Voiced velar affricate

The voiced velar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in very few spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨ɡ͡ɣ⟩ and ⟨ɡ͜ɣ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is g_G. The tie bar may be omitted, yielding ⟨ɡɣ⟩ in the IPA and gG in X-SAMPA.

The voiced velar affricate has not been reported to occur phonemically in any language, but it is reported as an allophone of /g/ (usually realized as a voiced velar plosive) in some dialects of Anglo-English.

Features of the voiced velar affricate:

• Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

• List of languages with [ɡɣ] on PHOIBLE