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Encyclopedia > K (IPA)
IPA – number 109
IPA – text k
IPA – image Image:Xsampa-k.png
Entity k
X-SAMPA k
Kirshenbaum k
Sound sample 

The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is k, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... HTML has been in use since 1991 (note that the W3C international standard is now XHTML), but the first standardized version with a reasonably complete treatment of international characters was version 4. ... The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. ... Kirshenbaum, sometimes called ASCII-IPA, is a system used to represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in ASCII. It was developed for Usenet, notably the newsgroups sci. ... Image File history File links Voiceless_velar_plosive. ... In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. ...


The [k] sound is a very common sound cross-linguistically. Most languages have at least a plain [k], and some distinguish more than one variety. Many Indian languages, such as Hindi, have a two-way contrast between aspirated and plain [k]. Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ...

Contents

Features

Features of the voiceless velar plosive:

In linguistics, manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, and other speech organs involved in making a sound make contact. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... For other uses, see Tongue (disambiguation). ... The soft palate, or velum, is the soft tissue comprising the back of the roof of the mouth. ... In phonetics, phonation is the use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... An oral consonant is a consonant sound in speech that is made by allowing air to escape from the mouth. ... A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. ... In phonetics, initiation is the action by which an air-flow is created through the vocal tract. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... Respiratory system The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ... The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. ...

Varieties of [k]

IPA Description
k plain k
aspirated k
palatalized k
labialized k
unreleased k
voiced k
ejective k

In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... Labialisation is secondary articulatory feature of sounds in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... An unreleased stop or plosive is a plosive consonant without an audible release burst. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Occurrence

In English

In English, it is the sound denoted by the letter 'c' in cat or the letter 'k' in skin. English has both aspirated [kʰ] and plain [k], but they are allophones of the phoneme /k/. The letter 'c' also represents /s/. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ...


When /k/ occurs at the beginning of a word or a stressed syllable, like in cry, vacation, or Korea, then it is always aspirated. When it occurs at the beginning of an unstressed syllable that isn't at the beginning of a word, like in trafficking, walker, or typical, then it is slightly aspirated or unaspirated. When /k/ occurs in a consonant cluster following /s/, like in sky, scrape, or whisker, then it is always unaspirated. When it occurs at the end of a word, like in pack, silk, or whisk, then it is usually unaspirated, and if the word is at the end of an utterance, then the /k/ is often unreleased. In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ... A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... An utterance is a complete unit of talk, bounded by silence. ...


In other languages

  • Bulgarian: как [kak], "how"
  • Czech: kost [kost], "bone"
  • French: cabinet [kabinɛ], "office"
  • Georgian: ისერი [ˈkisɛri], "neck"
  • German: Käfig [ˈkʰɛːfɪç], "cage"
  • Greek: κακαβιά [ka.kaˈvʝa], "traditional greek fish-soup"
  • Italian: casa [ˈkas̬a], "house"
  • Japanese: 鞄 (kaban) [kabaɴ], "handbag"
  • Polish: kość [kɔɕʨ], "bone"
  • Portuguese: corno [ˈkornu], "horn"
  • Russian: короткий [kʌˈrotkʲɪj], "short"
  • Spanish: casa [ˈkasa], "house"

See also

  Consonants (List, table) See also: IPA, Vowels  
Pulmonics Bilabial Lab'den. Dental Alveolar Postalv. Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn. Epiglottal Glottal Non-pulmonics and other symbols
Nasals m ɱ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ Clicks  ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ
Plosives p b t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Implo­­sives  ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Fricatives  ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Ejec­­tives 
Approximants  β̞ ʋ ð̞ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Other laterals  ɺ ɫ
Trills ʙ r ʀ Co-articulated approximants ʍ w ɥ
Flaps & Taps ѵ̟ ѵ ɾ ɽ Co-articulated fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ
Lat. Fricatives ɬ ɮ Affricates  ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ
Lat. Appr'mants l ɭ ʎ ʟ Co-articulated stops  k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
This page contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged impossible.


 

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