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Consonantal sound represented by ⟨β⟩ in IPA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨β⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is B
. The official symbol ⟨β⟩ is the Greek letter beta.
Voiced bilabial fricative | |||
---|---|---|---|
β | |||
IPA number | 127 | ||
Audio sample | |||
Encoding | |||
Entity (decimal) | β | ||
Unicode (hex) | U+03B2 | ||
X-SAMPA | B | ||
Braille | |||
|
This letter is also often used to represent the bilabial approximant, though that is more precisely written with a lowering diacritic, that is ⟨β̞⟩ and/or ⟨ʋʼ⟩ That sound may also be transcribed as an advanced labiodental 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⟩ (approximately 𐅸),reversed ⟨β⟩ or a affricate ⟨βθ⟩ can be used as a dedicated symbol for the bilabial approximant, but despite occasional usage this has not gained general acceptance.[3]
It is extremely rare for a language to make a phonemic contrast between the voiced bilabial fricative and the bilabial approximant. The Mapos Buang language of New 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] and Proto-Italic[6] are also reconstructed as having had this contrast, albeit with [β] being an allophone for another consonant in both cases. In Bashkir language, it is an intervocal allophone of /b/, and it is contrastive with /w/: балабыҙ [bɑɫɑˈβɯð] 'our child', балауыҙ [bɑɫɑˈwɯð] 'wax'.
The 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 in English dialects except for Chicano 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 the 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. See Catalan 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-common allophone 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. | |
Ewe[12] | Eʋe | [èβe] | 'Ewe' | Contrasts with both [v] and [w] | |
Fijian | ivava | [iβa:βa:] | 'shoe' | ||
German[13][14] | aber | [ˈaːβɐ] | 'but' | Intervocalic and pre-lateral allophone of /b/ in casual speech.[13][14] See Standard German phonology | |
Hopi | tsivot | [tsi:βot] | 'five' | ||
Japanese[15] | 神戸/kōbe | [ko̞ːβe̞] | 'Kobe' | Allophone of /b/ only in fast speech between vowels. See Japanese phonology | |
Kabyle | bri | [βri] | 'to cut' | ||
Kinyarwanda | abana | [aβa:na] | 'children' | ||
Korean | 추후/chuhu/追後 | [ˈt͡ɕʰuβʷu] | 'later' | Intervocalic allophone of /h/ before /u/ and /w/. See Korean 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] | |
Nepali | सभा | [sʌβä] | 'Meeting' | Allophone of /bʱ/. See Nepali phonology | |
Portuguese | European[16][17] | sábado | [ˈsaβɐðu] | 'Saturday' | Allophone of /b/. See Portuguese phonology |
Ripuarian | Colognian[citation needed] | wing | [βɪŋ] | 'wine' | Allophone of syllable-initial /v/ for some speakers; can be [ʋ ~ w ~ ɰ] instead.[citation needed] See Colognian phonology |
Sardinian | Logudorese[18] | paba | '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.[18] | |
Turkish[19] | vücut | [βy̠ˈd͡ʒut̪] | 'body' | Allophone of /v/ before and after rounded vowels.[19] See Turkish phonology | |
Turkmen | watan | [βatan] | 'country' | ||
Venda[20] | davha | /daβa/ | 'work party held by one who wants to have the land ploughed or cultivated' | Contrasts with /v/ and /w/ | |
Zapotec | Tilquiapan[21] | [example needed] | Allophone of /b/ |
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amharic[22] | አበባ | [aβ̞əβ̞a] | 'flower' | Allophone of /b/ medially between sonorants.[22] | |
Asturian | abanicu | [aβ̞aˈniku] | 'swing' | Allophone of /b/ | |
Basque[23] | 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. See Catalan phonology | |
Japanese | 私/watashi | [β̞ätäɕi] | 'me' | Usually represented phonemically as /w/.[24] See Japanese phonology | |
Kyrgyz | ооба | [оːˈβ̞a] | 'yes' | Allophone of /b/ medially between vowels. | |
Limburgish[25][26] | wèlle | [ˈβ̞ɛ̝lə] | 'to want' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. | |
Lombard | el nava via | [el ˈnaβ̞a ˈβ̞ia] | '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[27] | sjwaam | [ʃβ̞aːm] | 'smoke' | Weakly rounded; contrasts with /v/.[27] See Kerkrade dialect phonology |
Spanish[28] | lava | [ˈläβ̞ä] | 'lava' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[29] Allophone of /b/. See Spanish phonology | |
Swedish | Central Standard[30] | aber | [ˈɑːβ̞eɾ] | 'problem' | Allophone of /b/ in casual speech. See Swedish phonology |
Ukrainian[31] | вона | [β̞oˈnɑ] | 'she' | An approximant; the most common prevocalic realization of /w/. Can vary with labiodental [ʋ].[31] See Ukrainian phonology |
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