Talk:Voiced bilabial fricative

[Bilabial approximate the] Same as the Bilabial voiced Fricative?
Some pages on wikipedia list this [Bilabial approximate] sound as being the same as the Bilabial voiced Fricative, while others list it [Bilabial approximate] as a separate sound, and the IPA template has no symbol yet its location is not grayed out, implying that it is a producible sound. Since the IPA page listed it as a sound separate from the Bilabial voiced Fricative, I assumed it was a separate sound.--Blkgardner (talk) 02:25, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I added the material in brackets to my original comments to make them understandable after the move.--Blkgardner (talk) 02:39, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * No languages contrast the bilabial approximant with the bilabial fricative. It's the same with the dental fricative and approximant.  — Æµ§œš¹  [aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi]  03:39, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Should this article atleast mention that the voiced bilabial fricative can also be an approximant? I think most of the similar pages do.  Also, is there any consensus on formatting noncontrasted phonemes?  The symbols for the Voiced uvular fricative. Voiced pharyngeal fricative, and Voiced epiglottal fricative stretch over the the fricative and approximant column.--Blkgardner (talk) 02:40, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't see a problem with mentioning it somehow. What do you mean by "formatting noncontrasted phonemes"?  As far as consonants is concerned, I've thought that having the overlap for bilabial and dental fricative/approximant was better but I've been reverted.  — Æµ§œš¹  [aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi]  04:36, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Sound sample for approximant
Shouldn't the approximant have its own sound sample, since the fricative and approximant are different sounds? saɪm duʃɑn Talk|Contribs 09:19, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
 * The best way to do that is have a sound sample for the Spanish sample. — Æµ§œš¹  [aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi]  19:32, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Bilabial approximant
Please create the Bilabial approximant article. A fricative is not an approximant, so removing the redirect to bilabial approximant. Srkris (talk) 20:54, 21 July 2010 (UTC)
 * We can cover both here. — Æµ§œš¹  [aɪm ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɛ̃ɾ̃ˡi]  13:52, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Galician-Portuguese
What do sources say about β in Portuguese? — Jɑuмe (dis-me) 22:49, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * I investigated that issue in August; both of these sources call it (and ) a fricative. I've never seen them described as approximants, if that's what you're asking (and you probably are). Peter238 (talk) 22:54, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * That was one of my questions, but I was wondering myself more if it's dialectal (like Northern?), and whether there are dialects that contrast  — Jɑuмe (dis-me) 23:05, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Cruz-Ferreira (1995) describes it as a part of the Standard European accent, but I've seen that statement being questioned by native speakers who say that the spirantisation of is at best optional, and even an "attempt to sound Spanish", or something like that. They also say that the further south of Portugal you go, the less usual it is to spirantise.


 * Barbosa & Albano (2004) say that -spirantisation is seldom heard in BP.


 * To the best of my knowledge there are no such dialects. If you want an example of a language that contrasts, it's Southern Standard Dutch and all of the regional dialects spoken in that area (although is sometimes  or its labial-postpalatal equivalent). Further north,  is labiodental, whereas the  contrast is less clear/inconsistent/altogether absent, depending on the region/speaker/age of the speaker.


 * You should look for sources in Portuguese. Maybe this one will do for a start. Peter238 (talk) 23:23, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * I've read quite a lot of manuals of Portuguese, so I don't think another source would tell me much about it (do you think that book includes sounds we're missing?) I would just point the following remarks:
 * Spirantisation is an Iberian feature, not just Spanish/Castilian
 * I've seen some sources (e.g. dictionaries and pronunciation manuals) ignore -spirantisation in EP (just like dark l in Valencian)
 * I've never seen any Portuguese manual that uses/recommends a lenited (fricative) /b/ in the Standard, if Cruz-Ferreira recommend this, I presume it would for the betacist dialects (Galician and Northern rural perhaps?).
 * I've heard certain speakers in Brazil that use lenition in singing, so from Barbosa's comment I would say -spirantisation could occur in Brazil (although less frequently than in Portugal).
 * Yes, as you say there are speakers that merge /b/ and /v/ in Portugal (this merger is known as betacism and is more common in Spain)
 * (found in betacist dialects) in Spanish may have different degrees of lenition depending on the speaker, but not in Portuguese (Cruz-Ferreira), although I think an approximant can be found in some dialects which are more in contact with Spanish
 * A labiodental is also heard in other places in Iberia, not just in northern Portugal
 * Sources about some modern Iberian dialects (like Valencian and Majorcan) mention /b/ fails to lenite in non-betacist dialects. (Nevertheless, I'd say there could be instances where approximants could surface, especially among young speakers like in Valencian). Portuguese, which is not far related to us, could also have a similar analysis— Jɑuмe (dis-me) 01:45, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Just to clarify, this: "If you want an example of a language that contrasts, it's Southern Standard Dutch and all of the regional dialects spoken in that area (although is sometimes  or its labial-postpalatal equivalent). Further north,  is labiodental, whereas the  contrast is less clear/inconsistent/altogether absent, depending on the region/speaker/age of the speaker." is all about Dutch, not Portuguese (maybe I've gone too much off topic there). To the best of my knowledge, there's no phonemic in any Portuguese dialect.


 * The answer is that I don't know. It won't hurt to try, try your local library.
 * Yes, I'm aware of that. I was just writing as I was trying to remember what these natives said (I can't guarantee I remembered everything).
 * I'm fairly confident that The Phonology of Portuguese recommends that.
 * All I'm aware of is that the non-betacist accents of Central and Northern Portugal can have a partial merger where lenition (of both) to  applies. Peter238 (talk) 06:08, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the sources and your advice Peter, do you know what statement that book says about the recommendation of in EP? And doesn't a phonemic  tend to shift towards  in our dialects (that's why I called it labiodental). Colloquial Valencian also has partial or total  merger, I pronounce avorrit as aburrit, while I say viu as it's spelled).  — Jɑuмe (dis-me) 03:04, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Korean Example
I was a bit surprised that this got taken down, since I got the foreknowledge from the Korean phonology page, and the exact IPA from Wikitionary (though one can figure it out pretty easily from the page previously mentioned, as well as some other sources on-line). Since I couldn't quickly find a source explicitly stating that ㅎ becomes /β/ when before /w/, /u/, or /o/ while intervocalic, I just used the source mentioned as well as linking to the official [National Institute of Korean Language] page, which gives a voice clip for pronunciation (and that is not an /ɦ/, /ɸ/, /ç/, nor /x/). Is this sufficient, or should I hunt through the Internet a little more thoroughly to find something more substantial? Thank you! --Blanket P.I. (talk) 12:22, 24 June 2016 (UTC)

Cleaning up the second sentence
Currently it reads "The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨β⟩ (or more properly ⟨ꞵ⟩)" but, well, on nigh every single device and font, 'greek small letter beta' and 'latin small letter beta' are rendered exactly the same. If there's a reason, feel free to correct it, but as it stands this parenthesis is entirely pointless so I'm going to adjust the section to only use the "more proper" form and remove that section. Generic Rice (talk) 20:55, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

English dialects
"The sound is not used in English dialects except for Chicano English,...." Surely the sound occurs (perhaps only historically) in Cockney (see Anthony Burgess, The Doctor is Sick, A Mouthful of Air), and in some maritime dialects? In Dickens' Pickwick Papers, Sam Weller apparently exchanges 'w' & 'v' but Burgess explains (quite correctly IMO) that Sam is using the bilabial fricative for both consonants, and our ears hear it as an exchange. I lived in London in the 1950s and this sound was common then, especially in the East End. Similarly I have seen sailors in literature refer to the "vether wang", i.e. the weather vang. Or watch Ron Moody's (an old East-ender) lips carefully as he pronounces a /v/ in this 2013 interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4geIbwNq2A, e.g. @2:59. Sorry I don't have exact cites at the moment, but the phenomenon seems to me quite widespread. Perhaps it is only historical by 2019, but that is of interest too, particularly since the usage is documented in noted literary works. --D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 14:03, 30 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Another example from the video: "very well" at 0:15. — Eru·tuon 16:30, 30 July 2019 (UTC)