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IPA – number	150
IPA – text	ʋ
IPA – image
Entity	ʋ
X-SAMPA	P
Kirshenbaum	r
Sound sample (help·info)

The labiodental approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʋ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is P or v\.

Contents 1 Features 2 In English 3 In other languages 3.1 Dutch 3.2 German 3.3 Hawaiian 3.4 Italian 3.5 Finnish 3.6 Indian languages 4 References 5 See also

Features of the labiodental approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
• Its place of articulation is labiodental which means it is articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

English may have the labiodental approximant as a realisation of /r/. Although traditionally regarded as an idiosyncrasy, speech defect, or infantilism, use of labiodental /r/ is increasing in many accents of British English^[1]. The majority of speakers using this realization are from the southeastern part of the country, particularly in London. It is also occasionally heard in some speakers of Boston and New York City English.

As a realisation of /r/, it may not always be labiodental: bilabial and velarised labiodental realisations have been reported ^[1][2]. English speakers may also use it to pronounce place names in languages that do use it, such as Hawai‘ian Wahiawa.

In Northern Dutch, the letter "w" usually represents the labiodental approximant.

In many varieties of German, the letter "w" represents the labiodental approximant. In the northern standard language, however, it represents [v].

Hawaiian has the labiodental approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "w", as in wikiwiki ("very fast").

In Italian, this sound is frequent as variant of [r] in some families or regions, but it's often considered as an error.

The Finnish phoneme /v/ is pronounced as a labiodental approximant by many speakers, perhaps by most. Example: vaivautuva ['ʋɑiʋɑutuʋɑ] ("taking the trouble to do something" or "kneadable").

Most Indian languages such as Hindi and Sanskrit have this phoneme. Also, most speakers of Indian English cannot differentiate between the English phonemes /v/ and /w/ and pronounce both as [ʋ].

1. ^ ^{a b} Foulkes, Paul, and Gerard J. Docherty. (eds.) (1999). Urban Voices. Arnold
2. ^ Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge University Press.

• List of phonetics topics

Consonants (List, table)	See also: IPA, Vowels
Pulmonics Bilabial Lab'den. Dental Alveolar Postalv. Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn. Epiglottal Glottal Non-pulmonics and other symbols Nasals m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ Clicks  ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ Plosives p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Implo­­sives  ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ Fricatives  ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Ejec­­tives  pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ Approximants  β̞ ʋ ð̞ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Other laterals  ɺ ɫ Trills ʙ r • ʀ • Co-articulated approximants ʍ w ɥ Flaps & Taps ѵ̟ ѵ ɾ ɽ • Co-articulated fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ Lat. Fricatives ɬ ɮ • • • Affricates  ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ Lat. Appr'mants l ɭ ʎ ʟ Co-articulated stops  k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
This page contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged impossible.