Labial consonant

<h2 id="lack-of-labials">Lack of labials</h2>
<p>While most languages make use of purely labial phonemes, a few generally lack them. Examples are <a href="/facts/Tlingit_language/LUCoX15r">Tlingit</a>, <a href="/facts/Eyak_language/eemXlwaA">Eyak</a> (both <a href="/facts/Na-Dene_languages/tjDGI6By">Na-Dené</a>), <a href="/facts/Wichita_language/4fI6RfQ1">Wichita</a> (<a href="/facts/Caddoan_languages/MWQLjNE4">Caddoan</a>), and the <a href="/facts/Iroquoian_languages/CH7pSR3B">Iroquoian languages</a> except <a href="/facts/Cherokee_language/10EL54YL">Cherokee</a>.
</p><p>Many of these languages are transcribed with /w/ and with <a href="/facts/Labialized_consonant/gxgAWAQI">labialized consonants</a>. However, it is not always clear to what extent the lips are involved in such sounds. In the Iroquoian languages, for example, /w/ involved little apparent rounding of the lips. See the <a href="/facts/Tillamook_language/ySxSLB1x">Tillamook language</a> for an example of a language with "rounded" consonants and vowels that do not have any actual labialization. All of these languages have seen labials introduced under the influence of English.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Labialization/gxgAWAQI">Labialization</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Index_of_phonetics_articles/IwhbEHGN">Index of phonetics articles</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Peter_Ladefoged/GPHjbHmP">Ladefoged, Peter</a>; <a href="/facts/Ian_Maddieson/p0cyavQ2">Maddieson, Ian</a> (1996). <a href="/facts/The_Sounds_of_the_World%2527s_Languages/Je2AlBAP"><i>The Sounds of the World's Languages</i></a>. Oxford: Blackwell. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-631-19815-6.</li>
<li>McDorman, Richard E. (1999). <i>Labial Instability in Sound Change: Explanations for the Loss of /p/</i>. Chicago: Organizational Knowledge Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-9672537-0-5.</li></ul>

Labial consonant open-in-new

Labial consonant