Velar consonant
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Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum)
against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).
The velar consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:
| IPA Symbol | Name | Example | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| k | Voiceless velar plosive | English | [kʰæp] | cap |
| ɡ | Voiced velar plosive | English | [ɡɛt] | get |
| ŋ | Velar nasal | English | [ɹʌŋ] | rung |
| x | Voiceless velar fricative | Hebrew | [mixel] | מיכאל (="Michael") |
| ɣ | Voiced velar fricative | Margi | [ɣàfə́] | (="arrow") |
| ɰ | Velar approximant | Spanish | [paɰa] | paga (="pay, wages") 1 |
| ʟ | Velar lateral approximant | Mid-Waghi | [aʟaʟe] | (="dizzy") |
| w | Labio-velar approximant | English | [wɪtʃ] | witch |
| ʍ | Voiceless labio-velar fricative | English | [ʍɪtʃ] | which 2 |
Notes:
- Intervocalic 'g' in Spanish often described instead as a very lightly articulated voiced velar fricative.
- For English dialects that distinguish between which and witch
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive and the movements of the dorsum
are not very precise, velars easily undergo assimilation, shifting their articulation back or to the front
depending on the quality of adjacent vowels. They often become automatically fronted, that is partly or completely palatal before a following front vowel, and retracted before back vowels.
Palatalised velars (like English [k] in keen or cube) are sometimes referred to as palatovelars. Many languages also have labiovelar phonemes, including the approximant [w] and others given symbols like [kw] etc. In these the articulation is accompanied by rounding of the lips.
See also
ar:طبقي fr:Consonne vélaire
