Voiced velar approximant

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A voiced velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɰ⟩. If it is necessary to avoid the implication that the approximant is spread as its vocalic equivalent [ɯ] is, it may instead be transcribed ⟨ɣ̞⟩ or ⟨ɣ᫛⟩ (or ⟨ɣ˕⟩, which is now dated). This is the symbol of the voiced velar fricative ⟨ɣ⟩ with a lowering diacritic. This consonant is absent from English, but may be approximated by making [ɡ] but with the tongue body lowered or [w] but with the lips apart. The voiced velar approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic counterpart of the close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]. ⟨ɰ⟩ and ⟨ɯ̯⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic are sometimes used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound, though others make a distinction between them. In some languages, such as Spanish, a voiced velar approximant is an allophone of /ɡ/ – see below. For a voiced post-palatal...

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