Voiceless bilabial nasal

The voiceless bilabial nasal is a type of consonant. It is a rare sound. The letter for this sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨⟩. The X-SAMPA symbol for this sound is ⟨m_0⟩. The English language does not have the sound.

Voiceless alveolar trill
Encoding
X-SAMPAm_0

 

Features

Features of the voiceless alveolar trill:

  • The airstream mechanism is pulmonic. It means that we produce this sound by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
  • Its phonation is voiceless. It means that we produce this sound 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.
  • We produce it at bilabial. It means that we produce this sound with both lips.
  • It is a nasal consonant. It means that air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.

Examples

Language Word IPA Meaning
Burmese[1] မှာ/hma: [m̥à] 'notice'
Central Alaskan Yup'ik[2] pisteḿun [ˈpistəm̥un] 'to the servant'
Estonian[3] lehm [ˈlehm̥] 'cow'
French prisme [pχis̪m̥] 'prism'
Hmong Hmoob [m̥ɔ̃́] 'Hmong'
Icelandic hampur [ˈham̥pʏr] 'hemp'
Jalapa Mazatec[4] hma [m̥a] 'black'
Kildin Sami[5] лēӎӎьк/ljeehmhmk [lʲeːm̥ʲːk] 'strap'
Muscogee camhcá:ka [t͡ʃəm̥t͡ʃɑːɡə] 'bell'
Ukrainian[6] ритм/ritm [rɪt̪m̥] 'rhythm'
Washo Mášdɨmmi [ˈm̥aʃdɨmmi] 'he's hiding'
Welsh[7] fy mhen [və m̥ɛn] 'my head'
Xumi Lower[8] [m̥ɛ̃˦] 'medicine'
Upper[9]
Yi Language Hma [m̥a] 'Cuckoo Tree'

Voiceless Bilabial Nasal Media

Notes

References

  • Asu, Eva Liina; Teras, Pire (2009), "Estonian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 39 (3): 367–372, doi:10.1017/s002510030999017x
  • Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157[dead link]
  • Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169[dead link]
  • Danyenko, Andrii; Vakulenko, Serhii (1995), Ukrainian, Lincom Europa, ISBN 9783929075083
  • Jacobson, Steven (1995), A Practical Grammar of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimo Language, Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, ISBN 978-1-55500-050-9
  • Jones, Glyn E. (1984), "The distinctive vowels and consonants of Welsh", in Martin J. Ball and Glyn E. Jones (ed.), Welsh Phonology: Selected Readings, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 40–64, ISBN 0-7083-0861-9
  • Kuruch, Rimma (1985), Краткий грамматический очерк саамского языка (PDF) (in русский), Moscow
  • Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996), The Sounds of the World's Languages, Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 0-631-19815-6