A voiced bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound which has been observed to occur in about 96% of spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨m⟩. The bilabial nasal occurs in English, and it is the sound represented by "m" in map and rum. Very few languages (e.g. Wyandot) are known to lack this sound. A small number of languages have been observed to lack independent nasal phonemes altogether, such as Quileute, Makah, and Central Rotokas.
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👉 Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Oral consonant
An oral consonant is a consonant sound in speech that is made by allowing air to escape from the mouth, as opposed to the nose, as in a nasal consonant. To create an intended oral consonant sound, the entire mouth plays a role in modifying the air's passageway. This rapid modification of the air passageway using the tongue and lips makes changes to the waveform of the sound by compressing and expanding the air. In addition to the nose and mouth, the vocal cords and lungs also make a contribution to producing speech by controlling the volume (amplitude) and pitch (frequency) of the sound. The use of the vocal cords will also determine whether the consonant is voiced or voiceless. Most consonants are oral, such as, for example [p], [w], [v] and [x]. The others are nasal, such as the nasal occlusives [m] or [n].
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Voiced bilabial nasal
- 👉 Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Oral consonant
- Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Stop consonant
- Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Assimilation (phonology)
- Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Homorganic consonants
- Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Mu (letter)
- Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Mem
Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade ([t], [d]), tongue body ([k], [ɡ]), lips ([p], [b]), or glottis ([ʔ]). Plosives contrast with nasals, where the vocal tract is blocked but airflow continues through the nose, as in /m/ and /n/, and with fricatives, where partial occlusion impedes but does not block airflow in the vocal tract.
Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Assimilation (phonology)
In phonology, assimilation is a sound change in which some phonemes (typically consonants or vowels) change to become more similar to other nearby sounds. This process is common across languages and can happen within a word or between words. For example, in English "handbag" (/ˈhændbæɡ/), the [n] often shifts to [m] in rapid speech, becoming /ˈhæmbæɡ/, because [m] and [b] are both bilabial (produced with both lips), and their places of articulation are similar.
It occurs in normal speech but is more frequent in faster speech. Sometimes the change is accepted as canonical, and can even become recognized in standard spelling: implosion pronounced with [m], composed of in- + -plosion (as in explosion).
Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Homorganic consonants
In phonetics, a homorganic consonant (from Latin homo- 'same' and organ '[speech] organ') is a consonant sound that is articulated in the same place of articulation as another. For example, [p], [b] and [m] are homorganic consonants of one another since they share the bilabial place of articulation. Consonants that are not articulated in the same place are called heterorganic.
Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Mu (letter)
Mu (/ˈm(j)uː/ ; uppercase Μ, lowercase μ; Ancient Greek μῦ [mŷː], Greek: μι or μυ—both [mi]) is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced bilabial nasal IPA: [m]. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 40. Mu was derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water, which had been simplified by the Phoenicians and named after their word for water, to become 𐤌 (mem). Letters that derive from mu include the Roman M and the Cyrillic М, though the lowercase resembles a small Latin U (u).
Voiced bilabial nasal in the context of Mem
Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Hebrew mēm מ, Aramaic mem 𐡌, Syriac mīm ܡ, Arabic mīm م, and Phoenician mēm 𐤌. Its sound value is [m]. It is also related to the Ancient North Arabian 𐪃, South Arabian 𐩣, and Ge'ez መ. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek mu (Μ), Etruscan 
, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.