| Voiced labiodental nasal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɱ | |||
| m̪ | |||
| IPA number | 115 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɱ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0271 | ||
| X-SAMPA | F | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
A voiced labiodental nasal is a type of consonantal sound. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɱ⟩. The IPA symbol is a lowercase letter m with a leftward hook protruding from the lower right of the letter. Occasionally it is instead transcribed as an m with a dental diacritic: ⟨m̪⟩ (for example in extIPA, where the two transcriptions are presented as variants).[1]
A labiodental pronunciation of [ɱ] is very similar to that of the bilabial nasal [m], but instead of the lips touching each other, the lower lip touches the upper teeth. The position of the lips and teeth is generally the same as for the production of the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], though air escapes between the lip and the teeth in the case of the fricatives. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) note that due to gaps between the incisors, which would allow for additional airflow, it is not known if a 'true occlusive' can occur with this gesture, though it still patterns as one.
Although commonly appearing in languages, [ɱ] is overwhelmingly an allophone restricted to a position before the labiodental consonants [f] and [v]. A phonemic /ɱ/ has only been reported for the Kukuya language, where it contrasts with /m/ and is "accompanied by strong protrusion of both lips". It is [ɱʷ] before /a/ and [ɱ] before /i/ and /e/, perhaps because labialization is constrained by the spread front vowels; it does not occur before the back (rounded) vowels /o/ and /u/.[3]
Nonetheless, [ɱ] is extremely common around the world phonetically, as it is the universal allophone of /m/ and a very common allophone of /n/ before the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], as for example in English comfort and circumvent, and, for many people, infinitive and invent. In the Angami language, [ɱ] occurs as an allophone of /m/ before /ə/. In Drubea, [ɱ] is reported as an allophone of /v/ before nasal vowels.[4]
A proposal to retire the letter ⟨ɱ⟩ was made in the run-up to the Kiel Convention of 1989, with the labiodental nasal to be transcribed solely by ⟨m̪⟩, but the proposal was defeated in committee.[5][6] A recommendation by extIPA was retired soon afterwards in response.
Features
[edit]
Features of a voiced labiodental nasal:
- Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Because the consonant is also nasal, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
- Its place of articulation is labiodental, which means it is articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is a nasal consonant, which means air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose for nasal stops; otherwise, in addition to through the mouth.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the median–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.
Occurrence
[edit]Phonemic /ɱ/ is extremely rare. As an allophone of nasal consonants before [f] or [v], however, [ɱ] is very common.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Hejazi | قُرُنْفُل gurunful | [gʊrʊɱfʊl] | 'clove' | See Hejazi Arabic phonology |
| Catalan | limfa | [ˈɫiɱfə] | 'lymph' | See Catalan phonology | |
| Czech | tramvaj | ⓘ | 'tram' | See Czech phonology | |
| Danish | symfoni | [syɱfoˈniˀ] | 'symphony' | See Danish phonology | |
| Dutch[7][8] | omvallen | ⓘ | 'to fall over' | See Dutch phonology | |
| English | symphony | ⓘ | 'symphony' | Allophone of /m/ before /f/ and /v/ See English phonology. | |
| Finnish | kamferi | [ˈkɑɱfe̞ri] | 'camphor' | See Finnish phonology | |
| German | fünf | [fʏɱf] | 'five' | See German phonology | |
| Greek[9] | έμβρυο émvryo | [ˈe̞ɱvrio̞] | 'embryo' | Learned or careful pronunciation. See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Hebrew | סימפוניה simfonya | [siɱˈfonja] | 'symphony' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |
| Hungarian | államfő | ⓘ | 'head of state' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Indonesian | konflik | [ˈkɔɱflɪk̚] | 'conflict' | Allophone of /n/ before /f/. | |
| Italian[10] | invece | ⓘ | 'instead' | See Italian phonology | |
| Kukuya[11] | [ɱíì] | 'eyes' | Phonemic, distinguishes /m/ and /ɱ/. | ||
| Macedonian | трамвај tramvaj | [traɱˈvaj] | 'tram' | See Macedonian phonology | |
| Norwegian | komfyr | [kɔɱˈfyːɾ] | 'stove' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Polish | symfonia | ⓘ | 'symphony' | See Polish phonology | |
| Romanian | învăța | [ɨɱvəˈt͡sä] | 'to learn' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | амфора amfora | ['aɱfərə] | 'amphora' | See Russian phonology | |
| Serbo-Croatian[12] | трамвај / tramvaj | [trǎɱʋäj] | 'tram' | Allophone of /m/ and /n/ before /f/ and /ʋ/.[12] See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
| Slovak | amfiteáter | [aɱfiˈteaːter] | 'amphitheater' | See Slovak phonology | |
| Slovene[13] | simfonija | ||||
| Swedish | framför | ⓘ | 'in front of', 'performs' | See Swedish phonology | |
| West Frisian | ûnwis | [uːɱ'ʋɪs] | 'unsure' | Allophone of /n/ before labiodental sounds. | |
| Yuanmen | [ɱoː⁶][clarification needed] | 'wear (a hat)' | Was briefly phonemic before merging with /m/.[15] | ||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Duckworth et al. (1990) Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of atypical speech. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 4: 4: 276.
- ↑ Paulian (1975:57)
- ↑ Hajek, John (2009). "Labiodental ɱ in Drubea". Oceanic Linguistics. 48 (2): 484–487. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0048.
- ↑ Heselwood (2013) Phonetic transcription in theory and practice
- ↑ JIPA 18(2) p.85.
- ↑ Kooij & Van Oostendorp (2003:9)
- ↑ Verhoeven (2005:243)
- ↑ Newton (1972:10)
- ↑ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:118)
- ↑ Paulian (1975:41)
- 1 2 Landau et al. (1999:67)
- 1 2 Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999:136)
- ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:258)
- ↑ Norquest (2007:107)
Bibliography
[edit]- Kooij, Jan; Van Oostendorp, Marc (2003), Fonologie: uitnodiging tot de klankleer van het Nederlands, Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 9789053566220
- Landau, Ernestina; Lončarić, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
- 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
- Newton, Brian (1972), The generative Interpretation of Dialect: A Study of Modern Greek Phonology, Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, vol. 8, Cambridge University Press
- Paulian, Christiane (1975), Le Kukuya Langue Teke du Congo: phonologie, classes nominales, Peeters Publishers
- Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
- Šuštaršič, Rastislav; Komar, Smiljana; Petek, Bojan (1999), "Slovene", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 135–139, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7, S2CID 249404451
- Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 243–247, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
- Norquest, Peter K. (2007). A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Hlai (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Arizona. hdl:10150/194203. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-14.
