# Voiced velar fricative

The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in various spoken languages. It is not found in most varieties of Modern English but existed in Old English. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɣ⟩, a Latinized variant of the Greek letter gamma, ⟨γ⟩, which has this sound in Modern Greek. It should not be confused with the graphically-similar ⟨ɤ⟩, the IPA symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel, which some writings use for the voiced velar fricative.
The symbol ⟨ɣ⟩ is also sometimes used to represent the velar approximant, which, however, is more accurately written with the lowering diacritic: [ɣ̞] or [ɣ˕]. The IPA also provides a dedicated symbol for a velar approximant, [ɰ].
There is also a voiced post-velar fricative, also called pre-uvular, in some languages. For the voiced pre-velar fricative, also called post-palatal, see voiced palatal fricative.
A voiced velar tapped fricative has been reported in Dàgáárè, which is a previously unattested sound in human language.

## Features

Features of the voiced velar fricative:
* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
* 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

Some of the consonants listed as post-velar may actually be trill fricatives.
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Abaza | Abaza | бгъьы/bğë | [bɣʲə] | 'leaf' | |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | чъыгы/čëğë | | 'tree' | |
| Albanian | Arbëresh Moresian (Pelloponesian) dialects of Arvanitika | gliata | [ɣliɑtɑ] | 'tall' |
| Alekano | Alekano | gamó | [ɣɑmɤʔ] | 'cucumber' | |
| Aleut | Aleut | agiitalix | [aɣiːtalix] | 'with' | |
| Angor | Angor | ranihı | [ɾɑniɣə] | 'brother' | |
| Angas | Angas | γür | [ɣyr] | 'to pick up' | |
| Arabic | Modern Standard | غريب/ğarīb | | 'strange' | May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology |
| Aragonese | Aragonese | augua | [ˈawɣwa] | 'water' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Aromanian | Aromanian | ghini | [ˈɣi.ni] | 'well' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Aramaic | Eastern | ܦܓ̣ܪܐ paġrā | [pʌɣrɑ] | 'body' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. |
| Aramaic | Western | ܦܓ̣ܪܐ paġrā | [fʌɣrɔ] | 'body' | |
| Asturian | Asturian | gadañu | [ɣaˈd̪ãɲʊ] | 'scythe' | Allophone of /ɡ/ in almost all positions |
| Azerbaijani | Northern | oğul | [oɣul] | 'son' | |
| Azerbaijani | Southern | اوغول/oğul | [oɣul] | 'son' | |
| Basque | Basque | hego | [heɣo] | 'wing' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Belarusian | Belarusian | галава/ğalava | [ɣalaˈva] | 'head' | |
| Catalan | Catalan | agrat | [əˈɣɾat] | 'liking' | Fricative or approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/. See Catalan phonology |
| Central Alaskan Yup'ik | Central Alaskan Yup'ik | auga | [ˈauːɣa] | 'his/her/its blood' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. |
| Chechen | Chechen | гӀала / ğala | [ɣaːla] | 'town' | |
| Czech | Czech | bych byl | [bɪɣ bɪl] | 'I would be' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Czech phonology. Occurs only in few Moravian dialects and even there it is rather /ɦ/ |
| Dàgáárè | Dàgáárè | [pɔ́ɣ̆ɔ́] | [pɔ́ɣ̆ɔ́] | 'woman' | May be a velar with strong tap-like features. |
| Dinka | Dinka | ɣo | [ɣo] | 'us' | |
| Dogrib | Dogrib | weqa | [weɣa] | 'for' | |
| Dutch | Standard Belgian | gaan | [ɣaːn] | 'to go' | May be post-palatal [ʝ̠] instead. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Southern accents | gaan | [ɣaːn] | 'to go' | May be post-palatal [ʝ̠] instead. See Dutch phonology |
| English | Scouse | grass | [ɣrɑ:s] | 'grass' | Allophone of /g/. See British English phonology |
| English | Northumbrian | | | | Burr |
| Georgian | Georgian | ღარიბი/ğaribi | [ɣɑribi] | 'poor' | May actually be post-velar or uvular |
| German | Austrian | damalige | [ˈdaːmaːlɪɣə] | 'former' | Intervocalic allophone of /ɡ/ in casual speech. See Standard German phonology |
| Ghari | Ghari | cheghe | [tʃeɣe] | 'five' | |
| Greek | Greek | γάλα/gála | [ˈɣala] | 'milk' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Gujarati | Gujarati | વાઘણ/vağaŕn | [ʋɑ̤̈ɣəɽ̃] | 'tigress' | See Gujarati phonology |
| Gweno | Gweno | ndeghe | [ndeɣe] | 'bird' | |
| Gwich’in | Gwich’in | videeghàn | [viteːɣân] | 'his/her chest' | |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole | diri | [diɣi] | 'rice' | |
| Hän | Hän | dëgëghor | [təkəɣor] | 'I am playing' | |
| Hebrew | Classical | מִגְדָּל/miğdol | [miɣdɔl] | '[a] tower' | |
| Hebrew | Some Modern speakers (usually with a difficulty pronouncing [ʁ]) | שׁוֹמֵר/shomer | [ʃo̞ˈme̞ɣ] | '[a male] guard', '[he] guards' | [ʃo̞ˈme̞ʁ] by other Modern speakers |
| Hindustani | Hindi | ग़रीब/garib | | 'poor' | Post-velar, conservative Hindi speakers usually replace it with /g/. See Hindustani phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | غریب/gharib | | 'poor' | Post-velar, conservative Hindi speakers usually replace it with /g/. See Hindustani phonology |
| Icelandic | Icelandic | saga | [ˈsaːɣa] | 'saga' | See Icelandic phonology |
| Irish | Irish | a dhorn | [ə ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ] | 'his fist' | See Irish phonology |
| Istro-Romanian | Istro-Romanian | gură | [ˈɣurə] | 'mouth' | Corresponds to [ɡ] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology |
| Iwaidja | Iwaidja | [mulaɣa] | [mulaɣa] | 'hermit crab' | |
| Japanese | Japanese | はげ/hage | [haɣe] | 'baldness' | Allophone of /ɡ/, especially in fast or casual speech. See Japanese phonology |
| Judeo-Spanish | | gato | [ˈɣ̞ato̪] | 'cat' | |
| Judeo-Spanish | Haketia | gher | [ɣeɾ] | 'only' | appears as a phoneme in words from Arabic |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | гын/gyn | | 'powder' | |
| Komering | Komering | harong | [haɣoŋ] | 'charcoal' | |
| Lezgian | Lezgian | гъел/ğel | [ɣel] | 'sleigh' | |
| Lhaovo | Dago’ | qid | [ɣìt] | 'water' | |
| Lhaovo | Yunnan | | [ɣək˧˩] | 'water' | |
| Limburgish | Limburgish | gaw | [ɣɑ̟β̞] | 'quick' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. |
| Lishan Didan | Urmi Dialect | עוטג/otogh | [ˠotʰoɣ] | 'room' | Generally post-velar |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | humoras | [ˈɣʊmɔrɐs̪] | 'humor' | Preferred over [ɦ]. See Lithuanian phonology |
| Low German | Low German | gaan | [ˈɣɔ̃ːn] | 'to go' | Increasingly replaced with High German [ɡ] |
| Macedonian | Berovo accent | дувна/duvna | [ˈduɣna] | 'it blew' | Corresponds to etymological /x/ of other dialects, before sonorants. See Maleševo-Pirin dialect and Macedonian phonology |
| Macedonian | Bukovo accent | глава/glava | [ˈɡɣa(v)a] | 'head' | Allophone of /l/ instead of usual [ɫ]. See Prilep-Bitola dialect |
| Malay | Standard | ghaib | [ɣai̯b] | 'unseen' | Mostly in loanwords from Arabic. Indonesians tend to replace the sound with /ɡ/. |
| Malay | Johor-Riau | ramai | [ɣamai̯] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ before a vowel was traditionally a [ɣ] but now the alveolar tap [ɾ] is quite common amongst younger speakers possibly due to influence by Standard Malay. See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Kelantan-Pattani | ramai | [ɣamaː] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Terengganu | ramai | [ɣamaː] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Negeri Sembilan | ramai | [ɣamai̯] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Pahang | ramai | [ɣamɛ̃ː] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology |
| Malay | Sarawak | ramai | [ɣamɛː] | 'crowded (with people)' | /r/ in Standard Malay is barely articulated in almost all of the Malay dialects in Malaysia. Usually it is uttered as guttural R at initial and medial position of a word. See Malay phonology |
| Mandarin Chinese | Central Mandarin (Dongping dialect) | 俺/ngǎn | [ɣän˥] | 'I' | |
| Mi'kmaq | Mi'kmaq | nisaqan | [nisaɣan] | 'weir' | Allophone of /x/ between sonorants. See Mi'kmaq language § Phonology. |
| Navajo | Navajo | ’aghá | [ʔaɣa] | 'best' | |
| Neapolitan | Central Lucanian (Accettura dialect) | chiahäte | [kjaˈɣɜ tə] | 'wounded' | Corresponds to /g/ in Standard Italian. The example "chiahäte" translates to "piagato" in Italian. |
| Nepali | Nepali | कागज/kağdz | [käɣʌ(d)z] | 'paper' | Allophone of /ɡ/ and /ɡʱ/ in intervocalic positions. See Nepali phonology |
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | |
| Northern Qiang | Northern Qiang | hhnesh | [ɣnəʂ] | 'February' | |
| Norwegian | Urban East | å ha | [ɔ ˈɣɑː] | 'to have' | Possible allophone of /h/ between two back vowels; can be voiceless [x] instead. See Norwegian phonology |
| Occitan | Gascon | digoc | [diˈɣuk] | 'said' (3rd pers. sg.) | |
| Okanagan | Okanagan | ɣəɣicɣc | [ɣəɣitʃɣtʃ] | 'Sparrow hawk' | |
| Pashto | Pashto | غاتر/ğatër | [ɣɑtər] | 'mule' | |
| Pela | Pela | [ɣɔ˥] | [ɣɔ˥] | 'to rain' | |
| Persian | Persian | باغ/bāq | [bɒːɣ] | 'garden' | |
| Polish | Polish | niechże | [ˈɲɛɣʐɛ] | 'let' (imperative particle) | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Polish phonology |
| Portuguese | European | agora | [ɐˈɣɔɾɐ] | 'now' | Allophone of /ɡ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Some Brazilian dialects | mármore | [ˈmaɣmuɾi] | 'marble', 'sill' | Allophone of rhotic consonant (voiced equivalent to [x], itself allophone of /ʁ/) between voiced sounds, most often as coda before voiced consonants. |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਗ਼ਰੀਬ/carib | [ɣ̄əriːb] | 'poor' | Less frequent in Gurmukhi varieties where it may be replaced by /ɡ/. |
| Punjabi | Shahmukhi | غریب/ġarrīb | [ɣ̄əriːb] | 'poor' | Less frequent in Gurmukhi varieties where it may be replaced by /ɡ/. |
| Romani | Romani | γoines | [ɣoines] | 'good' | |
| Russian | Southern | дорога/doroga | [dɐˈro̞ɣə] | 'road' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in standard |
| Russian | Standard | угу/ugu | [ʊˈɣu] | 'uh-huh' | Usually nasal, /ɡ/ is used when spoken. See Russian phonology |
| Russian | Standard | горох же / goroh že | [ɡʌˈroɣ ʐe] | 'the peas' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. |
| Sakha | Sakha | аҕа/ağa | [aɣa] | 'father' | |
| Sardinian | Nuorese dialect | súghere | [ˈsuɣɛrɛ] | 'to suck' | Allophone of /ɡ/ |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | laghail | [ɫ̪ɤɣal] | 'lawful' | More advanced than other velars. See Scottish Gaelic phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | ovih bi | [ǒ̞ʋiɣ bi] | 'of these would' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced consonants. See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| S'gaw Karen | S'gaw Karen | ဂ့ၤ/ghei | [ɣei] | 'good' | |
| Sindhi | Sindhi | غم/camu | [ɣəmʊ] | 'sadness' | |
| Slovene | Standard | h gori | [ˈɣ‿ɡɔ̀ːɾí] | 'to the mountain' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced obstruents. See Slovene phonology |
| Slovene | Some dialects | gajba | [ˈɣáːjbà] | 'crate' | Corresponds to /ɡ/ in Standard Slovene. See Slovene phonology |
| Spanish | | amigo | [a̠ˈmiɣo̟] | 'friend' | Ranges from close fricative to approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/, see Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Standard European | Predrag | [ˈpɾe̞ð̞ɾäɣ̞̊] | 'Predrag' | Also described as an approximant. Allophone of /ɡ/ before a pause. See Spanish phonology |
| Swahili | Swahili | ghali | [ɣali] | 'expensive' | |
| Swedish | Västerbotten Norrland dialects | meg | [mɪːɣ] | 'me' | Allophone of /ɡ/. Occurs between vowels and in word-final positions. Here also /∅/ in Kalix. |
| Tadaksahak | Tadaksahak | zog | [zoɣ] | 'war' | |
| Tajik | Tajik | ғафс/cafs | [ɣafs] | 'thick' | |
| Tamazight | Tamazight | aɣilas (aghilas) | [aɣilas] | 'leopard' | |
| Tamil | Brahmin Tamil (non-standard) | முகம் | [muɣəm] | 'face' | Not very common |
| Turkish | Non-standard | ağaç | [aɣat͡ʃ] | 'tree' | Deleted in most dialects. See Turkish phonology |
| Tutchone | Northern | ihghú | [ihɣǔ] | 'tooth' | |
| Tutchone | Southern | ghra | [ɣra] | 'baby' | |
| Tyap | Tyap | ghan | [ˈɣan] | 'to hurry' | |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | чахохбі́лі | [tʃɐxoɣˈbil⁽ʲ⁾i] | ‘chakhokhbili’ | Occurs in specific rare cases only. |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | ёмғир / yomgʻir/yamğır | [ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪] | 'rain' | Post-velar. |
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese | ghế | [ɣe˧˥] | 'chair' | See Vietnamese phonology |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | drage | [ˈdraːɣə] | 'to carry' | Never occurs in word-initial positions. |
| Wu Chinese | Northern Wu (Jinsha variety [zh]) | 合 | [ɣuoʔ˨˦] | 'to join' | |
| Xiang Chinese | Old Xiang (Loudi variety [zh]) | 湖南 | [ɣu˩˧nia˩˧] | 'Hunan (province)' | |
| Yi | Yi | ꊋ/we | [ɣɤ˧] | 'win' | |
| Zhuang | Zhuang | Lwg roegbit | [lɯ˧ ɣo˧pi˥] | 'Wild duckling' | |