| Ipa Symbol: | ɣ |
| Ipa Number: | 141 |
| Decimal1: | 611 |
| Imagefile: | IPA Unicode 0x0263.svg |
| X-Sampa: | G |
| Braille: | 46 |
| Braille2: | g |
| Above: | Voiced velar tapped fricative |
| Ipa Symbol: | ɡ̞̆ |
| Ipa Symbol2: | ɣ̆ |
The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in various spoken languages. It is not found in most varieties of Modern English but existed in Old English.[1] The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is (IPA|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 (IPA|ɤ), the IPA symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel, which some writings[2] use for the voiced velar fricative.
The symbol (IPA|ɣ) is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, which, however, is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: pronounced as /[ɣ̞]/ or pronounced as /[ɣ˕]/. The IPA also provides a dedicated symbol for a velar approximant, pronounced as /[ɰ]/.
There is also a voiced post-velar fricative, also called pre-uvular, in some languages. For the voiced pre-velar fricative, also called post-palatal, see voiced palatal fricative.
A voiced velar tapped fricative has been reported in Dàgáárè, which is a previously unattested sound in human language.
Features of the voiced velar fricative:
Some of the consonants listed as post-velar may actually be trill fricatives.
| [[Cyrillic script|б'''гъь'''ы]]/bğë | pronounced as /[bɣʲə]/ | 'leaf' | ||||
| Adyghe; Adygei: [[Cyrillic script|чъы'''г'''ы]]/Adyghe; Adygei: čëğë | 'tree' | |||||
| Albanian | ArbëreshMoresian (Pelloponesian) dialects of Arvanitika | gliata | pronounced as /[ɣliɑtɑ]/ | 'tall' | ||
| '''g'''amó|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣɑmɤʔ]/ | 'cucumber' | ||||
| Aleut: a'''g'''iitalix | pronounced as /[aɣiːtalix]/ | 'with' | ||||
| rani'''h'''<s>ı</s>|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɾɑniɣə]/ | 'brother' | ||||
| '''γ'''ür | pronounced as /[ɣyr]/ | 'to pick up' | ||||
| Arabic: [[Arabic alphabet|غريب]]|rtl=yes/Arabic: ğarīb | 'stranger' | May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology | ||||
| Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian: au'''g'''ua | pronounced as /[ˈawɣwa]/ | 'water' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// | |||
| Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian: [[Aromanian alphabet|'''gh'''ini]] | pronounced as /[ˈɣi.ni]/ | 'well' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// | |||
| [[Syriac alphabet|ܦܓ̣ܪܐ]]|rtl=yes pa'''ġ'''rā | pronounced as /[pʌɣrɑ]/ | 'body' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced consonants. | |||
| pronounced as /[fʌɣrɔ]/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /[ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ]/ | 'scythe' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// in almost all positions | ||||
| Azerbaijani | Northern | Azerbaijani: [[Azerbaijani alphabet#Azerbaijani Latin alphabet|o'''ğ'''ul]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[oɣul]/ | 'son' | ||
| Southern | [[South Azerbaijani alphabet|اوغول]]|rtl=yes/oğul | |||||
| Basa: [[Basque alphabet|he'''g'''o]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[heɣo]/ | 'wing' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// | |||
| Belarusian: [[Belarusian alphabet|'''г'''алава/ğalava]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣalaˈva]/ | 'head' | ||||
| Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography|a'''g'''rat]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɐˈɣɾɑt]/ | 'liking' | Fricative or approximant. Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ//. See Catalan phonology | |||
| au'''g'''a|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈauːɣa]/ | 'his/her/its blood' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |||
| гӀала / Chechen: '''ğ'''ala|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣaːla]/ | 'town' | ||||
| Mandarin (Dongping dialect) | 俺/Ǎn | pronounced as /[ɣän<sup>55</sup>]/ | 'I' | |||
| Chinese: [[Chinese characters|湖南]]|rtl=yes/húnán | pronounced as /[ɣu˩˧nia˩˧]/ | 'Hunan (province)' | ||||
| pronounced as /[bɪɣ bɪl]/ | 'I would be' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced consonants. See Czech phonology. Occurs only in few Moravian dialects and even there it is rather pronounced as //ɦ// | ||||
| Dàgáárè | [{{IPA|pɔ́ɣ̆ɔ́}}] | 'woman' | May be a velar with strong tap-like features.[3] | |||
| pronounced as /[ɣo]/ | 'us' | |||||
| Dogrib: we'''q'''a|italic=yes | pronounced as /[weɣa]/ | 'for' | ||||
| Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|'''g'''aan]] | pronounced as /[ɣaːn]/ | 'to go' | May be post-palatal pronounced as /link/ instead. See Dutch phonology | |||
| Southern accents | ||||||
| English | Scouse | [ɣrɑ:s] | 'grass' | Allophone of pronounced as //g//. See British English phonology[4] | ||
| Northumbrian | Burr[5] | |||||
| Georgian: [[Georgian alphabet|'''ღ'''არიბი]]/ğaribi | pronounced as /[ɣɑribi]/ | 'poor' | May actually be post-velar or uvular | |||
| German[6] | --> | German: [[German orthography|damali'''g'''e]] | pronounced as /[ˈdaːmaːlɪɣə]/ | 'former' | Intervocalic allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// in casual speech. See Standard German phonology | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| che'''gh'''e|italic=yes | pronounced as /[tʃeɣe]/ | 'five' | ||||
| pronounced as /[ˈɣala]/ | 'milk' | See Modern Greek phonology | ||||
| વાઘણ/vağaŕn | pronounced as /[ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃]/ | 'tigress' | See Gujarati phonology | |||
| ndeghe | pronounced as /[ndeɣe]/ | 'bird' | ||||
| Gwich'in: videe'''gh'''àn|italic=yes | pronounced as /[viteːɣân]/ | 'his/her chest' | ||||
| Haitian; Haitian Creole: di'''r'''i|italic=yes | pronounced as /[diɣi]/ | 'rice' | ||||
| Athapascan languages: dëgë'''gh'''or|italic=yes | pronounced as /[təkəɣor]/ | 'I am playing' | ||||
| Hebrew: [[Hebrew alphabet|מִ'''גְ'''דָּל]]|rtl=yes/miğdol | pronounced as /[miɣdɔl]/ | '[a] tower' | ||||
| Some Modern speakers (usually with a difficulty pronouncing pronounced as /[ʁ]/) | Hebrew: [[Hebrew alphabet|שׁוֹמֵ'''ר''']]|rtl=yes/shomer | pronounced as /[ʃo̞ˈme̞ɣ]/ | '[a male] guard', '[he] guards' | pronounced as /[ʃo̞ˈme̞ʁ]/ by other Modern speakers | ||
| Hindustani | Hindi | Hindi: [[Devanagari|'''ग़'''रीब/garib]] | 'poor' | Post-velar, conservative Hindi speakers usually replace it with pronounced as //g//. See Hindustani phonology | ||
| Urdu | Urdu: [[Urdu alphabet|غریب/gharib]]|rtl=yes | |||||
| Icelandic: [[Icelandic orthography|sa'''g'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈsaːɣa]/ | 'saga' | See Icelandic phonology | |||
| Irish: [[Irish orthography|a '''dh'''orn]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ə ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ]/ | 'his fist' | See Irish phonology | |||
| '''g'''ură|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɣurə]/ | 'mouth' | Corresponds to pronounced as /link/ in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology | |||
| pronounced as /[mulaɣa]/ | 'hermit crab' | |||||
| Japanese: [[hiragana|はげ]]/Japanese: [[Romanization of Japanese#Hepburn|ha'''g'''e]] | pronounced as /[haɣe]/ | 'baldness' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ//, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology | |||
| Judeo-Spanish | gato | [ˈɣ̞ato̪] | 'cat' | |||
| Haketia | gher | [ɣeɾ] | 'only' | appears as a phoneme in words from Arabic[7] | ||
| гын/gyn | 'powder' | |||||
| harong | pronounced as /[haɣoŋ]/ | 'charcoal' | ||||
| Lezghian: [[Cyrillic script|'''гъ'''ел]]/ğel | pronounced as /[ɣel]/ | 'sleigh' | ||||
| Dago’ | qid|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣìt]/ | 'water' | |||
| Yunnan | pronounced as /[ɣək˧˩]/ | |||||
| Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish: '''g'''aw | pronounced as /[ɣɑ̟β̞]/ | 'quick' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. | |||
| Lishan Didan | Urmi Dialect | עוטג/otogh | pronounced as /[ˠotʰoɣ]/ | 'room' | Generally post-velar | |
| humoras | pronounced as /[ˈɣʊmɔrɐs̪]/ | 'humor' | Preferred over [ɦ]. See Lithuanian phonology | |||
| Low German[8] | gaan | pronounced as /[ˈɣɔ̃ːn]/ | 'to go' | Increasingly replaced with High German pronounced as /[ɡ]/ | ||
| Standard | Malay: [[Malay alphabet|'''gh'''aib]] | pronounced as /[ɣai̯b]/ | 'unseen' | Mostly in loanwords from Arabic. Indonesians tend to replace the sound with pronounced as //ɡ//. | ||
| Johor-Riau | Malay: [[Malay alphabet|'''r'''amai]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣamai̯]/ | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ before a vowel was traditionally a [{{IPA|ɣ}}] but now the alveolar tap [{{IPA link|ɾ}}] is quite common amongst younger speakers possibly due to influence by Standard Malay. See Malay phonology | ||
| Kelantan-Pattani | pronounced as /[ɣamaː]/ | pronounced as /link/ 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 | ||||||
| Negeri Sembilan | pronounced as /[ɣamai̯]/ | |||||
| pronounced as /[ɣamɛ̃ː]/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /[ɣamɛː]/ | ||||||
| Berovo accent | Macedonian: [[Macedonian orthography|ду'''в'''на]]|italic=yes/duvna | pronounced as /[ˈduɣna]/ | 'it blew' | Corresponds to etymological pronounced as //x// of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology | ||
| Bukovo accent | Macedonian: [[Macedonian orthography|г'''л'''ава]]|italic=yes/glava | pronounced as /[ˈɡɣa(v)a]/ | 'head' | Allophone of pronounced as //l// instead of usual pronounced as /link/. See Prilep-Bitola dialect | ||
| Mi'kmaq; Micmac: nisa'''q'''an | pronounced as /[nisaɣan]/ | 'weir' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// between sonorants. See . | |||
| Navajo; Navaho: ’a'''gh'''á|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ʔaɣa]/ | 'best' | ||||
| Neapolitan | Central Lucanian (Accettura dialect) | chiahäte | pronounced as /[kjaˈɣɜ tə]/[9] | 'wounded' | Corresponds to /g/ in Standard Italian. The example "chiahäte" translates to "piagato" in Italian. | |
| Nepali | pronounced as /[käɣʌ(d)z]/ | 'paper' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //ɡʱ// in intervocalic positions. See Nepali phonology | |||
| Mmockngie dialect | pronounced as /[nøɣə̀]/ | 'sun' | ||||
| hhnesh | pronounced as /[ɣnəʂ]/ | 'February' | ||||
| Norwegian: [[Norwegian alphabet|å '''h'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɔ ˈɣɑː]/ | 'to have' | Possible allophone of pronounced as //h// between two back vowels; can be voiceless pronounced as /link/ instead. See Norwegian phonology | |||
| Occitan (post 1500);: di'''g'''oc|italic=yes | pronounced as /[diˈɣuk]/ | 'said' (3rd pers. sg.) | ||||
| '''ɣ'''ə'''ɣ'''ic'''ɣ'''c | pronounced as /[ɣəɣitʃɣtʃ]/ | 'Sparrow hawk' | ||||
| غاتر/ğatër | pronounced as /[ɣɑtər]/ | 'mule' | ||||
| pronounced as /[ɣɔ˥]/ | 'to rain' | |||||
| باغ/bāq | pronounced as /[bɒːɣ]/ | 'garden' | ||||
| Polish: [[Polish alphabet|nie'''ch'''że]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɲɛɣʐɛ]/ | 'let' (imperative particle) | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology | |||
| Portuguese: [[Portuguese orthography|a'''g'''ora]] | pronounced as /[ɐˈɣɔɾɐ]/ | 'now' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ//. See Portuguese phonology | |||
| Some Brazilian dialects | pronounced as /[ˈmaɣmuɾi]/ | 'marble', 'sill' | Allophone of rhotic consonant (voiced equivalent to pronounced as /[x]/, itself allophone of pronounced as //ʁ//) between voiced sounds, most often as coda before voiced consonants. | |||
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਗ਼ਰੀਬ/carib | pronounced as /[ɣ̄əriːb]/ | 'poor' | ||
| Shahmukhi | Panjabi; Punjabi: [[Shahmukhi alphabet|غریب]]|rtl=yes/ġarrīb | |||||
| γoines | pronounced as /[ɣoines]/ | 'good' | ||||
| дорога/doroga | pronounced as /[dɐˈro̞ɣə]/ | 'road' | Corresponds to pronounced as //ɡ// in standard | |||
| Standard | угу/ugu | pronounced as /[ʊˈɣu]/ | 'uh-huh' | Usually nasal, pronounced as //ɡ// is used when spoken. See Russian phonology | ||
| Russian: горо'''х''' же / goroh že | pronounced as /[ɡʌˈroɣ ʐe]/ | 'the peas' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced consonants.[10] | |||
| Yakut: а'''ҕ'''а/ağa | pronounced as /[aɣa]/ | 'father' | ||||
| Nuorese dialect | Sardinian: sú'''gh'''ere | pronounced as /[ˈsuɣɛrɛ]/ | 'to suck' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ// | ||
| Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[Scottish Gaelic orthography|la'''gh'''ail]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɫ̪ɤɣal]/ | 'lawful' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |||
| [[Gaj's Latin alphabet|ovi'''h''' bi]] | pronounced as /[ǒ̞ʋiɣ bi]/ | 'of these would' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced consonants. See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |||
| [[S'gaw Karen alphabet|ဂ့ၤ]]|rtl=yes/ghei | pronounced as /[ɣei]/ | 'good' | ||||
| Sindhi: [[Arabic alphabet|غم]]|rtl=yes/camu | pronounced as /[ɣəmʊ]/ | 'sadness' | ||||
| Slovene | Standard | Slovenian: [[Slovene orthography|'''h''' gori]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɣ‿ɡɔ̀ːɾí]/ | 'to the mountain' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before voiced obstruents. See Slovene phonology | |
| Some dialects | Slovenian: [[Slovene orthography|'''g'''ajba]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɣáːjbà]/ | 'crate' | Corresponds to pronounced as //ɡ// in Standard Slovene. See Slovene phonology | ||
| pronounced as /[a̠ˈmiɣo̟]/ | 'friend' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant.[11] Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ//, see Spanish phonology | ||||
| pronounced as /[ɣali]/ | 'expensive' | |||||
| Swedish: me'''g'''|italic=yes | pronounced as /[mɪːɣ]/ | 'me' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɡ//. Occurs between vowels and in word-final positions.[12] Here also pronounced as //∅// in Kalix. | |||
| zog | pronounced as /[zoɣ]/ | 'war' | ||||
| Tajik: [[Tajik alphabet|'''ғ'''афс]]/cafs | pronounced as /[ɣafs]/ | 'thick' | ||||
| aɣilas (aghilas) | pronounced as /[aɣilas]/ | 'leopard' | ||||
| Tamil | Brahmin Tamil (non-standard) | முகம் | pronounced as /[muɣəm]/ | 'face' | Not very common | |
| Non-standard | Turkish: [[Turkish alphabet|a'''ğ'''aç]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[aɣat͡ʃ]/ | 'tree' | Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology | ||
| ih'''gh'''ú|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ihɣǔ]/ | 'tooth' | ||||
| '''gh'''ra|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣra]/ | 'baby' | ||||
| '''gh'''an|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɣan]/ | 'to hurry' | ||||
| Uzbek: [[Uzbek alphabet|ём'''ғ'''ир]] / Uzbek: [[Uzbek alphabet|yom'''gʻ'''ir/yamğır]] | pronounced as /[ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪]/ | 'rain' | Post-velar. | |||
| Vietnamese: [[Vietnamese alphabet|'''gh'''ế]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɣe˧˥]/ | 'chair' | See Vietnamese phonology | |||
| Western Frisian: dra'''g'''e|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈdraːɣə]/ | 'to carry' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. | |||
| Sichuan Yi; Nuosu: [[Yi script|ꊋ]]/Sichuan Yi; Nuosu: [[Yi script|'''w'''e]] | pronounced as /[ɣɤ˧]/ | 'win' | ||||
| Zhuang; Chuang: Lwg '''r'''oegbit | pronounced as /[lɯ˧ ɣo˧pi˥]/ | 'Wild duckling' | ||||
pronounced as /navigation/