Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Voiceless bilabial approximant
Consonant found in the Spanish language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
The voiceless bilabial approximant is a consonant found in the Spanish language. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨β̞̊⟩.
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2025) |
Remove ads
Features
Features of the voiceless bilabial approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
- Its place of articulation is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
- Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–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 sounds.
Remove ads
Occurrence
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads