Hosta

The voiced labial–velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is a [ɡ] and [b] pronounced simultaneously and is considered a double articulation^[1]. To make this sound, one can say go but with the lips closed as if one were saying Bo; the lips are to be released at the same time as or a fraction of a second after the g of go is pronounced. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɡ͡b⟩. Its voiceless counterpart is voiceless labial–velar plosive, [k͡p].

The voiced labial–velar plosive is commonly found in Niger-Congo languages, e.g. in Igbo (Volta-Congo) in the name [iɡ͡boː] itself; or in Bété (Atlantic-Congo), e.g. in the surname of Laurent Gbagbo [ɡ͡baɡ͡bo], former president of Ivory Coast.

Features

Features of the voiced labial–velar stop:

Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
Its place of articulation is labial–velar, which means it is simultaneously articulated with the lips and with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum). The dorsal closure is made and released slightly before the labial closure, but they overlap for most of their duration.
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.
The 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	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Dyula	gba	[ɡ͡bɑ]	'bench'
Ega^[2]	[ɡ͡bá]		'finish'
Ewe	Èʋegbe	[èβeɡ͡be]	'Ewe language'
Igbo	Igbo	[iɡ͡boː]	'Igbo'
Kalabari^[3]	ágbá	[áɡ͡bá]	'paint'
Kissi	gbɛŋgbo	[ɡ͡bɛŋɡ͡bɔ]	'stool'
Mono (Ubangian)^[4]	gba	[ɡ͡ba]	'moisten'
Nigerian Pidgin^[5]	^{[example needed]}			Phonemic. Found in substrate words and later loanwords from native Nigerian languages. See Languages of Nigeria.
Temne^[6]	kʌgbara	[kʌɡ͡bara]	'coconut'
Tyap	a̠mgba̠m	[əmɡ͡bəm]	'all'
Volow^[7]	nleq̄evēn	[n.lɛᵑᵐɡ͡bʷɛβɪn]	'woman'	with labiovelar release
Yoruba	gbogbo	[ɡ͡boɡ͡bo]	'all'

Notes

^ Catford & Esling 2006, p. 438:
… the commonest double articulations consist of the simultaneous articulation of stops at two locations, most frequently labial-velar [kp] [gb], written [k͡p] [ɡ͡b] when the coarticulation has to be made explicit in transcription. This particular type of double articulation is often called ‘labiovelar,’ a term which must be avoided in a strictly systematic phonetic taxonomy in which the first half of such a compound term refers to the lower articulator.
^ Connell, Ahoua & Gibbon (2002:100)
^ Harry (2003:113)
^ Olson (2004:233); association with Niger-Congo uncertain.
^ Faraclas (1996), pp. 248–249.
^ Ladefoged (1964)
^ François (2005:445)

References

Catford, J.C.; Esling, John (2006). "Articulatory phonetics". In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (2 ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 425–442. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00002-X.
Connell, Bruce; Ahoua, Firmin; Gibbon, Dafydd (2002), "Ega", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 32 (1): 99–104, doi:10.1017/S002510030200018X
François, Alexandre (2005), "Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages", Oceanic Linguistics, 44 (2): 443–504, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.395.4359, doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0034, S2CID 131668754
Harry, Otelemate (2003), "Kalaḅarị-Ịjo", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 113–120, doi:10.1017/S002510030300121X
Kropp Dakubu, M. E. (1987), The Dangme Language: An Introductory Survey, London: Macmillan
Ladefoged, Peter (1964), A phonetic study of West African languages, Cambridge University Press
Olson, Kenneth S. (2004), "Mono" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 233–238, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001744

External links

List of languages with [ɡb] on PHOIBLE

[1] Catford & Esling 2006, p. 438:
… the commonest double articulations consist of the simultaneous articulation of stops at two locations, most frequently labial-velar [kp] [gb], written [k͡p] [ɡ͡b] when the coarticulation has to be made explicit in transcription. This particular type of double articulation is often called ‘labiovelar,’ a term which must be avoided in a strictly systematic phonetic taxonomy in which the first half of such a compound term refers to the lower articulator.

[2] Connell, Ahoua & Gibbon (2002:100)

[3] Harry (2003:113)

[4] Olson (2004:233); association with Niger-Congo uncertain.

[FOOTNOTEFaraclas1996248–249-5] Faraclas (1996), pp. 248–249.

[6] Ladefoged (1964)

[7] François (2005:445)

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