Voiced velar fricative

The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɣ (a variant of the Greek letter gamma, which is used for this sound in Modern Greek), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is G. The IPA symbol ɣ is not to be confused with ɤ, the symbol for a close-mid back unrounded vowel.

[edit] Features

Features of the voiced velar fricative:

Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
Its place of articulation is velar which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum).
Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Angor		ranihı	[ɾɑniɣə]	'brother'
Angas		γür	[ɣyr]	'to pick up'
Arabic		غرفة	[ˈɣʊrfɛ̈]	'room'	See Arabic phonology
Azerbaijani		ağac	[aɣadʒ]	'tree'
Chechen		гӀала/ġala	[ɣa:la]	'town'
Dinka		ɣo	[ɣo]	'us'
Dutch		gaan	[ɣaːn]	'to go'	See Dutch phonology
Gascon		digoc	[diˈɣuk]	'said (3sg.)'
Ghari		cheghe	[tʃeɣe]	'five'
Greek		γάλα	[ˈɣala]	'milk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gwich'in		videeghàn	[viteɣân]	'his/her chest'
Hän		dëgëghor	[təkəɣor]	'I am playing.'
Irish		dhorn	[ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ]	'fist'	See Irish phonology
Japanese		はげ	[haɣe]	'baldness'	Especially in fast and/or casual speech, See Japanese phonology
Kabyle		cceǥ	[ʃʃəɣ]	'to slip'
Navajo		’aghá	[ʔaɣa]	'best'
Pashto		غاتر	[ɣɑtər]	'mule'
Persian		کاغذ	[kɒɣæz]	'paper'	See Persian phonology
Northern Qiang			[ɣnəʂ]	'February'
Lithuanian Romani		γoines	[ɣoines]	'good'
Swahili		ghali	[ɣali]	'expensive'
Tadaksahak Songhay			[zoɣ]	'war'
Tajik		ғарб	[ɣarb]	'west'
Turkish		ağaç	[aɣatʃ]	'tree'	Certain dialects
Tutchone	Northern	ihghú	[ihɣǔ]	'tooth'
Tutchone	Southern	ghra	[ɣra]	'baby'
Vietnamese		gã	[ɣɐ̰ː˩˥]	'fellow'

Consonants (List, table)