ꯈꯣꯟꯖꯦꯜ ꯊꯣꯀꯄꯥ ꯂꯦꯕꯤꯑꯣꯗꯦꯟꯇꯦꯜ ꯅꯥꯀꯣꯡ꯫

ꯈꯣꯟꯖꯦꯜ ꯊꯣꯀꯄꯥ ꯂꯦꯕꯤꯑꯣꯗꯦꯟꯇꯦꯜ ꯅꯥꯀꯣꯡ꯫
ɱ
m̪
IPA number	115
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɱ
Unicode (hex)	U+0271
X-SAMPA	F
Braille
ꯝꯃꯤ

ꯈꯣꯟꯖꯦꯜ ꯊꯣꯀꯄꯥ ꯂꯦꯕꯤꯑꯣꯗꯦꯟꯇꯦꯜ ꯅꯥꯀꯣꯡ ꯍꯥꯌꯕꯁꯤ ꯀꯟꯁꯅꯇꯦꯜ ꯁꯥꯎꯟꯗ ꯃꯈꯜ ꯑꯃꯅꯤ꯫ ꯏꯟꯇꯔꯅꯦꯁ꯭ꯅꯦꯜ ꯐꯣꯅꯦꯇꯤꯛ ꯑꯥꯂꯐꯥꯕꯦꯇꯇꯥ ꯂꯩꯕꯥ ꯈꯣꯟꯖꯦꯜ ꯑꯁꯤꯕꯨ ꯔꯤꯞꯔꯖꯦꯟꯇ ꯇꯧꯔꯤꯕꯥ ꯁꯤꯝꯕꯣꯜ ꯑꯁꯤ ⟨ɱ⟩ꯅꯤ꯫ ꯑꯥꯏ.ꯄꯤ.ꯑꯦ.ꯒꯤ ꯁꯤꯝꯕꯣꯜ ꯑꯁꯤ ꯑꯛꯁꯔ ꯑꯗꯨꯒꯤ ꯃꯈꯥ ꯊꯪꯕꯥ ꯁꯔꯨꯛ ꯑꯗꯨꯗꯒꯤ ꯊꯣꯔꯀꯄꯥ ꯂꯦꯃꯍꯧꯔꯤꯕꯥ ꯍꯨꯛ ꯑꯃꯥ ꯂꯩꯕꯥ ꯂꯣꯌꯔꯕꯥ ꯑꯛꯁꯔ m ꯑꯃꯅꯤ꯫ ꯃꯇꯝ ꯃꯇꯃꯒꯤ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ ꯃꯁꯤꯒꯤ ꯃꯍꯨꯠꯇꯥ ꯗꯦꯟꯇꯦꯜ ꯗꯥꯏꯑꯦꯛꯔꯤꯇꯤꯛ ꯑꯃꯒꯥ ꯂꯣꯌꯅꯅꯥ m ꯑꯃꯥ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ ꯇ꯭ꯔꯥꯟꯁꯛꯔꯤꯄꯁꯟ ꯇꯧꯏ: ⟨m̪⟩ (ꯈꯨꯗꯝ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ extIPAꯗꯥ, ꯃꯐꯝ ꯑꯗꯨꯗꯥ ꯇ꯭ꯔꯥꯟꯁꯛꯔꯤꯄꯁꯟ ꯑꯅꯤ ꯑꯁꯤ ꯚꯦꯔꯤꯑꯦꯟꯇ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ ꯄꯤꯔꯤ)꯫

A labiodental pronunciation of [ɱ] is very similar to that of the bilabial nasal [m], but instead of the lips touching each other, the lower lip touches the upper teeth. The position of the lips and teeth is generally the same as for the production of the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], though air escapes between the lip and the teeth in the case of the fricatives. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) note that due to gaps between the incisors, which would allow for additional airflow, it is not known if a 'true occlusive' can occur with this gesture, though it still patterns as one.

Although commonly appearing in languages, [ɱ] is overwhelmingly an allophone restricted to a position before the labiodental consonants [f] and [v]. A phonemic /ɱ/ has only been reported for the Kukuya language, where it contrasts with /m/ and is "accompanied by strong protrusion of both lips". It is [ɱʷ] before /a/ and [ɱ] before /i/ and /e/, perhaps because labialization is constrained by the spread front vowels; it does not occur before the back (rounded) vowels /o/ and /u/.

Nonetheless, [ɱ] is extremely common around the world phonetically, as it is the universal allophone of /m/ and a very common allophone of /n/ before the labiodental fricatives [f] and [v], as for example in English comfort and circumvent, and, for many people, infinitive and invent. In the Angami language, [ɱ] occurs as an allophone of /m/ before /ə/. In Drubea, [ɱ] is reported as an allophone of /v/ before nasal vowels.

A proposal to retire the letter ⟨ɱ⟩ was made in the run-up to the Kiel Convention of 1989, with the labiodental nasal to be transcribed solely by ⟨m̪⟩, but the proposal was defeated in committee. A recommendation by extIPA was retired soon afterwards in response.

Features

Features of a voiced labiodental nasal:

Occurrence

Phonemic /ɱ/ is extremely rare. As an allophone of nasal consonants before [f] or [v], however, [ɱ] is very common.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Arabic	Hejazi	قُرُنْفُل	[gʊrʊɱfʊl]	'clove'	See Hejazi Arabic phonology
Catalan		limfa	[ˈɫiɱfə]	'lymph'	See Catalan phonology
Czech		tramvaj	[ˈträɱʋäj]ⓘ	'tram'	See Czech phonology
Danish		symfoni	[syɱfoˈniˀ]	'symphony'	See Danish phonology
Dutch		omvallen	[ˈʔʊ̞ɱˌvɑlə(n)]ⓘ	'to fall over'	See Dutch phonology
English		symphony	[ˈsɪ̃ɱᵖ̪fənɪ̞ː]ⓘ	'symphony'	Allophone of ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink before ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink and ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink See English phonology.
Finnish		kamferi	[ˈkɑɱfe̞ri]	'camphor'	See Finnish phonology
German		fünf	[fʏɱf]	'five'	See German phonology
Greek		έμβρυο	[ˈe̞ɱvrio̞]	'embryo'	Learned or careful pronunciation. See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew		סימפוניה	[siɱˈfonja]	'symphony'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hungarian		államfő	[ˈaːlːɒɱᵖ̪føː]ⓘ	'head of state'	See Hungarian phonology
Indonesian		konflik	[ˈkɔɱflɪk̚]	'conflict'	Allophone of ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink before ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink.
Italian		invece	[iɱˈveːt͡ʃe̞]ⓘ	'instead'	See Italian phonology
Kukuya		[ɱíì]		'eyes'	Phonemic, distinguishes /m/ and /ɱ/.
Macedonian		трамвај tramvaj	[traɱˈvaj]	'tram'	See Macedonian phonology
Norwegian		komfyr	[kɔɱˈfyːɾ]	'stove'	See Norwegian phonology
Polish		symfonia	[sɘ̟ɱˈᵖ̪fɔɲ̟ä]ⓘ	'symphony'	See Polish phonology
Romanian		învăța	[ɨɱvəˈt͡sä]	'to learn'	See Romanian phonology
Russian		амфора	['aɱfərə]	'amphora'	See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian		трамвај / tramvaj	[trǎɱʋäj]	'tram'	Allophone of ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink and ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink before ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink and ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovene		simfonija	[siɱfoˈníːjà]	'symphony'	Allophone of ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink and ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink before ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink and ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:IPAslink.
Spanish		desinflar	[d̪e̞.sĩɱˈfläɾ]ⓘ	'to deflate'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish		framför	[ˈfɾaɱˌfɶːɾ]ⓘ	'in front of', 'performs'	See Swedish phonology
West Frisian		ûnwis	[uːɱ'ʋɪs]	'unsure'	Allophone of /n/ before labiodental sounds.
Yuanmen		[ɱoː⁶]ꯇꯦꯝꯄ꯭ꯂꯦꯠ:Clarify		'wear (a hat)'	Was briefly phonemic before merging with /m/.

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

Bibliography

• Kooij, Jan; Van Oostendorp, Marc (꯲꯰꯰꯳), ꯑꯃꯥ Fonologie: uitnodiging tot de klankleer van het Nederlands, Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 9789053566220꯫ 
• Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (꯱꯹꯹꯶), ꯑꯃꯥ Sounds of the World's Languages, Blackwells꯫ 
• Landau, Ernestina; Lončarić, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (꯱꯹꯹꯹), "ꯑꯃꯥ Croatian", ꯑꯃꯥ Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ꯂꯃꯥꯏ: 66–69, ISBN 0-521-65236-7꯫ 
• Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (꯲꯰꯰꯳), "ꯑꯃꯥ Castilian Spanish", ꯑꯃꯥ Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, DOI:10.1017/S0025100303001373꯫ 
• Newton, Brian (꯱꯹꯷꯲), ꯑꯃꯥ The generative Interpretation of Dialect: A Study of Modern Greek Phonology, Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 8, Cambridge University Press꯫ 
• Paulian, Christiane (꯱꯹꯷꯵), ꯑꯃꯥ Le Kukuya Langue Teke du Congo: phonologie, classes nominales, Peeters Publishers꯫ 
• Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (꯲꯰꯰꯴), "ꯑꯃꯥ Italian", ꯑꯃꯥ Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, DOI:10.1017/S0025100304001628꯫ 
• Šuštaršič, Rastislav; Komar, Smiljana; Petek, Bojan (꯱꯹꯹꯹), "ꯑꯃꯥ Slovene", ꯑꯃꯥ Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ꯂꯃꯥꯏ: 135–139, DOI:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN 0-521-65236-7꯫ 
• Verhoeven, Jo (꯲꯰꯰꯵), "ꯑꯃꯥ Belgian Standard Dutch", ꯑꯃꯥ Journal of the International Phonetic Association 35 (2): 243–247, DOI:10.1017/S0025100305002173꯫ 
• Norquest, Peter K. (꯲꯰꯰꯷), ꯑꯃꯥ A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Hlai, University of Arizona, ꯑꯁꯦꯡꯕꯗꯥ ꯲꯰꯲꯱-꯰꯷-꯱꯴ꯗꯥ ꯁꯪꯒ꯭ꯔꯍꯤꯕ꯫ 

External links

• List of languages with [ɱ] on PHOIBLE