Velars

Velars are consonants articulated with the dorsum (back) of the tongue contacting the velum, the soft palate at the back of the mouth. This place of articulation is distinct from other articulatory places such as bilabial, alveolar, palatal, and glottal. Velar sounds can be produced as stops, nasals, fricatives, and, in some languages, approximants, and they may interact with surrounding sounds through assimilation and coarticulation.

The most common velars are the stops [k] (voiceless) and [g] (voiced), as in the words “cat” and “goat.” The velar nasal [ŋ], as in “sing,” is also widely found in languages around the world. Velar fricatives, such as [x] (a harsh, fricative sound found in German Bach and Spanish dialects), occur in many languages as well. Some languages feature a velar approximant, typically transcribed as [ɰ], and a velarized or more distant approximant in certain phonological contexts.

Velars are often contrasted with consonants from other places of articulation (e.g., alveolar, palatal, uvular, and glottal). They may exhibit typical phonological processes such as aspiration of voiceless stops or, in some languages, shifts in place of articulation under coarticulation or historical sound change. The inventory and behavior of velars vary across languages, contributing to the diversity of phonemic systems worldwide.