The voiceless labiodental plosive or stop is a consonant sound produced like a [p], but with the lower lip contacting the upper teeth, as in [f]. This can be represented in the IPA as ⟨p̪⟩. A separate symbol not recognized by the IPA that was occasionally seen, especially in Bantu linguistics, is the qp ligature ⟨ȹ⟩.[1]
The voiceless labiodental plosive is possibly not phonemic in any language, though see the entry on Shubi. However, it does occur allophonically. The XiNkuna dialect of Tsonga has affricates, [p̪͡f] and [b̪͡v] (that is, [ȹ͡f] and [ȸ͡v]), which unlike the bilabial-labiodental affricate [p͡f] of German, are purely labiodental.
Features of the voiceless labiodental stop:
IPA | Description |
---|---|
p̪ | plain p̪ |
p̪ʰ | aspirated p̪ |
p̪ʲ | palatalized p̪ |
p̪ʷ | labialized p̪ |
p̪̚ | p̪ with no audible release |
p̪̌ | voiced p̪ |
p̪ʼ | ejective p̪ |
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greek | σάπφειρος | [ˈsap̪firo̞s̠] | 'sapphire' | See Modern Greek phonology |