Labialized velar consonant

A labialized velar or labiovelar is a velar consonant that is labialized, with a /w/-like secondary articulation. Examples are [kʷ,ɡʷ,xʷ,ɣʷ,ŋʷ], which are pronounced like a [k,ɡ,x,ɣ,ŋ], with rounded lips, such as the labialized voiceless velar plosive [kʷ] and labialized voiced velar plosive [ɡʷ], obstruents being common among the sounds that undergo labialization.

Labialized velar approximants

The most common labiovelar consonant is the voiced approximant [w]. It is normally a labialized velar, as is its vocalic equivalent [u]. (Labialization is called rounding in vowels, and a velar place is called back).

[w] and its voiceless equivalent are the only labialized velars with dedicated IPA symbols:

Historical development

Labialized velars frequently derive from a plain velar followed by a rounded (labialized) vowel, such as [u] or [o]. In turn, they may sometimes develop into simple bilabial consonants. An example of this is the development of Proto-Indo-European *kʷ, *gʷ before *a or *o into Greek /p, b/, producing cognates as different as English come and basis. The full sequence is demonstrated by the Satsuma dialect of Japanese: in northern Satsuma, Standard Japanese [kue] 'eat!' has contracted to [kʷe]; in southern Satsuma, it has proceeded further to [pe].

A notable development is the initial *kʷ in Proto-Indo-European interrogative words. In English, it developed into wh or h (how), pronounced /w/ in most dialects and /h/, respectively, via Grimm's law followed by wh-cluster reductions. By contrast, in Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages, that developed into qu (later Spanish cu (cuando) and c (como)), pronounced as /kʷ/ in Latin and variously as /kw/ or /k/ in the Romance languages. See etymology of English interrogative words for details. The English phonemic spelling kw for qu (as in kwik) echoes its origin.

See also

• Co-articulated consonant
• Doubly articulated consonant
• Voiced bilabial fricative
• Voiceless bilabial fricative