Voiceless velar plosive

Voiceless velar plosive
Voiceless velar plosive
k
IPA number	109
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)	k
Unicode (hex)	U+006B
X-SAMPA	k
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A voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the "k" sound in "skip". The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨k⟩.

A [k] sound is a very common sound cross-linguistically. Most languages have at least a plain [k], and some distinguish more than one variety. Many languages also have a two-way contrast between aspirated and plain [k]. Only a few languages lack a voiceless velar plosive, e.g. North Azerbaijani, Tahitian, and Mongolian.

Some languages have a voiceless pre-velar or post-palatal plosive, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as front as the prototypical palatal plosive. See Voiceless palatal plosive § Post-palatal for more information.

Conversely, some languages have a voiceless post-velar plosive, which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of the prototypical velar plosive, though not as back as the prototypical uvular plosive.

Features

Features of a voiceless velar stop:

Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, it is a plosive.
Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
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.
It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		ақалақь/ak̇halak̇h'	[ˈakalakʲ]	'the city'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe	Shapsug	кьэт/k′ėt	[kʲat]^ⓘ	'chicken'	Dialectal; corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects.
Adyghe	Temirgoy	пскэн/pskėn	[pskan]	'to cough'	Dialectal; corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects.
Ahtna		gistaann	[kɪstʰɐːn]	'six'
Aleut		kiikax̂	[kiːkaχ]	'cranberry bush'
Arabic	Modern Standard	ك‍‍تب/kataba	[ˈkatabɐ]	'he wrote'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian	Eastern	քաղաք/ k'aġak'/k'aghak	[kʰɑˈʁɑkʰ]	'town'	Contrasts with unaspirated form.
Assamese		কম/kom	[kɔm]	'less'
Assyrian		ܟܬܒ̣ܐ ctava	[ktava]	'book'	Used in most varieties, with the exception of the Urmia and Nochiya dialects where it corresponds to [t͡ʃ].
Basque		katu	[kat̪u]	'cat'
Bengali		কম/kom	[kɔm]	'less'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology
Bulgarian		как/kak	[kak]	'how'	See Bulgarian phonology
Cantonese		家/gā	[kaː˥]^ⓘ	'home'	See Cantonese phonology
Cantonese		橋/桥/kìuh	[kʰi:u˨˩]	'bridge'	See Cantonese phonology
Catalan		cors	[ˈkɔɾs]	'hearts'	See Catalan phonology
Chuvash		кукка	[ku'kːɑ]	'mother's brother'
Czech		kost	[kost]	'bone'	See Czech phonology
Danish	Standard	gås	[ˈkɔ̽ːs]	'goose'	Usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɡ̊⟩ or ⟨ɡ⟩. Contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨kʰ⟩ or ⟨k⟩. See Danish phonology
Dutch		koning	[ˈkoːnɪŋ]^ⓘ	'king'	See Dutch phonology
English		kiss	[kʰɪs]^ⓘ	'kiss'	See English phonology
Esperanto		rakonto	[raˈkonto]	'tale'	See Esperanto phonology
Estonian		kõik	[kɤik]	'all'	See Estonian phonology
Filipino		kuto	[ˈkuto]	'lice'
Finnish		kakku	[kɑkːu]	'cake'	See Finnish phonology
French		cabinet	[kabinɛ]^ⓘ	'office'	See French phonology
Georgian		ქვა/kva	[kʰva]	'stone'
German		Käfig	[ˈkʰɛːfɪç]^ⓘ	'cage'	See Standard German phonology
Greek		καλόγερος / kalógeros	[kaˈlo̞ʝe̞ro̞s̠]	'monk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati		કાંદો/kaṃde	[kɑːnd̪oː]	'onion'	See Gujarati phonology
Hebrew	Modern	כִּנּוֹר / kinór	[kinˈor]^ⓘ	'violin'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hebrew	Samaritan	ࠃࠓࠊ / derek	[derek]	'path'
Hiligaynon		kadlaw	[kad̪law]	'laugh'
Hindustani		काम / ک‍‍ام	[kɑːm]^ⓘ	'work'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Hindustani phonology
Hokkien		歌/koa	[kua˧˨]	'song'	See Hokkien phonology
Hokkien		區/区/khu	[kʰu˧˨]	'district'	See Hokkien phonology
Hmong	White Hmong	𖬀𖬶 / keeb	[kẽ˦]	'origin', 'beginning', or 'male name'
Hungarian		akkor	[ɒkkor]	'then'	See Hungarian phonology
Ibaloi		Koma		'rubber'
Italian		casa	[ˈkäːzä]^ⓘ	'house'	See Italian phonology
Japanese		鞄 / kaban	[kabaɴ]	'handbag'	See Japanese phonology
Kagayanen		kalag	[kað̞aɡ]	'spirit'
Khmer		កម្ពុជា / kâmpŭchéa	[kampuciːə]	'Cambodia'	See Khmer phonology
Korean		감자 / kamja	[kamdʑa]	'potato'	See Korean phonology
Lakota		kimímela	[kɪˈmɪmela]	'butterfly'
Luxembourgish		geess	[ˈkeːs]	'goat'	Less often voiced [ɡ]. It is usually transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɡ⟩, and it contrasts with aspirated form, which is usually transcribed ⟨k⟩. See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonian		кој	[kɔj]^ⓘ	'who'	See Macedonian phonology
Marathi		कवच	[kəʋət͡s]	'armour'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Marathi phonology
Malay		kaki	[käki]	'leg'	Unreleased in syllable codas in some words, See Malay phonology
Malayalam		കഥ/katha	[kət̪ʰə]^ⓘ	'story'	See Malayalam phonology
Mandarin		高/gāo	[kɑʊ˥]^ⓘ	'high'	See Mandarin phonology
Mandarin		考/kǎo	[kʰɑʊ˨˩˦]	'roast' (v.)	See Mandarin phonology
Nepali		केरा	[keɾä]	'banana'	Contrasts with aspirated form. See Nepali phonology
Norwegian		kake	[kɑːkə]	'cake'	See Norwegian phonology
Odia		କାମ/kāma	[kämɔ]	'work'	Contrasts with aspirated form.
Pashto		كال/kal	[kɑl]	'year'
Persian		کارد/kārd	[kɑrd]	'knife'
Polish		buk	[ˈbuk]^ⓘ	'beech tree'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese		corpo	[ˈkoɾpu]^ⓘ	'body'	See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi		ਕਰ /کر / kar	[kəɾ]	'do'	Contrasts with aspirated form.
Romanian		când	[ˈkɨnd]	'when'	See Romanian phonology
Russian		короткий/korotkij	[kɐˈrotkʲɪj]^ⓘ	'short'	See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian		кост / kost	[kȏːs̪t̪]	'bone'	See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovak		kosť	[kɔ̝sc]	'bone'	See Slovak phonology
Slovene		kost	[ˈkôːs̪t̪]	'bone'	Aspirated before close vowels. See Slovene phonology
Spanish		casa	[ˈkäsä]^ⓘ	'house'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish		ko	[ˈkʰuː]	'cow'	See Swedish phonology
Sylheti		ꠇꠤꠔꠣ/kita	[kɪt̪à]	'what'
Tamil		கல்	[kəl]^ⓘ	'rock'	See Tamil phonology
Telugu		కాకి/kāki	[kāki]	'crow'	Contrasts with aspirated form.
Thai		ไก่/kị̀	[kaj˨˩]	'chicken'	Contrasts with an aspirated form.
Toki Pona		kulupu	[kulupu]	'group'	Sometimes aspirated.
Turkish		kulak	[kʰuɫäk]	'ear'	See Turkish phonology
Ubykh		кауар/kawar	[kawar]	'slat'	Found mostly in loanwords. See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian		колесо/koleso	[ˈkɔɫɛsɔ]^ⓘ	'wheel'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese		cam	[kam]	'orange'	See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		calon	[kʰalɔn]	'heart'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian		keal	[kɪəl]	'calf'	See West Frisian phonology
Yi		ꇰ / ge	[kɤ˧]	'foolish'	Contrasts aspirated and unaspirated forms.
Zapotec	Tilquiapan	canza	[kanza]	'walking'

Notes

↑ Instead of "post-velar", it can be called "retracted velar", "backed velar", "pre-uvular", "advanced uvular" or "fronted uvular".
↑ Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
↑ Thelwall (1990), p. 37.
↑ Dum-Tragut (2009), p. 13.
↑ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
↑ Basbøll (2005:61)
↑ Gussenhoven (1992), p. 45.
↑ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
↑ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
↑ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117.
↑ Okada (1999), p. 117.
↑ Olson et al. (2010), pp. 206–207.
1 2 Gilles & Trouvain (2013:67–68)
↑ Jassem (2003), p. 103.
↑ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
↑ DEX Online:
↑ Padgett (2003), p. 42.
↑ Landau et al. (1999), p. 66.
↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
↑ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
↑ Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
↑ Merrill (2008), p. 108.

References

Basbøll, Hans (2005), The Phonology of Danish, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-203-97876-5
Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618, S2CID 249411809
Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876
Danyenko, Andrii; Vakulenko, Serhii (1995), Ukrainian, Lincom Europa, ISBN 978-3-929075-08-3
Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L. (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451
Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278
Gussenhoven, Carlos (1992), "Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (2): 45–47, doi:10.1017/S002510030000459X, S2CID 243772965
Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.), Blackwell
Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344
Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
Olson, Kenneth; Mielke, Jeff; Sanicas-Daguman, Josephine; Pebley, Carol Jean; Paterson, Hugh J. III (2010), "The phonetic status of the (inter)dental approximant", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 40 (2): 199–215, doi:10.1017/S0025100309990296, S2CID 38504322
Padgett, Jaye (2003), "Contrast and Post-Velar Fronting in Russian", Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 21 (1): 39–87, doi:10.1023/A:1021879906505, S2CID 13470826
Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
Shosted, Ryan K.; Chikovani, Vakhtang (2006), "Standard Georgian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 20 (2): 37–41, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004266, S2CID 243640727
Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language, 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
Landau, Ernestina; Lončarića, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69, ISBN 978-0-521-65236-0

External links

List of languages with [k] on PHOIBLE

[1] Instead of "post-velar", it can be called "retracted velar", "backed velar", "pre-uvular", "advanced uvular" or "fronted uvular".

[FOOTNOTELadefoged2005165-2] Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.

[FOOTNOTEThelwall199037-3] Thelwall (1990), p. 37.

[FOOTNOTEDum-Tragut200913-4] Dum-Tragut (2009), p. 13.

[FOOTNOTECarbonellLlisterri199253-5] Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.

[6] Basbøll (2005:61)

[FOOTNOTEGussenhoven199245-7] Gussenhoven (1992), p. 45.

[FOOTNOTEFougeronSmith199373-8] Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.

[FOOTNOTEShostedChikovani2006255-9] Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.

[FOOTNOTERogersd'Arcangeli2004117-10] Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117.

[FOOTNOTEOkada1999117-11] Okada (1999), p. 117.

[FOOTNOTEOlsonMielkeSanicas-DagumanPebley2010206–207-12] Olson et al. (2010), pp. 206–207.

[gitr-13] 1 2 Gilles & Trouvain (2013:67–68)

[FOOTNOTEJassem2003103-14] Jassem (2003), p. 103.

[FOOTNOTECruz-Ferreira199591-15] Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.

[16] DEX Online:

[FOOTNOTEPadgett200342-17] Padgett (2003), p. 42.

[FOOTNOTELandauLončarićaHorgaŠkarić199966-18] Landau et al. (1999), p. 66.

[FOOTNOTEMartínez-CeldránFernández-PlanasCarrera-Sabaté2003255-19] Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.

[FOOTNOTEDanyenkoVakulenko19954-20] Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.

[FOOTNOTEThompson1959458–461-21] Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.

[FOOTNOTEMerrill2008108-22] Merrill (2008), p. 108.