A labio-palatalized sound is one that is simultaneously labialized and palatalized. Typically the roundedness is compressed, like , rather than protruded like . The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for this secondary articulation is , a superscript , the symbol for the labialized palatal approximant. If such sounds pattern with other, labialized, consonants, they may instead be transcribed as palatalized consonants plus labialization, , as with the = of Abkhaz or the = of Akan and Siberian Ingrian Finnish.
A voiced labialized palatal approximant occurs in Mandarin Chinese and French, but elsewhere is uncommon, as it is generally dependent upon the presence of front rounded vowels such as and , which are themselves not common. However, a labialized palatal approximant and labio-palatalized consonants appear in some languages without front rounded vowels in the Caucasus and in West Africa, such as Abkhaz, and as allophones of labialized consonants before , including the at the beginning of the language name Twi. In Russian, and trigger labialization of any preceding consonant, including palatalized consonants, so that нёс 'he carried' is phonetically .
Languages with labio-palatalization
Abkhaz Akan (Allophonic, result of labialized consonants being palatalized before front vowels) Mfumte Ndau Siberian Ingrian Finnish
Labial–palatal consonants
Truly co-articulated labial–palatal consonants such as are theoretically possible. They might even be expected as allophones of labial–velar consonants before front vowels. However, the closest sounds attested from the world's languages are the labial–postalveolar consonants of Yélî Dnye in New Guinea, which are sometimes transcribed as labial–palatals.
List of labio-palatalized consonants
+ type Phone IPA Languages Stops labio-palzd voiceless bilabial stop Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd voiced bilabial stop Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd voiceless alveolar stop Ndau, Siberian Ingrian Finnish (may also be geminate) labio-palzd voiced alveolar stop Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd voiceless velar stop Siberian Ingrian Finnish (may also be geminate), Kukuya labio-palzd voiced velar stop Siberian Ingrian Finnish Affricates labio-palzd voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate Akan (allophone of before front vowels), Kukuya labio-palzd voiced alveolo-palatal affricate Akan (allophone of before front vowels), Kukuya (prenasalized)Fricativeslabio-palzd voiceless bilabial fricativeBahuana labio-palzd voiceless labiodental fricative labio-palzd voiced labiodental fricative Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd voiceless alveolar sibilant Siberian Ingrian Finnish (may also be geminate) labio-palzd voiced alveolar sibilant labio-palzd voiceless palato-alveolar fricative Abkhaz labio-palzd voiced palato-alveolar fricative Abkhazlabio-palzd voiceless alveolo-palatal fricativeAkan (allophone of before front vowels), Kukuyalabio-palzd voiced alveolo-palatal fricativeKukuya labio-palzd voiceless velar fricative Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd voiced velar fricative Mfumte (prenasalized ) labio-palzd voiceless glottal fricative Mfumte (may also be prenasalized) Nasals labio-palzd bilabial nasal Siberian Ingrian Finnish labio-palzd alveolar nasal Siberian Ingrian Finnishlabio-palzd palatal nasal Akan (allophone of before front vowels; may also be geminate)Trillslabio-palzd alveolar trillNdauApproximants labio-palzd alveolar lateral approximant Siberian Ingrian Finnish (may also be geminate) labio-palzd alveolar approximant Siberian Ingrian Finnish
See also Labio-palatal approximant
References