɑl]'year'
Persian کارد/kārd [kɑrd] 'knife'
Polish[15]buk[ˈbuk]ⓘ'beech tree'See Polish phonology
Portuguese[16]corpo[ˈkoɾpu]'body'See Portuguese phonology
Punjabiਕਰ/کر/kar[kəɾ]'do'Contrasts with aspirated form.
Romanian[17]când[ˈkɨnd]'when'See Romanian phonology
Russian[18]короткий/korotkiy[kɐˈrotkʲɪj]ⓘ'short'See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian[19]кост / kost[kȏːs̪t̪]'bone'See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovakkosť[kɔ̝sc]'bone'See Slovak phonology
Slovene kost [ˈkôːs̪t̪] 'bone'
kit [ˈkʰîːt̪] 'whale' Aspirated before close vowels.
Spanish[20]casa[ˈkäsä]'house'See Spanish phonology
Swedishko[ˈkʰuː]'cow'See Swedish phonology
Sylhetiꠇꠤꠔꠣ/kita[kɪt̪à]'what'
Tamilகை/kai[kəɪ̯]'hand'See Tamil phonology
Teluguకాకి/kāki[kāki]'crow'Contrasts with aspirated form.
Thai ไก่/kị̀ [kaj˨˩] 'chicken' Contrasts with an aspirated form.
Turkishkulak[kʰuɫäk]'ear'See Turkish phonology
Ubykhкауар/kawar [kawar] 'slat'Found mostly in loanwords. See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian[21]колесо/koleso[ˈkɔɫɛsɔ]'wheel'See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese[22]cam[kam]'orange'See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh calon [kalɔn] 'heart' See Welsh phonology
West Frisiankeal[kɪəl]'calf'See West Frisian phonology
Yiꇰ / ge[kɤ˧]'foolish'Contrasts aspirated and unaspirated forms.
ZapotecTilquiapan[23]canza[kanza]'walking'

See also

Notes
  1. Instead of "pre-velar", it can be called "advanced velar", "fronted velar", "front-velar", "palato-velar", "post-palatal", "retracted palatal" or "backed palatal".
  2. Instead of "post-velar", it can be called "retracted velar", "backed velar", "pre-uvular", "advanced uvular" or "fronted uvular".
  3. Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
  4. Thelwall (1990), p. 37.
  5. Dum-Tragut (2009), p. 13.
  6. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
  7. Basbøll (2005:61)
  8. Gussenhoven (1992), p. 45.
  9. Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  10. Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
  11. Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117.
  12. Okada (1999), p. 117.
  13. Olson et al. (2010), pp. 206–207.
  14. Gilles & Trouvain (2013:67–68)
  15. Jassem (2003), p. 103.
  16. Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  17. DEX Online:
  18. Padgett (2003), p. 42.
  19. Landau et al. (1999), p. 66.
  20. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
  21. Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  22. Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
  23. Merrill (2008), p. 108.

References
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  • Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618, S2CID 249411809
  • Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876
  • Danyenko, Andrii; Vakulenko, Serhii (1995), Ukrainian, Lincom Europa, ISBN 9783929075083
  • Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
  • Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L. (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451
  • Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278
  • Gussenhoven, Carlos (1992), "Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (2): 45–47, doi:10.1017/S002510030000459X, S2CID 243772965
  • Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
  • Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.), Blackwell
  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
  • Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344
  • Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
  • Olson, Kenneth; Mielke, Jeff; Sanicas-Daguman, Josephine; Pebley, Carol Jean; Paterson, Hugh J., III (2010), "The phonetic status of the (inter)dental approximant", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 40 (2): 199–215, doi:10.1017/S0025100309990296, S2CID 38504322{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Padgett, Jaye (2003), "Contrast and Post-Velar Fronting in Russian", Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 21 (1): 39–87, doi:10.1023/A:1021879906505, S2CID 13470826
  • Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
  • Shosted, Ryan K.; Chikovani, Vakhtang (2006), "Standard Georgian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
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