# Voiced bilabial nasal

The 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⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol 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.

## Features

Features of the voiced bilabial nasal:
* Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Because the consonant is also nasal, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
* Its place of articulation is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is a nasal consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.
* Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
* 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.

## Varieties

| IPA | Description |
| m | plain m |
| mʲ | palatalised |
| mˠ | velarised |
| mˤ | pharyngealized |

## Occurrence

Occurrence of /m/ in several languages. :
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| ǃKung | ǃKung | m | [m] | 'eat' | |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | мазэ / māză | [maːza] | 'moon' | |
| Arabic | Standard | مطابخ / maṭābiḫ | [maˈtˤɑːbɪχ] | 'kitchens' | See Arabic phonology |
| Armenian | Eastern | մայր / mayr | | 'mother' | |
| Assyrian | Assyrian | ܡܪܐ / mara | [maːra] | 'owner' | |
| Basque | Basque | maitatu | [majt̪at̪u] | 'to love' | |
| Bengali | Bengali | মা / ma | [ma] | 'mother' | See Bengali phonology |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | мъгла / mygla | [mɐɡla] | 'fog' | |
| Burushaski | Burushaski | akhuruman | [akʰuruman] | 'so many' | |
| Catalan | Catalan | meu | [ˈmew] | 'mine' | See Catalan phonology |
| Cherokee | Cherokee | ᎠᎹ / ama | [ama˦] | 'water' | |
| Cantonese | Cantonese | 貓 / 猫 / māau | | 'cat' | See Cantonese phonology |
| Chukchi | Chukchi | Mанэгран | [maneɣɻan] | 'tent' | |
| Chuvash | Chuvash | манăн / manën | [manən] | 'my' | |
| Czech | Czech | muž | | 'man' | See Czech phonology |
| Dutch | Dutch | mond | | 'mouth' | See Dutch phonology |
| Dhivehi | Dhivehi | mas | [mas̪] | 'fish' | See Dhivehi phonology |
| English | English | him | | 'him' | See English phonology |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | tempo | | 'time' | See Esperanto phonology |
| Filipino | Filipino | manok | [maˈnok] | 'chicken' | See Filipino phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | minä | | 'I' | See Finnish phonology |
| French | French | manger | | 'to eat' | See French phonology |
| Georgian | Georgian | სამი / sami | [ˈsɑmi] | 'three' | |
| German | German | Maus | | 'mouse' | See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Greek | μάζα / maza | | 'clump' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Gujarati | Gujarati | મોર / mór | [moːɾ] | 'male peacock' | See Gujarati phonology |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian | maka | [maka] | 'eye' | See Hawaiian phonology |
| Hindi | Hindi | मधु / mëdhu | [məd̪ʱuː] | 'honey' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | אמא / ima | [ˈʔimäʔ] | 'mother' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | ma | | 'today' | See Hungarian phonology |
| Indonesian | Indonesian | masuk | [ˈmäsʊʔ] | 'enter' | |
| Italian | Italian | mamma | | 'mommy' | See Italian phonology |
| Japanese | Japanese | 豆 / mame | [mäme̞] | 'bean' | See Japanese phonology |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | мазэ / mazè | [maːza] | 'moon' | |
| Kagayanen | Kagayanen | manang | [manaŋ] | 'older sister' | |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | кеме / keme | [keme] | 'ship' | See Kazakh phonology |
| Ket | Ket | qīm-n-diŋa | [qim n diŋa] | 'woman' | See Ket language |
| Khmer | Khmer | ខ្មែរ / khmae | [kʰmae] | 'Khmer' | See Khmer phonology |
| Korean | Korean | 마을 / maûl | [mɐɯl] | 'village' | See Korean phonology |
| Kurukh | Kurukh | aḍḍō-mekhō | [aɖɖo mekʰo] | 'cattle' | |
| Lak | Lak | лакку маз/lakku maz | [lakːu maz] | 'Lak' | See Lak language |
| Limburgish | Limburgish | moer | [muːʁ] | 'carrot' | Common. Example from the Weert dialect. |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | mama | [ˈmɐmɐ] | 'mom' | |
| Macedonian | Macedonian | мајка / majka | [ˈmajka] | 'mother' | See Macedonian phonology |
| Malay | Malay | malam | [mäläm] | 'night' | |
| Malayalam | Malayalam | കമ്മി / kammi | [kəmmi] | 'shortage' | |
| Maltese | Maltese | ilma | [ilma] | 'water' | |
| Mandarin | Mandarin | 貓 / 猫 / māo | | 'cat' | See Mandarin phonology |
| Marathi | Marathi | मन / mën | [mən] | 'mind' | See Marathi phonology |
| Mutsun | Mutsun | muruṭ | [muɾuʈ] | 'night' | |
| Nepali | Nepali | आमा / āmā | [ämä] | 'mother' | See Nepali phonology |
| Norwegian | Norwegian | mamma | [ˈmɑmːɑ] | 'mom' | See Norwegian phonology |
| Ojibwe | Ojibwe | ᐊᓈᒥᒻ / anaamim | [ənaːˈmɪm] | 'accuse' | See Ojibwe phonology |
| Odia | Odia | ମା / mä | [mä] | 'mother' | |
| Persian | Persian | مادر / madär | [mɒdær] | 'mother' | See Persian phonology |
| Pirahã | Pirahã | baíxi | [ˈmàí̯ʔì] | 'parent' | allophone of /b/ |
| Polish | Polish | masa | | 'mass' | See Polish phonology |
| Portuguese | Portuguese | mato | | 'bush' | See Portuguese phonology |
| Punjabi | Punjabi | ਮੈਂ / mēm̐ | [mɛ̃ː] | 'I' | |
| Russian | Russian | муж / muž | | 'husband' | Contrasts with palatalized version. See Russian phonology |
| Sanskrit | Sanskrit | अहम् / aham | [əhəm] | 'I' | See Sanskrit phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | мој / moj | [môːj] | 'my' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Slovak | Slovak | muž | [mu̞ʂ] | 'man' | |
| Slovene | Slovene | miš | [mîʃ] | 'mouse' | |
| Spanish | Spanish | grumete | [ɡɾuˈme̞te̞] | 'cabin boy' | See Spanish phonology |
| Swahili | Swahili | miti | [ˈmiti] | 'trees' | |
| Swedish | Swedish | mamma | [mama] | 'mom' | See Swedish phonology |
| Telugu | Telugu | మబ్బు/mabu | [mabːu] | 'cloud' | Occurs as allophone of anuswara when followed by retroflex stops |
| Thai | Thai | มอมแมม / mommäm | [mɔːm.mɛːm] | 'shabby' | See Thai phonology |
| Toki Pona | Toki Pona | mani | [mani] | 'money' | |
| Tsez | Tsez | мец / mec | [mɛ̝t͡s] | 'tongue' | |
| Turkish | Turkish | benim | [be̞ˈn̟ɪm] | 'mine' | See Turkish phonology |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | молоко / moloko | [mɔɫɔˈkɔ] | 'milk' | See Ukrainian phonology |
| Urdu | Urdu | مکان / mëkan | [məkaːn] | 'house' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology |
| Uyghur | Uyghur | مەن / män | [mæn] | 'I' | |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | men | [men] | 'I' | |
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese | muối | [mwojˀ˧˥] | 'salt' | See Vietnamese phonology |
| Welsh | Welsh | mam | | 'mother' | See Welsh phonology |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | mar | [mar] | 'lake' | See West Frisian phonology |
| Yi | Yi | ꂷ / ma | [ma˧] | 'bamboo' | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | man | [maŋ] | 'animal' | |

### Palatalized

Occurrence of /mʲ/ in several languages. :
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | мя́сто/mästo | | 'place' | Contrasts with /m/. See Bulgarian phonology. |
| Irish | Irish | mé | | 'I' | Contrasts with /mˠ/. See Irish phonology. |
| Kildin Saami | Kildin Saami | ме̄рр/mʹērr | [mʲerː] | 'sea' | Kildin Saami contrasts varieties of bilabial nasals in voicedness, length and palatalization. |
| Latgalian | Latgalian | miļti | [mʲilʲtʲi] | 'flour' | Contrasts with /m/. See Latgalian phonology. |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | miglà | | 'mist' | Contrasts with /m/. See Lithuanian phonology |
| Marshallese | Marshallese | emān | [ɛmʲænʲ] | 'four' | Contrasts with /mˠ/. |
| Nenets | Tundra Nenets | мяˮ/ḿaq | [mʲɑ] | 'tent' | Contrasts with /m/. |
| Nenets | Forest Nenets | | | | | Contrasts with /m/. |
| Polish | Polish | mięso | | 'meat' | Contrasts with /m/. See Polish phonology. |
| Russian | Russian | медь/měď | | 'copper' | Contrasts with /m/. See Russian phonology. |
| Veps | Veps | nem' | [nemʲ] | 'peninsula' | Contrasts with /m/. |

### Velarized

Occurrence of /mˠ/ in several languages. :
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Gilbertese | Gilbertese | mwe | [mˠe] | 'sleep' | Contrasts with /m/ and /mː/. |
| Irish | Irish | má | | 'if' | Contrasts with /mʲ/. See Irish phonology. |
| Marshallese | Marshallese | m̧winam̧ōn | [mˠinʲɑmˠʌnʲ] | 'caterpillar' | Contrasts with /mʲ/. |