Voiced bilabial nasal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bilabial nasal |
|
|---|---|
| m | |
| IPA number | 114 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | m |
| Unicode (hex) | U+006D |
| X-SAMPA | m |
| Kirshenbaum | m |
|
|
|
The voiced bilabial nasal is a special kind of sound we make with our mouths. It's a consonant sound, and you can find it in almost all spoken languages around the world (about 96% of them!).
You know this sound very well! It's the "m" sound you hear in English words like map or rum.
In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which is a system for writing down sounds, this sound is shown as ⟨m⟩. It helps people who study languages understand exactly how sounds are made. Very few languages, like Wyandot, don't have this sound. Some languages, such as Quileute and Central Rotokas, don't have any nasal sounds at all.
Contents
What Makes This Sound Special?
The "m" sound has a few key features:
- It's a nasal sound: This means that when you make the sound, air comes out through your nose, not just your mouth. Try holding your nose and saying "m"! It's hard, right?
- It's bilabial: "Bi" means two, and "labial" means lips. So, this sound is made by pressing your two lips together.
- It's voiced: This means your vocal cords vibrate when you make the sound. You can feel this if you put your hand on your throat while saying "m".
- It's a stop: The airflow is completely blocked for a moment before the sound is released.
- It's central: The air flows out over the center of your tongue.
- It's pulmonic: The air that makes the sound comes from your lungs. This is how most speech sounds are made.
Different Ways the "M" Sound Can Be Made
Even though the "m" sound is common, it can have slight variations in different languages. Here are a few:
| IPA Symbol | How it Sounds |
|---|---|
| m | This is the regular "m" sound, like in English. |
| mʲ | This is a palatalized "m". It means you make the sound with the middle of your tongue raised towards the roof of your mouth. It sounds a bit like "my" in English. |
| mˠ | This is a velarized "m". You make this sound by raising the back of your tongue towards the soft part of the roof of your mouth (the velum). |
| mˤ | This is a pharyngealized "m". It's made by tightening the muscles in your throat (pharynx). |
Where You Can Hear the "M" Sound
The "m" sound is found in many languages. Here are some examples of words from different languages that use this sound:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| !Kung | m | [m] | 'eat' | ||
| Adyghe | мазэ/māză | [maːza] | 'moon' | ||
| Arabic | Standard | مطابخ/maṭābiḫ | [maˈtˤɑːbɪχ] | 'kitchens' | See Arabic phonology |
| Armenian | Eastern | մայր/mayr | 'mother' | ||
| Basque | maitatu | [majt̪at̪u] | 'to love' | ||
| Bengali | মা/ma | [ma] | 'mother' | See Bengali phonology | |
| Bulgarian | мъгла/măgla | [mɐɡla] | 'fog' | ||
| Catalan | meu | [ˈmeʊ̯] | 'mine' | See Catalan phonology | |
| Chinese | Cantonese | 猫 / māau | 'cat' | See Cantonese phonology | |
| Mandarin | 猫 / māo | See Mandarin phonology | |||
| Czech | muž | 'man' | See Czech phonology | ||
| Dutch | mond | 'mouth' | See Dutch phonology | ||
| English | him | 'him' | See English phonology | ||
| Filipino | manok | [maˈnok] | 'chicken' | See Filipino phonology | |
| French | manger | 'to eat' | See French phonology | ||
| German | Maus | 'mouse' | See Standard German phonology | ||
| Hawaiian | maka | [maka] | 'eye' | See Hawaiian phonology | |
| Hindi | मधु/madhū | [məd̪ʱuː] | 'honey' | See Hindi-Urdu phonology | |
| Hungarian | ma | 'today' | See Hungarian phonology | ||
| Italian | mamma | 'mommy' | See Italian phonology | ||
| Japanese | 豆 / mame | [mäme̞] | 'bean' | See Japanese phonology | |
| Korean | 마을 / maeul | [mɐɯl] | 'village' | See Korean phonology | |
| Lithuanian | mama | [ˈmɐmɐ] | 'mom' | ||
| Malay | malam | [mäläm] | 'night' | ||
| Maltese | ilma | [ilma] | 'water' | ||
| Norwegian | mamma | [ˈmɑmːɑ] | 'mom' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Persian | مادر/mâdar | [mɒdær] | 'mother' | See Persian phonology | |
| Polish | masa | 'mass' | See Polish phonology | ||
| Portuguese | mato | 'bush' | See Portuguese phonology | ||
| Russian | муж/muzh | 'husband' | This sound is different from the palatalized version in Russian. See Russian phonology | ||
| Spanish | grumete | [ɡɾuˈme̞te̞] | 'cabin boy' | See Spanish phonology | |
| Swedish | mask | [mask] | 'worm' | See Swedish phonology | |
| Thai | มอมแมม / mommaem | [mɔːm.mɛːm] | 'shabby' | See Thai phonology | |
| Turkish | benim | [be̞nim] | 'mine' | See Turkish phonology | |
| Ukrainian | молоко/moloko | [mɔɫɔˈkɔ] | 'milk' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Vietnamese | muối | [mwojˀ˧˥] | 'salt' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
| Welsh | mam | 'mother' | See Welsh phonology | ||
Palatalized "M" Sounds
Some languages have a "palatalized" version of the "m" sound. This means you make the sound with the middle of your tongue raised towards the hard roof of your mouth.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgarian | мя́сто/mjásto | [mʲa̟sto] | 'place' | This is different from the regular "m" sound. See Bulgarian phonology. | |
| Irish | mé | [mʲeː] | 'I' | This is different from the velarized "m" sound. See Irish phonology. | |
| Russian | медь/medʹ | 'copper' | This is different from the regular "m" sound. See Russian phonology. | ||
Velarized "M" Sounds
Other languages use a "velarized" "m" sound. This means you make the sound by raising the back of your tongue towards the soft part of the roof of your mouth (the velum).
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish | má | [mˠɑː] | 'if' | This is different from the palatalized "m" sound. See Irish phonology. | |
| Marshallese | m̧winam̧ōn | [mˠinʲɑmˠʌnʲ] | 'caterpillar' | This is different from the palatalized "m" sound. | |
See also
In Spanish: Nasal bilabial para niños
- List of phonetics topics
