 | It has been suggested thatthis article besplit out into articles titledVoiced bilabial fricative andBilabial approximant. (Discuss)(May 2025) |
| Voiced bilabial fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β | |||
| ꞵ | |||
| IPA number | 127 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | β | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+03B2 | ||
| X-SAMPA | B | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
| Voiced bilabial approximant | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β̞ | |||
| ꞵ̞ | |||
| ʋ̟ | |||
| Audio sample | |||
| |||
Avoiced bilabial fricative is a type ofconsonantal sound, used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is either a Latin or Greek-stylebeta, ⟨β⟩.
This letter is also often used to represent avoiced bilabialapproximant, though that is more precisely written with a lowering diacritic, that is ⟨β̞⟩. That sound may also be transcribed as an advancedlabiodental approximant ⟨ʋ̟⟩, in which case the diacritic is again frequently omitted, since no contrast is likely.[1][2] It has been proposed that either a turned ⟨β⟩ or reversed ⟨β⟩,among others, be used as a dedicated symbol for the bilabial approximant, but despite occasional usage none of them have gained general acceptance.[3]
It is extremely rare for a language to make a phonemic contrast between a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant. TheMapos Buang language ofNew Guinea contains this contrast. Its bilabial approximant is analyzed as filling a phonological gap in the labiovelar series of the consonant system rather than the bilabial series.[4]Proto-Germanic[5] andProto-Italic[6] are reconstructed as having had a contrast between the voiced bilabial fricative and the voiced labial–velar approximant/w/, albeit with[β] being an allophone for another consonant in both cases. InBashkir language, it is an intervocal allophone of/b/, and it is contrastive with/w/:балабыҙ[bɑɫɑˈβɯð]'our child',балауыҙ[bɑɫɑˈwɯð]'wax'.
A bilabial fricative is diachronically unstable (likely to be considerably varied between dialects of a language that makes use of it) and is likely to shift to[v].[7]
The sound is not the primary realization of any sound inEnglish dialects except forChicano English, but it can be produced by approximating the normal English[v] between the lips; it can also sometimes occur as an allophone of/v/ after bilabial consonants.
Features of a voiced bilabial fricative:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akei | [βati] | 'four' | |||
| Alekano | hanuva | [hɑnɯβɑ] | 'nothing' | ||
| Angor | fufung | [ɸuβuŋ] | 'horn' | ||
| Bengali | Eastern dialects | ভিসা | [βisa] | 'Visa' | Allophone of/v/ in Bangladesh and Tripura;/bʱ/ used in Western dialects. |
| Berta | [βɑ̀lɑ̀ːziʔ] | 'no' | |||
| Catalan[8] | abans | [əˈβans] | 'before' | Approximant or fricative. Allophone of/b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and/v/ merging) dialects. SeeCatalan phonology | |
| Chinese dialects | Fuzhou[9] | 初八 chĕ̤ báik | [t͡sœ˥˧βaiʔ˨˦] | 'eighth day of the month' | Allophone of/p/ and/pʰ/ in certain intervocalic positions.[9] |
| Suburban Shanghainese | 碗盞 ve tse | [βe̝˧˧˦tsɛ̝˥] | 'bowl' | Usually[ɦu] or[u] in other Wu dialects[10] | |
| Comorian | upvendza | [uβendza] | 'to love' | Contrasts with both[v] and[w] | |
| Coptic | Bohairic | ⲧⲱⲃⲓ | [ˈdoːβi] | 'brick' | Shifted to[w] with a syllable coda allophone of[b] in a later stage. |
| Sahidic | ⲧⲱⲱⲃⲉ | [ˈtoːβə] | |||
| Dahalo[11] | [koːβo] | 'to want' | Weak fricative or approximant. It is a common intervocalic allophone of/b/, and may be simply a plosive[b] instead.[11] | ||
| English | Some dialects | upvote | [ˈʌpˌβoʊt] | 'upvote' | Less-commonallophone of/v/ after[p],[b], or[m] (the more-common alteration being the shifting of the earlier consonant to[p̪],[b̪], or[ɱ], respectively, although[p̪v]/[b̪v]/[ɱv] exist in free variation with[pβ]/[bβ]/[mβ]). |
| Chicano | very | [βɛɹi] | 'very' | May be realized as[b] instead. | |
| Epena Pedee[12] | náwe | [ˈnãβ̃ẽ] | 'mother' | Word medial realization of/w/, in free variation with a nasalized approximant[w̃][12] | |
| Ewe[13] | Eʋe | [èβe] | 'Ewe' | Contrasts with both[v] and[w] | |
| Fijian | ivava | [iβaːβaː] | 'shoe' | ||
| German[14][15] | aber | [ˈaːβɐ] | 'but' | Intervocalic and pre-lateral allophone of/b/ in casual speech.[14][15] SeeStandard German phonology | |
| Hopi | tsivot | [tsiːβot] | 'five' | ||
| Japanese[16] | 神戸/kōbe | [ko̞ːβe̞] | 'Kobe' | Allophone of/b/ only in fast speech between vowels. SeeJapanese phonology | |
| Kabyle | bri | [βri] | 'to cut' | ||
| Kinyarwanda | abana | [aβaːna] | 'children' | ||
| Korean | 추후/chuhu/追後 | [ˈt͡ɕʰuβʷu] | 'later' | Intervocalic allophone of/h/ before/u/ and/w/. SeeKorean phonology | |
| Luhya | Wanga Dialect | Nabongo | [naβonɡo] | 'title for a king' | |
| Mapos Buang[4] | venġévsën | [βəˈɴɛβt͡ʃen] | 'prayer' | Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as⟨v⟩, and the approximant as⟨w⟩.[4] | |
| Marwari | ब़ीरौ | [βiːɾɔː] | 'brother' | ||
| Nepali | सभा | [sʌβä] | 'meeting' | Allophone of /bʱ/. SeeNepali phonology | |
| Portuguese | European[17][18] | sábado | [ˈsaβɐðu] | 'Saturday' | Allophone of/b/. SeePortuguese phonology |
| Ripuarian | Colognian[citation needed] | wing | [βɪŋ] | 'wine' | Allophone of syllable-initial/v/ for some speakers; can be[ʋ~w~ɰ] instead.[citation needed] SeeColognian phonology |
| Sardinian | Logudorese[19] | paba | [ˈpäːβä]ⓘ | 'pope' | Intervocalic allophone of/b/ as well as word-initial/p/ when the preceding word ends with a vowel and there is no pause between the words.[19] |
| Turkish[20] | vücut | [βy̠ˈd͡ʒut̪] | 'body' | Allophone of/v/ before and after rounded vowels.[20] SeeTurkish phonology | |
| Turkmen | watan | [βatan] | 'country' | ||
| Venda[21] | davha | /daβa/ | 'work party held by one who wants to have the land ploughed or cultivated' | Contrasts with /v/ and /w/ | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[22] | [example needed] | Allophone of/b/ | ||
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amharic[23] | አበባ | [aβ̞əβ̞a] | 'flower' | Allophone of/b/ medially between sonorants.[23] | |
| Asturian | abanicu | [aβ̞aˈniku] | 'swing' | Allophone of/b/ | |
| Basque[24] | alaba | [alaβ̞a] | 'daughter' | Allophone of/b/ | |
| Catalan[8] | abans | [əˈβ̞ans] | 'before' | Approximant or fricative. Allophone of/b/. Mainly found in betacist (/b/ and/v/ merging) dialects. SeeCatalan phonology | |
| Cia-Cia | ᄫᅡᆯ루/walu | [β̞alu] | 'eight' | Allophone of /β/ | |
| Dutch | Southern[25] | wang | [β̞aŋ]ⓘ | 'cheek' | Labiovelar[ʋ] in northern Dutch. |
| Indonesian | tawa | [taβ̞a] | 'laugh' | Allophone of /w/ by some younger speakers. | |
| Japanese | 私/watashi | [β̞ätäɕi] | 'me' | Usually represented phonemically as/w/.[26] SeeJapanese phonology | |
| Katë[27] | Western | dav | [d̪aβ̞] | 'wood' | Corresponds to[ʋʷ] and[v] in other dialects. |
| Kyrgyz | ооба | [оːˈβ̞a] | 'yes' | Allophone of /b/ medially between vowels. | |
| Limburgish[28][29] | wèlle | [ˈβ̞ɛ̝lə] | 'to want' | The example word is from theMaastrichtian dialect. | |
| Lombard | el navavia | [elˈnaβ̞aˈβ̞ia] | 'he was going away' | Regular pronunciation of/v/ when intervocalic. Used also as an allophone for other positions. | |
| Mapos Buang[4] | wabeenġ | [β̞aˈᵐbɛːɴ] | 'kind of yam' | Mapos Buang has both a voiced bilabial fricative and a bilabial approximant as separate phonemes. The fricative is transcribed as {v}, and the approximant as {w}.[4] | |
| Occitan | Gascon | lavetz | [laˈβ̞ets] | 'then' | Allophone of/b/ |
| Ripuarian | Kerkrade[30] | sjwaam | [ʃβ̞aːm] | 'smoke' | Weakly rounded; contrasts with/v/.[30] SeeKerkrade dialect phonology |
| Spanish[31] | lava | [ˈläβ̞ä] | 'lava' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[32] Allophone of/b/. SeeSpanish phonology | |
| Swedish | Central Standard[33] | aber | [ˈɑːβ̞eɾ] | 'problem' | Allophone of/b/ in casual speech. SeeSwedish phonology |
| Ukrainian[34] | вона | [β̞oˈnɑ] | 'she' | An approximant; the most common prevocalic realization of/w/. Can vary with labiodental[ʋ].[34] SeeUkrainian phonology | |
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