Voiced velar fricative

For consonants followed by superscript ˠ, see Velarization.

Voiced velar fricative
ɣ
IPA Number	141
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɣ
Unicode (hex)	U+0263
X-SAMPA	G
Braille
Image

The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. It is not found in English today, but did exist in Old English. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɣ⟩, a Latinized variant of the Greek letter gamma, ⟨γ⟩, which has this sound in Modern Greek. It should not be confused with the graphically similar ⟨ɤ⟩, the IPA symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel. The symbol ɣ is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, though that is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: [ɣ̞] or [ɣ˕]. The IPA also provides a dedicated symbol for a velar approximant, [ɰ], though there can be stylistic reasons to not use it in phonetic transcription.

There is also a voiced post-velar fricative (also called pre-uvular) in some languages. For voiced pre-velar fricative (also called post-palatal), see voiced palatal fricative.

Features

Features of the voiced velar fricative:

• Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue at the soft palate.
• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
• 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 lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Some of the consonants listed as post-velar may actually be trill fricatives.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abaza		бгъьы	[bɣʲə]	'leaf'
Adyghe		чъыгы		tree
Alekano		gamó	[ɣɑmɤʔ]	'cucumber'
Aleut		agiitalix	[aɣiːtalix]	'with'
Angor		ranihı	[ɾɑniɣə]	'brother'
Angas		γür	[ɣyr]	'to pick up'
Arabic	Modern Standard	غريب	[ˈɣɑriːb]	'stranger'	May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology
	Some Iraqi dialects	رأس	[ʁ̟ɑʔs]	'head'	Post-velar. Corresponds to [r] in other dialects. See Arabic phonology
Asturian		gadañu	[ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ]	'scythe'	Allophone of /ɡ/ in almost all positions
Azerbaijani		ağac	[ɑɣɑd͡ʒ]	'tree'
Basque		hego	[heɣo]	'wing'	Allophone of /ɡ/
Catalan		figuera	[fiˈɣeɾə]	'fig tree'	Allophone of /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology
Chechen		гӀала / ġala	[ɣaːla]	'town'
Czech		bych byl	[bɪɣ bɪl]	'I would be'	Allophone of /x/. See Czech phonology
Danish	Older Standard	talg	[ˈtˢalˀɣ]	'tallow'	More often an approximant [ɰ]. Depending on the environment, it corresponds to [ʊ̯], [ɪ̯] or [j] in young speakers of contemporary Standard Danish. See Danish phonology
Dawsahak		?	[zoɣ]	'war'
Dinka		ɣo	[ɣo]	'us'
Dutch	Netherlandic	liegen	[ˈliɣə(n)]	'to lie'	Intervocallic allophone of [χ ~ x], written ⟨g⟩. See Dutch phonology
	Some dialects	gaan	[ɣaːn]	'to go'	More common in northern dialects. See Dutch phonology
Georgian		ღარიბი	[ɣɑribi]	'poor'	May actually be post-velar or uvular
German		damalige	[ˈdaːmaːlɪɣə]	'former'	Intervocalic allophone of /g/ in casual speech. See German phonology
Ghari		cheghe	[tʃeɣe]	'five'
Greek		γάλα/gála	[ˈɣɐlɐ]	'milk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati		વાઘણ	[ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃]	'tigress'	See Gujarati phonology
Gweno		[ndeɣe]		'bird'
Gwich’in		videeghàn	[viteːɣân]	'his/her chest'
Haitian Creole		diri	[diɣi]	'rice'
Hän		dëgëghor	[təkəɣor]	'I am playing'
Hebrew	Yemenite	מִגְדָּל	[miɣdal]	'tower'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindi		ग़रीब	[ɣ̄əriːb]	'poor'	Post-velar. See Hindi-Urdu phonology
Icelandic		saga	[ˈsaːɣaː]	'saga'	See Icelandic phonology
Irish		dhorn	[ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ]	'fist'	See Irish phonology
Istro-Romanian		gură	[ɣurə]	'mouth'	Corresponds to [g] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Iwaidja		[mulaɣa]		'hermit crab'
Japanese		はげ/hage	[haɣe]	'baldness'	Allophone of /ɡ/, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology
Kabardian		гын	<phonos file="гын.ogg">[ɣən]</phonos>	'powder'
Lezgian		гъел	[ɣel]	'sleigh'
Limburgish		gaw	[ɣɑ̟β̞]	'quick'	The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Lithuanian		humoras	[ˈɣʊmɔrɐs̪]	'humour'	Preferred over [ɦ]. See Lithuanian phonology
Luxembourgish		Kugel	[ˈkʰuːɣəl]	'ball'	Also described as uvular [ʁ]. Appears only in a few words. See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay	Kelantan dialect	راماي/ramai	[ɣamaː]	'crowded (with people)'	/r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology
	Terengganu dialect
	Negeri Sembilan dialect		[ɣamai̯]
	Pahang dialect		[ɣamɛ̃ː]
	Sarawak dialect		[ɣamɛː]
Macedonian	Berovo accent	дувна	[ˈduɣna]	'it blew'	Corresponds to etymological /x/ of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology
	Bukovo accent	глава	[ˈɡɣa(v)a]	'head'	Allophone of /l/ instead of usual [ɫ]. See Prilep-Bitola dialect
Navajo		’aghá	[ʔaɣa]	'best'
Ngwe	Mmockngie dialect	[nøɣə̀]		'sun'
Northern Qiang		?	[ɣnəʂ]	'February'
Occitan	Gascon	digoc	[diˈɣuk]	'said (3sg.)'
Pashto		غاتر	[ɣɑtər]	'mule'
Persian		حقیقت	[hæɣiːˈɣæt]	'truth'	See Persian phonology
Polish		niechże	[ˈɲeɣʐɛ]	'let [intensified]' (imperative particle)	Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology
Portuguese	European	agora	[əˈɣɔɾə]	'now'	Allophone of /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology
	Some Brazilian dialects	mármore	[ˈmaɣmuɾi]	'marble', 'sill'	Allophone of rhotic consonant (voiced equivalent to [x], itself allophone of /ʁ/) between voiced sounds, most often as coda before voiced consonants.
Punjabi		ਗ਼ਰੀਬ	[ɣəɾiːb]	'poor'
Ripuarian	Colognian	noch ein[en]	[ˈnɔɣ‿ən]	'another one'	Allophone of word-final /x/; occurs only immediately before a word that starts with a vowel. See Colognian phonology
	Kerkrade dialect	vroage	[ˈvʁoə̯ɣə]		Occurs only after back vowels.
Romani		γoines	[ɣoines]	'good'
Russian	Southern	дорога	[dɐˈro̞ɣa]	'road'	Corresponds to /ɡ/ in standard
	Standard	угу	[uɣu]	'uh-huh'	Usually nasal, /g/ is used when spoken. See Russian phonology
Sardinian	Nuorese dialect	súghere	[ˈsuɣɛrɛ]	'to suck'	Allophone of /ɡ/
Scottish Gaelic		laghail	[ɫ̪ɤɣal]	'lawful'	See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-Croatian		ових би / ovih bi	[ǒ̞ʋiɣ bi]	'of these... would'	Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Sindhi		غم	[ɣəmʊ]	'sadness'
Spanish		amigo	[a̠ˈmiɣo̟]	'friend'	Ranges from close fricative to approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/, see Spanish phonology
Swahili		ghali	[ɣali]	'expensive'
Swedish	Westrobothnian	jag	[jɑ̝ːɣ]	'I'	Allophone of /ɡ/. Occurs between vowels and in word-final positions.
Tajik		ғафс	[ɣafs]	'thick'
Tamazight		aɣilas (aghilas)	[aɣilas]	'leopard'
Turkish		ağa	[aɣa]	'agha'	Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology
Tutchone	Northern	ihghú	[ihɣǔ]	'tooth'
	Southern	ghra	[ɣra]	'baby'
Urdu		غریب	[ɣəriːb]	'poor'	See Hindustani phonology
Uzbek		ёмғир/yomgʻir	[ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪]	'rain'	Post-velar.
Vietnamese		ghế	[ɣe˧˥]	'chair'	See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian		drage	[ˈdraːɣə]	'to carry'	Never occurs in word-initial positions.
Yi		ꊋ/we	[ɣɤ˧]	'win'

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• Voiceless velar fricative
• Guttural

External links

• Recordings of the voiced and voiceless velar fricatives are also available at IPA Consonants