# Voiced labial–velar approximant

The voiced labial–velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. It is the sound denoted by the letter ⟨w⟩ in the English alphabet; likewise, the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w⟩, or rarely [ɰʷ], and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w. In most languages it is the semivocalic counterpart of the close back rounded vowel [u]. In inventory charts of languages with other labialized velar consonants, /w/ will be placed in the same column as those consonants. When consonant charts have only labial and velar columns, /w/ may be placed in the velar column, (bi)labial column, or both. The placement may have more to do with phonological criteria than phonetic ones.
Some languages have a voiced labial–prevelar approximant, which is more fronted than the place of articulation of the prototypical voiced labialized velar approximant, though not as front as the prototypical labialized palatal approximant.

## Features

Features of the voiced labial–velar approximant:
* Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream. The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of /w/ from the /u/ vowel position to a following vowel position. The term semivowel emphasizes that, although the sound is vocalic in nature, it is not 'syllabic' (it does not form the nucleus of a syllable).
* Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips. Some languages, such as Japanese and perhaps the Northern Iroquoian languages, have a sound typically transcribed as [w] where the lips are compressed (or at least not rounded), which is a true labial–velar (as opposed to labialized velar) consonant. Close transcriptions may avoid the symbol [w] in such cases, or may use the under-rounding diacritic, [w̜].
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Abkhaz | Abkhaz | ауаҩы/awawë | [awaˈɥə] | 'human' | See Abkhaz phonology |
| Alemannic | Bernese German | Giel | [ɡ̊iə̯w] | 'boy' | Allophone of [l] |
| Arabic | Modern Standard | وَرْد/ward | [ward] | 'rose' | See Arabic phonology |
| Assamese | Assamese | ৱাশ্বিংটন/Wašińton | [wasiŋtɔn] | 'Washington' | |
| Basque | Basque | lau | [law] | 'four' | |
| Belarusian | Belarusian | воўк/voŭk | [vɔwk] | 'wolf' | See Belarusian phonology |
| Bengali | Bengali | ওয়াদা/wada | [wada] | 'promise' | Fortitional allophone of the semivowels [o̯] and [u̯], especially in loan words. See Bengali phonology |
| Berber | Berber | ⴰⵡⴰⵍ/äwäl | [æwæl] | 'speech' | |
| Breton | Breton | nav | [ˈnaw] | 'nine' |
| Bulgarian | Colloquial | лопата/lopata | [wo'patɐ] | 'shovel' | Contemporary pronunciation of /ɫ/, an ongoing sound change. See Bulgarian phonology. |
| Bulgarian | Pernik dialects | лопата/lopata | [wo'patɐ] | 'shovel' | This dialect has a long-standing tradition of pronouncing /ɫ/ as /w/, similar to the Polish language. Independent of the similar sound change happening in the standard language. |
| Bulgarian | Standard Bulgarian | уиски/uiski | ['wisk̟i] | 'whiskey' | Appears in borrowings. See Bulgarian phonology |
| Catalan | Catalan | quart | [ˈkwɑɾt] | 'fourth' | Post-lexically after /k/ and /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology |
| Chinese | Cantonese | 挖/waat | | 'dig' | See Cantonese phonology |
| Chinese | Mandarin | 挖/wā | | 'dig' | See Mandarin phonology |
| Danish | Danish | hav | [hɑw] | 'ocean' | Allophone of [v] |
| Dutch | Colloquial | kouwe | [ˈkʌu̯wə] | 'cold' | Lenited allophone of /d/ after /ʌu̯/. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Standard Surinamese | welp | [wɛɫp] | 'cub' | May also occur in this context in some continental Dutch accents and/or dialects. Corresponds to [ʋ] in most of the Netherlands and to [β̞] in Belgium and (southern) parts of the Netherlands. See Dutch phonology |
| English | English | weep | [wiːp] | 'weep' | See English phonology |
| French | French | oui | [wi] | 'yes' | See French phonology |
| German | German | Quelle | [kweːlə] | 'source' | Some regions |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian | wikiwiki | [wikiwiki] | 'fast' | May also be realized as [v]. See Hawaiian phonology |
| Hebrew | Mizrahi | כּוֹחַ/kowaḥ | [ˈkowaħ] | 'power' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hindustani | Hindi | विश्वास/višwas | [ʋɪʃwaːs] | 'believe' | See Hindustani phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | višwas/وشواس | [ʋɪʃwaːs] | 'believe' | See Hindustani phonology |
| Irish | Irish | vóta | [ˈwoːt̪ˠə] | 'vote' | See Irish phonology |
| Italian | Italian | uomo | [ˈwɔːmo] | 'man' | See Italian phonology |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | уэ/wa | | 'you' | |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | ауа/awa | [awa] | 'air' | |
| Korean | Korean | 왜가리/waegari | [wɛɡɐɾi] | 'heron' | See Korean phonology |
| Lao | Lao | ຫວານ/Van | [wäːn˨˩˦] | 'sweet' | See Lao phonology |
| Luxembourgish | Luxembourgish | zwee | [t͡swe̝ː] | 'two' | Allophone of /v/ after /k, t͡s, ʃ/. See Luxembourgish phonology |
| Malay | Malay | wang | [waŋ] | 'money' | |
| Malayalam | Malayalam | ഉവ്വ/uvva | [uwːɐ] | 'Yes' | /ʋ/ around rounded vowels for some speakers. |
| Mayan | Yucatec | witz | [wit͡s] | 'mountain' | |
| Mongol | Mongol | гавал/ᠭᠠᠪᠠᠯᠠ | [ɢaw̜əɮ] | 'skull' | |
| Nepali | Nepali | हावा/hawa | [ɦäwä] | 'wind' | See Nepali phonology |
| Odia | Odia | ଅଗ୍ରୱାଲ୍/ogrowal | [ɔgɾɔwäl] | 'Agrawal' | |
| Pashto | Pashto | ﻭﺍﺭ/war | [wɑr] | 'one time' | |
| Persian | Dari | وَرزِش/warziš | [warzɪʃ] | 'sport' | may approach /ʋ/ in some regional dialects. |
| Persian | Iranian Persian | نَو/now | [now] | 'new' | Only as a diphthong or colloquially. |
| Polish | Polish | łaska | | 'grace' | See Polish phonology. Corresponds to [ɫ] in older pronunciation and eastern dialects |
| Portuguese | Most dialects | quando | [ˈkwɐ̃du] | 'when' | Post-lexically after /k/ and /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Most dialects | boa | [ˈbow.wɐ] | 'good' (f.) | Epenthetic glide or allophone of /u/, following a stressed rounded vowel and preceding an unrounded one. |
| Portuguese | General Brazilian | qual | [ˈkwaw] | 'which' | Allophone of /l/ in coda position for most Brazilian dialects. |
| Romanian | Romanian | dulău | [d̪uˈl̪əw] | 'mastiff' | See Romanian phonology |
| Russian | Russian | волк/volk | [wou̯k] | 'wolf' | Southern dialects. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Croatian | vuk | [wûːk] | 'wolf' | Allophone of /ʋ/ before /u/. See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Seri | Seri | cmiique | [ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ] | 'person' | Allophone of /m/ |
| Slovene | Slovene | cerkev | [ˈt͡sèːrkəw] | 'church' | Allophone of /ʋ/ in the syllable coda. Voiceless [ʍ] before voiceless consonants. See Slovene phonology |
| Sotho | Sotho | sewa | [ˈsewa] | 'epidemic' | See Sesotho phonology |
| Svan | Svan | კუ̂ენ/k'wen | [kʼwen] | 'marten' | |
| Spanish | Spanish | cuanto | [ˈkwãn̪t̪o̞] | 'as much' | See Spanish phonology |
| Swahili | Swahili | mwanafunzi | [mwɑnɑfunzi] | 'student' | |
| Swedish | Central Standard | | | | Labialized approximant consonant; allophone of /ɡ/ in casual speech before the protruded vowels /ɔ, oː/. See Swedish phonology |
| Tagalog | Tagalog | araw | [ˈɐɾaw] | 'day' | See Tagalog phonology |
| Thai | Thai | แหวน/waen | [wɛ̌ːn] | 'ring' | See Thai phonology |
| Vietnamese | Standard | uỷ | [ʔwi˧˩] | 'to delegate' | See Vietnamese phonology |
| Vietnamese | Southern | quê | [wej˧˧] | 'hometown' | |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | любов/lübov | [lʲubɔw] | 'love' | See Ukrainian phonology |
| Welsh | Welsh | gwae | [ɡwaɨ] | 'woe' | See Welsh phonology |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | skowe | [skoːwə] | 'to shove' | |