Entity (decimal) ˠ | Unicode (hex) U+02E0 | |
Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, velarization is transcribed by one of four diacritics:
Contents
- A tilde or swung dash through the letter U+0334 ̴ COMBINING TILDE OVERLAY (HTML
̴
) covers velarization, uvularization and pharyngealization, as in [ɫ] (the velarized equivalent of [l]) - A superscript Latin gamma U+02E0 ˠ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL GAMMA (HTML
ˠ
) after the letter standing for the velarized consonant, as in ⟨tˠ⟩ (a velarized [t]) - To distinguish velarization from a velar fricative release, ⟨ᵚ⟩ may be used instead of ⟨ˠ⟩
- A superscript ⟨w⟩ U+02B7 ʷ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL W indicates either simultaneous velarization and labialization, as in ⟨sʷ⟩ or ⟨pʷ⟩, or labialization of a velar consonant, as in ⟨kʷ⟩.
Although electropalatographic studies have shown that there is a continuum of possible degrees of velarization, the IPA does not specify any way to indicate degrees of velarization, as the difference has not been found to be contrastive in any language. However, the IPA convention of doubling diacritics to indicate a greater degree can be used: ⟨ˠˠ⟩.
A common example of a velarized consonant is the velarized alveolar lateral approximant (or "dark L"). In some accents of English, such as Received Pronunciation, the phoneme /l/ has "dark" and "light" allophones: the "dark", velarized allophone appears in syllable coda position (e.g. in full), while the "light", non-velarized allophone appears in syllable onset position (e.g. in lawn). Other accents of English, such as Scottish English, Australian English, and General American English, have "dark L" in all positions, while Hiberno-English has "clear l" in all positions. Other languages that have this distinction in some form include
Velarized /l/
For many languages, velarization is generally associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants so that dark l tends to be dental or dentoalveolar, and clear l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.
Other velarized consonants
The palatalized/velarized contrast is known by other names, especially in language pedagogy: in Irish language teaching, the terms slender (for palatalized) and broad (for velarized) are often used, while in Russian language teaching, the terms soft (for palatalized) and hard (for velarized) are usual. The terms light or clear (for non-velarized or palatalized) and dark (for velarized) are also widespread.