The voiced bilabial plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨b⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial stop occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the letter ⟨b⟩ in obey [oʊˈbeɪ].
| Voiced bilabial plosive | |
|---|---|
| b | |
| IPA number | 102 |
| Audio sample | |
| source · help | |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | b |
| Unicode (hex) | U+0062 |
| X-SAMPA | b |
| Braille |  |
Features
Features of the voiced bilabial 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, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
- Its place of articulation is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Varieties
| IPA | Description |
|---|---|
| b | plain b |
| bʷ | labialised |
| b̜ʷ | semi-labialised |
| b̹ʷ | strongly labialised |
| bʲ | palatalised |
| bʱ | breathy voiced |
| bˠ | velarised |
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adyghe | бгъу / bġ° | 'nine' | |||
| Albanian | bletë | ['bletə] | 'bee' | ||
| Arabic | Standard | باب / baab / bāb | [baːb] | 'door' | See Arabic phonology |
| Assyrian | ܒܒܐ baba | [baːba] | 'father' | ||
| Armenian | Eastern | բարի/bari | 'kind' | ||
| Basque | bero | [beɾo] | 'hot' | ||
| Bengali | বলো / balo | [bɔlo] | 'say!' | Contrasts with aspirated form. See Bengali phonology | |
| Catalan | bell | [ˈbeʎ] | 'beautiful' | See Catalan phonology | |
| Chechen | борз / borz | [borz] | 'wolf' | ||
| Czech | bota | [ˈbota] | 'boot' | See Czech phonology | |
| Danish | Standard | løber | [ˈløːbɐ] | 'runner' | Only partially voiced; possible allophone of /b/ in the intervocalic position. More often voiceless [p]. See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | boer | [buːr] | 'farmer' | See Dutch phonology | |
| English | aback | 'aback' | See English phonology | ||
| Esperanto | batalo | [baˈtalo] | 'war' | See Esperanto phonology | |
| Filipino | buto | [buto] | 'bone' | ||
| French | boue | [bu] | 'mud' | See French phonology | |
| Georgian | ბავშვი / bavšvi | [ˈbavʃvi] | 'child' | ||
| German | aber | 'but' | See Standard German phonology | ||
| Greek | μπόχα / bócha | [ˈbo̞xa] | 'reek' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Gujarati | બક્રી / bakri | [bəkri] | 'goat' | See Gujarati phonology | |
| Hebrew | בית / báyit | [bajit] | 'house' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |
| Hindustani | Hindi | बाल / bāl | [bäːl] | 'hair' | Contrasts with aspirated version /bʱ/. See Hindi-Urdu phonology |
| Urdu | بال / bāl | ||||
| Hungarian | baba | [ˈbɒbɒ] | 'baby' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Italian | bile | [ˈbile] | 'rage' | See Italian phonology | |
| Japanese | 番 / ban | [baɴ] | '(one's) turn' | See Japanese phonology | |
| Kabardian | бгъуы/bg"uy | 'nine' | |||
| Korean | 지붕 / jibung | [t͡ɕibuŋ] | 'roof' | See Korean phonology | |
| Kurdish | Northern | bav | [bɑːv] | 'father' | See Kurdish phonology |
| Central | باوک/bâwk | [bɑːwk] | |||
| Southern | باوگ/bâwig | [bɑːwɨg] | |||
| Luxembourgish | geblosen | [ɡ̊əˈbloːzən] | 'blown' | More often voiceless [p]. See Luxembourgish phonology | |
| Macedonian | убав/ubav | [ˈubav] | 'beautiful' | See Macedonian phonology | |
| Malay | baru | [bäru] | 'new' | ||
| Maltese | għatba | [aːtˈba] | 'threshold' | ||
| Marathi | बटाटा / baṭāṭā | [bəˈʈaːʈaː] | 'potato' | See Marathi phonology | |
| Nepali | बाटो / bāṭo | [bäʈo] | 'path' | See Nepali phonology | |
| Norwegian | bål | [ˈbɔːl] | 'bonfire' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Odia | ବାର/barô | [bärɔ] | 'twelve' | Contrasts with aspirated form. | |
| Persian | خوب/ xub | [xub] | 'good' | See Persian phonology | |
| Pirahã | pibaóí | [ˈpìbàóí̯] | 'parent' | ||
| Polish | bas | 'bass' | See Polish phonology | ||
| Portuguese | bato | [ˈbatu] | 'I strike' | See Portuguese phonology | |
| Punjabi | ਬਿੱਲੀ/billī | [bɪlːi] | 'cat' | ||
| Romanian | bou | [bow] | 'bull' | See Romanian phonology. | |
| Russian | рыба / ryba | [ˈrɨbə] | 'fish' | Contrasts with palatalized form. See Russian phonology | |
| Serbo-Croatian | биће / biće | [bǐːt͡ɕě] | 'being' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
| Slovak | byť | [bi̞c] | 'to be' | ||
| Slovene | biti | [ˈbìːt̪í] | 'to be' | ||
| Southern Min | 閩 / ban | [ban] | 'Fujian province' | Only in colloquial speech. | |
| Spanish | invertir | [ĩmbe̞ɾˈt̪iɾ] | 'to invest' | See Spanish phonology | |
| Swedish | bra | [ˈbɾɑː] | 'good' | May be an approximant in casual speech. See Swedish phonology | |
| Telugu | బడి | [badi] | 'school' | Contrasts with aspirated form. Aspirated form is articulated as breathy consonant. | |
| Thai | บำบัด / bam-bàt | [bam.bat̚] | 'therapy' | See Thai phonology | |
| Turkish | bulut | [ˈbuɫut̪] | 'cloud' | See Turkish phonology | |
| Tyap | bai | [bai] | 'to come' | ||
| Ukrainian | брат / brat | [brɑt̪] | 'brother' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Welsh | mab | [mɑːb] | 'son' | See Welsh phonology | |
| West Frisian | bak | [bak] | 'tray' | ||
| Wu | 皮 / bi | [bi] | 'skin' | ||
| Xiang | 浮 / baw | [bau] | 'to float' | ||
| Yi | ꁧ / bbo | [bo˧] | 'mountain' | ||
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | bald | [bald] | 'few' | |
See also
- Betacism
- List of phonetics topics
Notes
- Thelwall (1990:37)
- Dum-Tragut (2009:13)
- Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
- Goblirsch (2018), pp. 134–5, citing Fischer-Jørgensen (1952) and Abrahams (1949, pp. 116–21, 228–30).
- Puggaard-Rode, Horslund & Jørgensen (2022).
- Gussenhoven (1992:45)
- Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
- Shosted & Chikovani (2006:255)
- Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
- Okada (1999:117)
- Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 67–68.
- Jassem (2003:103)
- Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
- DEX Online : [1]
- Padgett (2003:42)
- Landau et al. (1999), p. 66.
- Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
- Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
- Merrill (2008:108)
References
- Abrahams, Henrik (1949), Études phonétiques sur les tendances évolutives des occlusives germaniques, Aarhus University Press
- 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 9783929075083
- Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
- Fischer-Jørgensen, Eli (1952), "Om stemtheds assimilation", in Bach, H.; et al. (eds.), Festskrift til L. L. Hammerich, Copenhagen: G. E. C. Gad, pp. 116–129
- Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA: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
- Goblirsch, Kurt (2018), Gemination, Lenition, and Vowel Lengthening: On the History of Quantity in Germanic, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-107-03450-1
- 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
- Landau, Ernestina; Lončarić, 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
- 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" (PDF), 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
- 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
- Puggaard-Rode, Rasmus; Horslund, Camilla Søballe; Jørgensen, Henrik (2022), "The rarity of intervocalic voicing of stops in Danish spontaneous speech", Laboratory Phonology, 13 (1), doi:10.16995/labphon.6449, hdl:1887/3304670
- 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), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 20 (2): 37–41, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004266, S2CID 243640727
External links
- List of languages with [b] on PHOIBLE
The voiced bilabial plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is b and the equivalent X SAMPA symbol is b The voiced bilabial stop occurs in English and it is the sound denoted by the letter b in obey oʊˈbeɪ Voiced bilabial plosivebIPA number102Audio sample source source source helpEncodingEntity decimal amp 98 Unicode hex U 0062X SAMPAbBrailleFeaturesFeatures of the voiced bilabial 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 the airflow is blocked entirely and the consonant is a plosive Its place of articulation is bilabial which means it is articulated with both lips Its phonation is voiced which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation It is an oral consonant which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue the central lateral dichotomy does not apply Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles as in most sounds VarietiesIPA Descriptionb plain bbʷ labialisedb ʷ semi labialisedb ʷ strongly labialisedbʲ palatalisedbʱ breathy voicedbˠ velarisedOccurrenceOccurrence of b in several languages Language Word IPA Meaning NotesAdyghe bgu bġ nine Albanian blete blete bee Arabic Standard باب baab bab baːb door See Arabic phonologyAssyrian ܒܒܐ baba baːba father Armenian Eastern բարի bari kind Basque bero beɾo hot Bengali বল balo bɔlo say Contrasts with aspirated form See Bengali phonologyCatalan bell ˈbeʎ beautiful See Catalan phonologyChechen borz borz borz wolf Czech bota ˈbota boot See Czech phonologyDanish Standard lober ˈloːbɐ runner Only partially voiced possible allophone of b in the intervocalic position More often voiceless p See Danish phonologyDutch boer buːr farmer See Dutch phonologyEnglish aback aback See English phonologyEsperanto batalo baˈtalo war See Esperanto phonologyFilipino buto buto bone French boue bu mud See French phonologyGeorgian ბავშვი bavsvi ˈbavʃvi child German aber but See Standard German phonologyGreek mpoxa bocha ˈbo xa reek See Modern Greek phonologyGujarati બક ર bakri bekri goat See Gujarati phonologyHebrew בית bayit bajit house See Modern Hebrew phonologyHindustani Hindi ब ल bal baːl hair Contrasts with aspirated version bʱ See Hindi Urdu phonologyUrdu بال balHungarian baba ˈbɒbɒ baby See Hungarian phonologyItalian bile ˈbile rage See Italian phonologyJapanese 番 ban baɴ one s turn See Japanese phonologyKabardian bguy bg uy nine Korean 지붕 jibung t ɕibuŋ roof See Korean phonologyKurdish Northern bav bɑːv father See Kurdish phonologyCentral باوک bawk bɑːwk Southern باوگ bawig bɑːwɨg Luxembourgish geblosen ɡ eˈbloːzen blown More often voiceless p See Luxembourgish phonologyMacedonian ubav ubav ˈubav beautiful See Macedonian phonologyMalay baru baru new Maltese għatba aːtˈba threshold Marathi बट ट baṭaṭa beˈʈaːʈaː potato See Marathi phonologyNepali ब ट baṭo baʈo path See Nepali phonologyNorwegian bal ˈbɔːl bonfire See Norwegian phonologyOdia ବ ର baro barɔ twelve Contrasts with aspirated form Persian خوب xub xub good See Persian phonologyPiraha pibaoi ˈpibaoi parent Polish bas bass See Polish phonologyPortuguese bato ˈbatu I strike See Portuguese phonologyPunjabi ਬ ਲ billi bɪlːi cat Romanian bou bow bull See Romanian phonology Russian ryba ryba ˈrɨbe fish Contrasts with palatalized form See Russian phonologySerbo Croatian biћe bice bǐːt ɕe being See Serbo Croatian phonologySlovak byt bi c to be Slovene biti ˈbiːt i to be Southern Min 閩 ban ban Fujian province Only in colloquial speech Spanish invertir ĩmbe ɾˈt iɾ to invest See Spanish phonologySwedish bra ˈbɾɑː good May be an approximant in casual speech See Swedish phonologyTelugu బడ badi school Contrasts with aspirated form Aspirated form is articulated as breathy consonant Thai babd bam bat bam bat therapy See Thai phonologyTurkish bulut ˈbuɫut cloud See Turkish phonologyTyap bai bai to come Ukrainian brat brat brɑt brother See Ukrainian phonologyWelsh mab mɑːb son See Welsh phonologyWest Frisian bak bak tray Wu 皮 bi bi skin Xiang 浮 baw bau to float Yi ꁧ bbo bo mountain Zapotec Tilquiapan bald bald few See alsoBetacism List of phonetics topicsNotesThelwall 1990 37 Dum Tragut 2009 13 Carbonell amp Llisterri 1992 53 Goblirsch 2018 pp 134 5 citing Fischer Jorgensen 1952 and Abrahams 1949 pp 116 21 228 30 Puggaard Rode Horslund amp Jorgensen 2022 Gussenhoven 1992 45 Fougeron amp Smith 1993 73 Shosted amp Chikovani 2006 255 Rogers amp d Arcangeli 2004 117 Okada 1999 117 Gilles amp Trouvain 2013 pp 67 68 Jassem 2003 103 Cruz Ferreira 1995 91 DEX Online 1 Padgett 2003 42 Landau et al 1999 p 66 Martinez Celdran Fernandez Planas amp Carrera Sabate 2003 255 Danyenko amp Vakulenko 1995 p 4 Merrill 2008 108 ReferencesAbrahams Henrik 1949 Etudes phonetiques sur les tendances evolutives des occlusives germaniques Aarhus University Press 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 9783929075083 Dum Tragut Jasmine 2009 Armenian Modern Eastern Armenian Amsterdam John Benjamins Publishing Company Fischer Jorgensen Eli 1952 Om stemtheds assimilation in Bach H et al eds Festskrift til L L Hammerich Copenhagen G E C Gad pp 116 129 Fougeron Cecile Smith Caroline L 1993 Illustrations of the IPA French Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 2 73 76 doi 10 1017 S0025100300004874 S2CID 249404451 Gilles Peter Trouvain Jurgen 2013 Luxembourgish Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43 1 67 74 doi 10 1017 S0025100312000278 Goblirsch Kurt 2018 Gemination Lenition and Vowel Lengthening On the History of Quantity in Germanic Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 107 03450 1 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 Landau Ernestina Loncaric Mijo Horga Damir Skaric 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 Martinez Celdran Eugenio Fernandez Planas Ana Ma Carrera Sabate Josefina 2003 Castilian Spanish Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 2 255 259 doi 10 1017 S0025100303001373 Merrill Elizabeth 2008 Tilquiapan Zapotec PDF 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 Padgett Jaye 2003 Contrast and Post Velar Fronting in Russian Natural Language amp Linguistic Theory 21 1 39 87 doi 10 1023 A 1021879906505 S2CID 13470826 Puggaard Rode Rasmus Horslund Camilla Soballe Jorgensen Henrik 2022 The rarity of intervocalic voicing of stops in Danish spontaneous speech Laboratory Phonology 13 1 doi 10 16995 labphon 6449 hdl 1887 3304670 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 Illustrations of the IPA Arabic Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 2 37 41 doi 10 1017 S0025100300004266 S2CID 243640727External linksList of languages with b on PHOIBLE
