Nasal labial–velar approximant

"W̃" redirects here. For the hypothetical particle with symbol W̃, see Gaugino.

The nasal labial–velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨w̃⟩, that is, a w with a tilde. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is w~.

Nasal labial–velar approximant
w̃

The nasal approximants [ȷ̃] and [w̃] may also be called nasal glides. In some languages like Portuguese, they form a second element of nasal diphthongs.

Features

Features of the nasal 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.
• 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 a nasal consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.
• 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		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Kaingang[1]		[w̃ĩ]		'to see'	Possible word-initial realization of /w/ before a nasal vowel.[2]
Polish		są	[sɔũ̯]	'they are'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese	Most dialects[3][4]	são	[sɐ̃w̃]	'saint', 'they are'	Allophone of /w/ after nasal vowels. See Portuguese phonology
	Some dialects[5]	muamba	[ˈmw̃ɐ̃bɐ]	'smuggling', 'jobbery', 'stash'	Non-syllabic allophone of /u/ between nasal sounds.
Marathi		संशय/saṃśay	[sə̃w̃ʃəe̯]	'doubt'	Anuswara (ṁ) preceding र (r), व (v), श (ś), ष (ṣ), स (s), ह (h) or ज्ञ (jñ/dnya) is rendered as 'w̃'.
Seri		cmiique	[ˈkw̃ĩːkːɛ]	'person'	Allophone of /m/
Shipibo[6]		banwan[7]	[βɐ̃ˈw̃ɐ̃]	'parrot'	Allophone of /w/ after nasal vowels.[6]
Telugu		ఆమ్లం/āmlaṃ	[aːw̃alaw̃]	'acid'	Common colloquial pronunciation of intervocalic and final m. May also be a [ʋ̃].[8]
Uwa		táw̃aya	[ˈtaw̃aja]	'yellow'
Yoruba		wọ́n	[w̃ɔ̃́n]	'they'	Allophone of /w/ before nasal vowels.

See also

• Palatal nasal
• Nasal palatal approximant
• Labiodental nasal, which may be an approximant in the one language in which it is phonemic
• Voiceless nasal glottal approximant
• Index of phonetics articles