Bilabial consonant

Consonant articulated with both lips

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a labial consonant articulated with both lips.

## Frequency

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Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingit, Chipewyan, Oneida, and Wichita,[1] though all of these have a labial–velar approximant /w/.

## Varieties

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Some bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are:

IPA  | Description  | Example

|
|

Language  | Orthography  | IPA  | Meaning
m̥ | voiceless bilabial nasal | Hmong | Hmoob | [m̥ɔ̃́] | Hmong
m | voiced bilabial nasal | English | man  | [mæn] | man
p | voiceless bilabial plosive | English | spin  | [spɪn] | spin
b | voiced bilabial plosive | English | bed  | [bɛd] | bed
p͜ɸ | voiceless bilabial affricate | Kaingang[2] | fy | [ˈp͜ɸɤ] | 'seed'
b͜β | voiced bilabial affricate | Shipibo[3] | boko | [ˈb͜βo̽ko̽] | 'small intestine'
ɸ | voiceless bilabial fricative | Japanese | 富士山 (fujisan)  | [ɸɯʑisaɴ] | Mount Fuji
β | voiced bilabial fricative | Ewe | ɛʋɛ | [ɛ̀βɛ̀] | Ewe
β̞ | bilabial approximant | Spanish | lobo | [loβ̞o] | wolf
ⱱ̟ | voiced bilabial flap | Mono[4] | vwa | [ⱱ̟a] | 'send'
ʙ̥ | voiceless bilabial trill | Pará Arára[5] | [ʙ̥uta] | 'to throw away'
ʙ | voiced bilabial trill | Nias | simbi | [siʙi] | lower jaw
pʼ | bilabial ejective stop | Adyghe | пӀэ | [pʼa] | meat
ɸʼ | bilabial ejective fricative | Yuchi[6] | ḟasę | [ɸ’asẽ] | 'good evening!'
ɓ̥ | voiceless bilabial implosive | Serer | [example needed] |  |
ɓ | voiced bilabial implosive | Jamaican Patois | beat | [ɓiːt] | beat
k͡ʘ q͡ʘ
ɡ͡ʘ ɢ͡ʘ
ŋ͡ʘ ɴ͡ʘ | bilabial clicks (many distinct consonants)  | Nǁng | ʘoe | [k͡ʘoe] | meat

Owere Igbo has a six-way contrast among bilabial stops: [p pʰ ɓ̥ b b̤ ɓ].[citation needed]

## Other varieties

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The extensions to the IPA also define a bilabial percussive ([ʬ] ⓘ) for smacking the lips together. A lip-smack in the non-percussive sense of the lips audibly parting would be [ʬ↓].[7]

The IPA chart shades out bilabial lateral consonants, which is sometimes read as indicating that such sounds are not possible. The fricatives [ɸ] and [β] are often lateral, but since no language makes a distinction for centrality, the allophony is not noticeable.

## See also

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* Place of articulation
* Index of phonetics articles

## References

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### Citations

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1. ^ 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
2. ^ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 680–681.
3. ^ Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001).
4. ^ Olson (2004:233)
5. ^ de Souza, Isaac Costa (2010). "3" (PDF). A Phonological Description of "Pet Talk" in Arara (MA). SIL Brazil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
6. ^ Crawford, James M. (1973). "Yuchi Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 39 (3): 173–179\. doi:10.1086/465261. S2CID 224808560.
7. ^ Heselwood, Barry (2013). Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice. Edinburgh University Press. p. 121\. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640737.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-7486-4073-7. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt9qdrqz. S2CID 60269763.

### Sources

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#### General references

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* Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2009), "Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble", Anais do SETA, 3, Campinas: Editora do IEL-UNICAMP: 675–685
* Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
* McDorman, Richard E. (1999). Labial Instability in Sound Change: Explanations for the Loss of /p/. Chicago: Organizational Knowledge Press. ISBN 0-9672537-0-5.
* Olson, Kenneth S. (2004). "Mono" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (2): 233–238\. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001744.
* Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Márquez Pinedo, Luis; Maddieson, Ian (2001). "Shipibo". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 31 (2): 281–285\. doi:10.1017/S0025100301002109.

* v
* t
* e

Articulation

Articulatory phonetics – Co-articulation – International Phonetic Alphabet

Place|

| Labial|

* Bilabial
* Labiodental

|

Coronal|

* Linguolabial
* Interdental
* Dental
* Denti-alveolar
* Alveolar
* Postalveolar
* Retroflex

Active place|

* Apical
* Laminal
* Subapical

Dorsal|

* Alveolo-palatal
* Palatal
* Velar
* Uvular

Laryngeal|

* Pharyngeal/epiglottal
* Glottal

Double articulation|

* Labial–coronal
* Labial–alveolar
* Labial–retroflex
* Labial–palatal
* Labial–velar
* Labial–uvular
* Coronal–velar
* Uvular–epiglottal

Pathological|

* Velopharyngeal

Other|

* Bidental

Manner|

| Obstruent|

* Plosive
* Affricate
* Fricative
* Sibilant

|

Sonorant|

* Nasal
* Vowel
* Approximant
* Semivowel
* Vibrant
* Tap/flap
* Trill

* Liquid
* Rhotic
* Lateral
* Occlusive
* Continuant

Airstream|

* Egressive
* Ingressive
* Ejective
* Implosive
* Click
* Pulmonic
* Ejective
* Percussive

Secondary
articulation|

* Labialization
* Rounding
* Palatalization
* Labio-palatalization
* Velarization
* Uvularization
* Pharyngealization
* Glottalization
* Nasalization

Tongue shape|

* Sulcal
* Domed

Voice|

* Voiceless
* Aspirated
* Tenuis
* Voice onset time

Phonation|

* Modal
* Breathy
* Slack
* Creaky
* Stiff

* v
* t
* e

International Phonetic Alphabet (chart)

IPA topics

| IPA|

* International Phonetic Association
* History of the alphabet
* Extensions for disordered speech (extIPA)
* Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS)
* Journal of the IPA (JIPA)

|

Special topics|

* Cursive forms
* Case variants
* Obsolete and nonstandard symbols
* Naming conventions
* Sinological extensions
* World Orthography
* IPA chart for English dialects

Encodings|

* ASCII encodings
* SAMPA
* X-SAMPA
* Kirshenbaum
* TIPA
* Phonetic symbols in Unicode
* IPA number
* IPA Braille

Consonants

Pulmonic consonants |  | Place →  | Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Laryngeal

|
|
|
|

Manner ↓  | Bi­labial | Labio­dental | Linguo­labial | Dental | Alveolar | Post­alveolar | Retro­flex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal | Glottal
Nasal | m̥ | m | ɱ̊ | ɱ |  | n̼ | n̪̊ | n̪ | n̥ | n | n̠̊ | n̠ | ɳ̊ | ɳ | ɲ̊ | ɲ | ŋ̊ | ŋ | ɴ̥ | ɴ |  |  |  |
Plosive | p | b | p̪ | b̪ | t̼ | d̼ | t̪ | d̪ | t | d |  |  | ʈ | ɖ | c | ɟ | k | ɡ | q | ɢ | ʡ |  | ʔ |
Sibilant affricate |  |  |  |  |  |  | t̪s̪ | d̪z̪ | ts | dz | t̠ʃ | d̠ʒ | tʂ | dʐ | tɕ | dʑ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Non-sibilant affricate  | pɸ | bβ | p̪f | b̪v |  |  | t̪θ | d̪ð | tɹ̝̊ | dɹ̝ | t̠ɹ̠̊˔ | d̠ɹ̠˔ |  |  | cç | ɟʝ | kx | ɡɣ | qχ | ɢʁ | ʡʜ | ʡʢ | ʔh |
Sibilant fricative |  |  |  |  |  |  | s̪ | z̪ | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | ʂ | ʐ | ɕ | ʑ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Non-sibilant fricative  | ɸ | β | f | v | θ̼ | ð̼ | θ | ð | θ̠ | ð̠ | ɹ̠̊˔ | ɹ̠˔ | ɻ̊˔ | ɻ˔ | ç | ʝ | x | ɣ | χ | ʁ | ħ | ʕ | h | ɦ
Approximant |  | β̞ |  | ʋ |  |  |  | ð̞ |  | ɹ |  | ɹ̠ |  | ɻ |  | j |  | ɰ |  | ʁ̞ |  |  |  | ʔ̞
Tap/flap |  | ⱱ̟ |  | ⱱ |  | ɾ̼ |  |  | ɾ̥ | ɾ |  |  | ɽ̊ | ɽ |  |  |  |  |  | ɢ̆ |  | ʡ̆ |  |
Trill | ʙ̥ | ʙ |  |  |  |  |  |  | r̥ | r |  | r̠ | ɽ̊r̥ | ɽr |  |  |  |  | ʀ̥ | ʀ | ʜ | ʢ |  |
Lateral affricate  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tɬ | dɮ |  |  | tꞎ | d𝼅 | c𝼆 | ɟʎ̝ | k𝼄 | ɡʟ̝ |  |  |  |  |  |
Lateral fricative  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ɬ̪ |  | ɬ | ɮ |  |  | ꞎ | 𝼅 | 𝼆 | ʎ̝ | 𝼄 | ʟ̝ |  |  |  |  |  |
Lateral approximant  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | l̪ | l̥ | l |  | l̠ | ɭ̊ | ɭ | ʎ̥ | ʎ | ʟ̥ | ʟ |  | ʟ̠ |  |  |  |
Lateral tap/flap  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ɺ̥ | ɺ |  |  | 𝼈̊ | 𝼈 |  | ʎ̆ |  | ʟ̆ |  |  |  |  |  |

* IPA help
* audio
* full chart
* template

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Non-pulmonic consonants |  | BL | LD | D | A | PA | RF | P | V | U | EG

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Ejective | Stop | pʼ |  |  | tʼ |  | ʈʼ | cʼ | kʼ | qʼ | ʡʼ
Affricate |  | p̪fʼ | t̪θʼ | tsʼ | t̠ʃʼ | tʂʼ | tɕʼ | kxʼ | qχʼ |
Fricative | ɸʼ | fʼ | θʼ | sʼ | ʃʼ | ʂʼ | ɕʼ | xʼ | χʼ |
Lateral affricate  |  |  |  | tɬʼ |  |  | c𝼆ʼ | k𝼄ʼ | q𝼄ʼ |
Lateral fricative  |  |  |  | ɬʼ |  |  |  |  |  |
Click
(top: velar;
bottom: uvular)  | Tenuis | kʘ
qʘ |  | kǀ
qǀ | kǃ
qǃ |  | k𝼊
q𝼊 | kǂ
qǂ |  |  |
Voiced | ɡʘ
ɢʘ |  | ɡǀ
ɢǀ | ɡǃ
ɢǃ |  | ɡ𝼊
ɢ𝼊 | ɡǂ
ɢǂ |  |  |
Nasal | ŋʘ
ɴʘ |  | ŋǀ
ɴǀ | ŋǃ
ɴǃ |  | ŋ𝼊
ɴ𝼊 | ŋǂ
ɴǂ | ʞ
|  |
Tenuis lateral |  |  |  | kǁ
qǁ |  |  |  |  |  |
Voiced lateral  |  |  |  | ɡǁ
ɢǁ |  |  |  |  |  |
Nasal lateral  |  |  |  | ŋǁ
ɴǁ |  |  |  |  |  |
Implosive | Voiced  | ɓ |  |  | ɗ |  | ᶑ | ʄ | ɠ | ʛ |
Voiceless | ɓ̥ |  |  | ɗ̥ |  | ᶑ̊ | ʄ̊ | ɠ̊ | ʛ̥ |

* IPA help
* audio
* full chart
* template

Co-articulated consonants

Nasal

n͡m

Labial–alveolar

ɳ͡m

Labial–retroflex

ŋ͡m

Labial–velar

Plosive

t͡p

d͡b

Labial–alveolar

ʈ͡p

ɖ͡b

Labial–retroflex

k͡p

ɡ͡b

Labial–velar

q͡ʡ

Uvular–epiglottal

q͡p

Labial–uvular

Fricative/approximant

Labialized palatal

Labialized velar

Sj-sound (variable)

Lateral approximant

Velarized alveolar

Implosive

ɠ̊͜ɓ̥

ɠ͡ɓ

Labial–velar

Ejective

t͡pʼ

Labial–alveolar

* IPA help
* full chart
* template

Other|

* Nasal labial–velar approximant [w̃]
* Nasal palatal approximant [j̃]
* Voiceless bidental fricative [h̪͆]
* Voiceless bilabially post-trilled dental stop [t̪ʙ̥]
* Voiceless nasal glottal approximant [h̃]
* Voiceless upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟]
* Voiced upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟̬]
* Bilabial percussive [ʬ]
* Bidental percussive [ʭ]
* Sublaminal lower-alveolar percussive [¡]

Vowels

|  |  | Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

Close |

Near-close |

|  |

Close-mid |

Mid |

Open-mid |

Near-open |

Open |

* IPA help
* audio
* full chart
* template

Legend: unrounded • rounded
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[BL]: Bilabial
*[LD]: Labiodental
*[D]: Dental
*[A]: Alveolar
*[PA]: Postalveolar
*[RF]: Retroflex
*[P]: Palatal
*[V]: Velar
*[U]: Uvular
*[EG]: Epiglottal