The voiced bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound which has been observed to occur in about 96% of spoken languages.[1] The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨m⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is m
. The bilabial nasal occurs in English, and it is the sound represented by "m" in map and rum. Very few languages (e.g. Wyandot) are known to lack this sound. A small number of languages have been observed to lack independent nasal phonemes altogether, such as Quileute, Makah, and Central Rotokas.[2]
Voiced bilabial nasal | |
---|---|
m | |
IPA number | 114 |
Audio sample | |
source · help | |
Encoding | |
Entity (decimal) | m |
Unicode (hex) | U+006D |
X-SAMPA | m |
Braille | ![]() |
Features of the voiced bilabial nasal:
IPA | Description |
---|---|
m | plain m |
mʲ | palatalised |
mˠ | velarised |
mˤ | pharyngealized |
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ǃKung | m | [m] | 'eat' | ||
Adyghe | мазэ / māză | [maːza] | 'moon' | ||
Arabic | Standard[3] | مطابخ / maṭābiḫ | [maˈtˤɑːbɪχ] | 'kitchens' | See Arabic phonology |
Armenian | Eastern[4] | մայր / mayr | ⓘ | 'mother' | |
Assyrian | ܡܪܐ / mara | [maːra] | 'owner' | ||
Basque | maitatu | [majt̪at̪u] | 'to love' | ||
Bengali | মা / ma | [ma] | 'mother' | See Bengali phonology | |
Bulgarian | мъгла / mygla | [mɐɡla] | 'fog' | ||
Catalan[5] | meu | [ˈmew] | 'mine' | See Catalan phonology | |
Cherokee | ᎠᎹ / ama | [ama˦] | 'water' | ||
Cantonese | 貓 / 猫 / māau | ⓘ | 'cat' | See Cantonese phonology | |
Chukchi | Mанэгран | [maneɣɻan] | 'tent' | ||
Chuvash | манăн / manën | [manən] | 'my' | ||
Czech | muž | ⓘ | 'man' | See Czech phonology | |
Dutch[6] | mond | ⓘ | 'mouth' | See Dutch phonology | |
Dhivehi | mas | [mas̪] | 'fish' | See Dhivehi phonology | |
English | him | ⓘ | 'him' | See English phonology | |
Esperanto | tempo | ⓘ | 'time' | See Esperanto phonology | |
Filipino | manok | [maˈnok] | 'chicken' | See Filipino phonology | |
Finnish | minä | ⓘ | 'I' | See Finnish phonology | |
French[7] | manger | ⓘ | 'to eat' | See French phonology | |
Georgian[8] | სამი / sami | [ˈsɑmi] | 'three' | ||
German | Maus | ⓘ | 'mouse' | See Standard German phonology | |
Greek[9] | μάζα / maza | ⓘ | 'clump' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
Gujarati | મોર / mór | [moːɾ] | 'male peacock' | See Gujarati phonology | |
Hawaiian[10] | maka | [maka] | 'eye' | See Hawaiian phonology | |
Hindi | मधु / mëdhu | [məd̪ʱuː] | 'honey' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology | |
Hebrew | אמא / ima | [ˈʔimäʔ] | 'mother' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |
Hungarian | ma | ⓘ | 'today' | See Hungarian phonology | |
Indonesian[11] | masuk | [ˈmäsʊʔ] | 'enter' | ||
Italian[12] | mamma | ⓘ | 'mommy' | See Italian phonology | |
Japanese[13] | 豆 / mame | [mäme̞] | 'bean' | See Japanese phonology | |
Kabardian | мазэ / mazè | [maːza] | 'moon' | ||
Kagayanen[14] | manang | [manaŋ] | 'older sister' | ||
Kazakh | кеме / keme | [keme] | 'ship' | See Kazakh phonology | |
Khmer | ខ្មែរ / khmae | [kʰmae] | 'Khmer' | See Khmer phonology | |
Korean | 마을 / maûl | [mɐɯl] | 'village' | See Korean phonology | |
Limburgish | moer | [muːʁ] | 'carrot' | Common. Example from the Weert dialect. | |
Lithuanian | mama | [ˈmɐmɐ] | 'mom' | ||
Macedonian | мајка / majka | [ˈmajka] | 'mother' | See Macedonian phonology | |
Malay | malam | [mäläm] | 'night' | ||
Malayalam[15] | കമ്മി / kammi | [kəmmi] | 'shortage' | ||
Maltese | ilma | [ilma] | 'water' | ||
Mandarin | 貓 / 猫 / māo | ⓘ | 'cat' | See Mandarin phonology | |
Marathi | मन / mën | [mən] | 'mind' | See Marathi phonology | |
Mutsun | muruṭ | [muɾuʈ] | 'night' | ||
Nepali | आमा / āmā | [ämä] | 'mother' | See Nepali phonology | |
Norwegian | mamma | [ˈmɑmːɑ] | 'mom' | See Norwegian phonology | |
Ojibwe | ᐊᓈᒥᒻ / anaamim | [ənaːˈmɪm] | 'accuse' | See Ojibwe phonology | |
Odia | ମା / mä | [mä] | 'mother' | ||
Persian | مادر / madär | [mɒdær] | 'mother' | See Persian phonology | |
Pirahã | baíxi | [ˈmàí̯ʔì] | 'parent' | allophone of /b/ | |
Polish[16] | masa | ⓘ | 'mass' | See Polish phonology | |
Portuguese[17] | mato | ⓘ | 'bush' | See Portuguese phonology | |
Punjabi | ਮੈਂ / mēm̐ | [mɛ̃ː] | 'I' | ||
Russian[18] | муж / muž | ⓘ | 'husband' | Contrasts with palatalized version. See Russian phonology | |
Sanskrit | अहम् / aham | [əhəm] | 'I' | See Sanskrit phonology | |
Serbo-Croatian[19] | мој / moj | [môːj] | 'my' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
Slovak | muž | [mu̞ʂ] | 'man' | ||
Slovene | miš | [mîʃ] | 'mouse' | ||
Spanish[20] | grumete | [ɡɾuˈme̞te̞] | 'cabin boy' | See Spanish phonology | |
Swahili | miti | [ˈmiti] | 'trees' | ||
Swedish | mask | [mask] | 'worm' | See Swedish phonology | |
Telugu | మబ్బు/mabu | [mabːu] | 'cloud' | Occurs as allophone of anuswara when followed by retroflex stops | |
Thai | มอมแมม / mommäm | [mɔːm.mɛːm] | 'shabby' | See Thai phonology | |
Toki Pona | mani | [mani] | 'money' | ||
Tsez | мец / mec | [mɛ̝t͡s] | 'tongue' | ||
Turkish | benim | [be̞ˈn̟ɪm] | 'mine' | See Turkish phonology | |
Ukrainian[21] | молоко / moloko | [mɔɫɔˈkɔ] | 'milk' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
Urdu | مکان / mëkan | [məkaːn] | 'house' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology | |
Uyghur | مەن / män | [mæn] | 'I' | ||
Uzbek | men | [men] | 'I' | ||
Vietnamese[22] | muối | [mwojˀ˧˥] | 'salt' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
Welsh | mam | ⓘ | 'mother' | See Welsh phonology | |
West Frisian | mar | [mar] | 'lake' | See West Frisian phonology | |
Yi | ꂷ / ma | [ma˧] | 'bamboo' | ||
Zapotec | Tilquiapan[23] | man | [maŋ] | 'animal' |
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulgarian[24] | мя́сто/mästo | [mʲa̟sto] | 'place' | Contrasts with /m/. See Bulgarian phonology. | |
Irish | mé | [mʲeː] | 'I' | Contrasts with /mˠ/. See Irish phonology. | |
Kildin Saami[25] | ме̄рр/mʹērr | [mʲerː] | 'sea' | Kildin Saami contrasts varieties of bilabial nasals in voicedness, length and palatalization.[25] | |
Latgalian[26] | miļti | [mʲilʲtʲi][27] | 'flour' | Contrasts with /m/.[26] See Latgalian phonology. | |
Lithuanian[28] | miglà | [mʲɪɡˈɫa] | 'mist' | Contrasts with /m/. See Lithuanian phonology | |
Marshallese[29] | emān | [ɛmʲænʲ] | 'four' | Contrasts with /mˠ/.[29] | |
Nenets | Tundra Nenets[30] | мяˮ/ḿaq | [mʲɑ][31] | 'tent' | Contrasts with /m/.[30] |
Forest Nenets[30] | [example needed] | ||||
Polish | mięso | [mʲɛ̃w̃sɔ] | 'meat' | Contrasts with /m/. See Polish phonology. | |
Russian | медь/měď | ⓘ | 'copper' | Contrasts with /m/. See Russian phonology. | |
Veps[32] | nem' | [nemʲ] | 'peninsula' | Contrasts with /m/.[32] |
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gilbertese | mwe[33] | [mˠe] | 'sleep' | Contrasts with /m/ and /mː/. | |
Irish | má | [mˠɑː] | 'if' | Contrasts with /mʲ/. See Irish phonology. | |
Marshallese[29] | m̧winam̧ōn | [mˠinʲɑmˠʌnʲ] | 'caterpillar' | Contrasts with /mʲ/.[29] |