Velar consonant

Velar consonant

A velar consonant is a type of consonant produced by the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the velum, which is the soft part of the roof of the mouth, located towards the back. This contrasts with other types of consonants, such as palatal consonants, which are produced with the middle part of the tongue against the hard palate, and alveolar consonants, which are produced with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.

Types of velar consonants

There are several types of velar consonants, including:

• Velar stop: This is a type of plosive consonant, which is produced by completely blocking the airflow in the vocal tract and then releasing it. Examples of velar stops in English include the sounds /k/ and /g/ as in "kick" and "go".

• Velar nasal: This is a type of nasal consonant, which is produced by lowering the velum and allowing air to escape through the nose. The English sound /ŋ/ as in "sing" is a velar nasal.

• Velar approximant: This is a type of approximant consonant, which is produced by narrowing the vocal tract, but not enough to cause turbulent airflow. The English sound /w/ as in "we" is a velar approximant.

• Velar fricative: This is a type of fricative consonant, which is produced by narrowing the vocal tract enough to cause turbulent airflow. The English sound /x/ as in "loch" is a velar fricative.

In different languages

The use of velar consonants varies widely among different languages. For example, in English, the velar consonants /k/, /g/, and /ŋ/ are common, while the velar fricative /x/ is rare. In contrast, in Scottish Gaelic, the velar fricative /x/ is common.

In some languages, such as Korean and Arabic, there are also tensified velar consonants, which are produced with a greater degree of closure in the vocal tract.

See also

• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
• Phonetics
• Phonology