The voiced labiodental plosive or stop is a consonant sound produced like a [b], but with the lower lip contacting the upper teeth, as in [v]. This can be represented in the IPA as ⟨b̪⟩. A separate symbol that is sometimes seen, especially in Bantu linguistics, but not recognized by the IPA, is the db ligature ⟨ȸ⟩.
Voiced labiodental plosive | |
---|---|
b̪ | |
ȸ | |
IPA Number | 102 408 |
Encoding | |
Entity (decimal) | b̪ |
Unicode (hex) | U+0062 U+032A |
X-SAMPA | b_d |
Braille |
The voiced labiodental plosive is not known to be phonemic in any language. However, it does occur allophonically:
In the Austronesian language Sika, this sound occurs as an allophone of the labiodental flap in careful pronunciation.[citation needed]
The XiNkuna dialect of Tsonga has affricates, [p̪͡f] (voiceless labiodental affricate) and [b̪͡v] (voiced labiodental affricate).
Features of the "voiced labiodental stop":
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Danish | Standard[1] | ved | [b̪̆e̝ːˀð̠˕ˠ] | 'know(s)' | Rather short; also described as an approximant [ʋ]. A rare alternative is a fricative [v].[2] See Danish phonology. |
English | subversive | [sʌb̪ˈvɚsɪv] | 'subversive' | Common allophone of /b/ before the labiodentals /f/ and /v/ (although it is also possible for the labiodentals to shift to bilabial [ɸ] and [β], respectively, instead). | |
Ibanag | bavi | [bab̪ᵛiː] | ˈpig/pork' | Slightly affricated; allophonic variant of /v/ for some elderly speakers, especially those who lack front teeth. May be a flap /ⱱ/ instead. | |
Sika[citation needed] | [example needed] | Allophone of /ⱱ/ in careful pronunciation. | |||
Slovene | ob vodi | [ob̪‿ˈʋɔ̀ːdí] | 'by the water' | Allophone of /b/ before /f, ʋ/. See Slovene phonology. |