In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are:
IPA Description ExampleLanguage Orthography IPA Meaning
bilabial nasal
English
man
[mæn]
man
voiceless bilabial plosive
English
spin
[spɪn]
spin
voiced bilabial plosive
English
bed
[bɛd]
bed
voiceless bilabial fricative
Japanese
富士山 (fujisan)
[ɸuʑisaɴ]
Mount Fuji
voiced bilabial fricative
Ewe
ɛʋɛ
[ɛ̀βɛ̀]
Ewe
bilabial approximant
Spanish
lobo
[loβ̞o]
wolf
bilabial trill
bilabial click
Nǀu
ʘoe
[ʘoe]
meat
Owere Igbo has a six-way contrast among bilabial plosives: [p pʰ ɓ̥ b b̤ ɓ]. Approximately 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants at all; these include Tlingit, Chipewyan, Oneida, and Wichita [1].
See also
List · Table
Pulmonics
Bilabial
Labiod.
Dental
Alv.
Post.
Retrofl.
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
Pharyn.
Epiglott.
Glottal
Nasals m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ
Plosives p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
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
Approxim. ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ
Trills ʙ r • ʀ •
Flaps / taps ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ • •
Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ • • •
Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ
Non-pulmonics and other symbols
Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ
Impl. ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Eject. pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ
Affr. p̪͡f t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ t͡ɬ d͡ɮ
Other laterals ɺ • ɫ
Co-art. fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ
Co-art. approxim. ʍ w ɥ
Co-articulated stops k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
This table 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 to be impossible.
Nasals m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ
Plosives p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
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
Approxim. ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ
Trills ʙ r • ʀ •
Flaps / taps ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ • •
Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ • • •
Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ
Non-pulmonics and other symbols
Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ
Impl. ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Eject. pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ
Affr. p̪͡f t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ t͡ɬ d͡ɮ
Other laterals ɺ • ɫ
Co-art. fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ
Co-art. approxim. ʍ w ɥ
Co-articulated stops k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
This table 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 to be impossible.
See also IPA · Vowels
References
- ^ Maddieson, Ian. 2008. Absence of Common Consonants. In: Haspelmath, Martin & Dryer, Matthew S. & Gil, David & Comrie, Bernard (eds.) The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Munich: Max Planck Digital Library, chapter 18. Available online at http://wals.info/feature/18. Accessed on 2008-09-15.
- Ladefoged, Peter; Ian Maddieson (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.