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Grapheme Data for /b/ and Related Phonemes

/b/ - voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
apd-Latn <b> baab ‘door’
ar-Arab <ب> مكتبه ‘his office’
ast-Latn <b> bobu ‘fool’Sound is often close to /β/
ast-Latn <v> viaxar ‘to travel’
bcy-Latn <b> baltə ‘plait’
bec-Latn <b> bem ‘slow’, obe ‘law’, cɛb ‘true’
blt-Tavt <> ꪚꪲꪙ ‘to fly’low tone series (syll. init.)
blt-Tavt <> ꪛꪱꪥ ꪵꪮꪚ ‘lesson’high tone series (syll. init.)
de-Latn <bb> Ebbe ‘ebb’, abbrechen ‘abort’
de-Latn <b> bleiben ‘stay’, Weib ‘woman’Pronounced [p] when syllable final
dv-Thaa <ބ> ބައި
dv-Thaa <އ◌ް> ލައްބަOccurs before ‹ބ› to indicate a geminate.
en-Latn <b> but
es-Latn <b> boca ‘mouth’Sound is often close to [β]
es-Latn <v> vivir ‘to live’
fub-Arab <ب> بَاوْطٜ ‘authority’, دؚمْبَاغٛ ‘to shake’, شُبْ ‘early’, نجَابٜ! ‘answer! (pl)’
fub-Latn <b> baawɗe ‘authority’, dimbaago ‘to shake’, cub ‘early’, njaabe! ‘answer! (pl)’
ha-Latn <b> baki ‘mouth’
id-Latn <b> bubur ‘porridge’
ii-Latn <bb> bba ‘bring’
lbw-Latn <b> baka ‘molar’, bibi ‘lip’Edwards chose the voiced {em:implosive} stop as the phoneme rather than the voiced plosive.
nat-Latn <b> bisina̱ ‘chest’, bita ‘shoot’
ne-Deva <> बाघ ‘tiger’
png-Latn <b> ba̱ba, basana
ru-Cyrl <б> бок ‘side’Preceding either ‹а, о, э, у, ы› or a voiced consonant
ru-Cyrl <п> апде́йт ‘update’Preceding a voiced consonant (except for ‹л, м, н, р, в›)
srr-Arab <ب> بࣷوبْ ‘straw’
srr-Latn <b> boob ‘straw’
wo-Arab <ب> بࣹنَّ ‘one’
wo-Latn <b> benna ‘one’
xnz-Copt <>
xnz-Latn <b>
yba-Latn <b> aba

/bʰ/ - aspirated voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
ne-Deva <> सम्भब ‘possible’

/bʷ/ - labialized voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
bec-Latn <bw> bwap ‘broad’, ɛbwal ‘baggy’
nat-Latn <bw> a̱bwiisa̱ ‘squirrel’, bwa ‘child’
png-Latn <bw> bwe̱, bware̱

/bʲ/ - palatalized voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
bcy-Latn <by> byele ‘talking’
nat-Latn <by> byatwo ‘medicine’, manobye ‘oil’
png-Latn <by> bya, byaga
ru-Cyrl <бь> бью ‘beat’Preceding a vowel or a voiced consonant (except for ‹л, м, н, р, в›)
ru-Cyrl <б> бе́лый ‘white’Preceding either ‹я, ё, е, ю, и

/ᵐb/ - prenasalized voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
bcy-Latn <mb> mbaga ‘ram’
bec-Latn <mbw> okumbwe ‘storm’Labialised in environment u_e
bec-Latn <mb> mbɛla ‘heap up’, itimbe ‘house’, ɛvamb ‘antelope’
dv-Thaa <ނބ> އަނބުIn older orthography not distinguished from a bilabial voiced stop and thus written ‹ބ›.
fub-Arab <نب> مبَرُغٛ ‘to kill’, ڢٛمبِنَ ‘south’
fub-Latn <mb> mbarugo ‘to kill’, fombina ‘south’
ii-Latn <nb> nbie ‘resist’
lbw-Latn <mb> mbule ‘return’, omba ‘four’
png-Latn <mb> mba̱sa̱ra̱, zumba̱
srr-Arab <مب> مبَالْ ‘sheep’, مبَامبِرْ ‘in front of’, خࣷمبْ ‘turtle’
srr-Latn <mb> mbaal ‘sheep’, mbaambir ‘in front of’, xomb ‘turtle’
wo-Arab <مب> مبَامْ ‘pig’
wo-Latn <mb> mbaam ‘pig’

/bⁿʷ/ - labialized prenasalized voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
png-Latn <mbw> mbwaata, bimbwa

/bⁿʲ/ - palatalized prenasalized voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
png-Latn <mby> ambyau

/bː/ - geminate voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
ar-Arab <ب◌ّ> تنبّؤ ‘prediction’
fub-Arab <ب◌ّ> دَبَّاجِ
wo-Arab <ب◌ّ> مبُبّ ‘gown, costume’
wo-Latn <bb> mbubb ‘gown, costume’

/ɓ/ - voiced bilabial implosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
bcy-Latn <ɓ> ɓole ‘rain’
fub-Arab <> ࢡَندُ ‘body’, حَࢡْرٜ ‘fight’, ࢡِࢡّٜ ‘offspring’, حُووٛوࢡٜ ‘workers’
fub-Latn <ɓ> ɓandu ‘body’, haɓre ‘fight’, ɓiɓɓe ‘offspring’, huuwooɓe ‘workers’
ha-Latn <ɓ> ɓarawo ‘thief’
srr-Arab <> ࢠَاکْ ‘baobab fruit’, ݝࣷوبْ ‘narrow’
srr-Latn <ɓ> ɓaak ‘baobab fruit’, ŋoob ‘narrow’

/ɓː/ - geminate voiced bilabial implosive

Writing SystemGraphemeExampleNotes
fub-Arab <◌ّ> بِٔبّٜٔ

/bʱ/ - breathy voiced bilabial plosive

None

Double articulations involving /b/ - voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemPhonemeGraphemeExampleNotes
bcy-Latn/g͡b/ <gb> gbel ‘near’
bec-Latn/g͡b/ <gb> gbeli ‘clear’, ogbologbo ‘dragonfly’
bec-Latn/ᵑg͡b/ <mgb> mgbʉwa ‘crash’, kpʉmgbɛlɛ ‘approach’
png-Latn/g͡b/ <gb> gbangara, gbu

Sequences including /b/ - voiced bilabial plosive

Writing SystemPhoneme SequenceGraphemeExampleNotes
ii-Yiii/be/ <> ꁖꐎ ‘chestnut’
ii-Yiii/be/ <> ꁗꏒ ‘scatter’
ii-Yiii/be/ <> ꋍꁘꋍꁘꃅ ‘step by step’
ii-Yiii/be/ <> ꃮꐔꁙ ‘a pile of pig feces’
ii-Yiii/be̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/be̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/be̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/be̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/bä̙/ <> ꁞꆔꀕ ‘tender’
ii-Yiii/bä̙/ <> ꀟꑻ ‘sleek’
ii-Yiii/bä̙/ <> ꁠꐤ ‘tube’
ii-Yiii/bä̙/ <> ꁡꇤ ‘village’
ii-Yiii/bo̙/ <> ꁢꊧ ‘purpose’
ii-Yiii/bo̙/ <> ꁣꀕꃅ ‘clearly’
ii-Yiii/bo̙/ <> ꁤꇅ ‘bright’
ii-Yiii/bo/ <> ꊿꁥ ‘a group of people’
ii-Yiii/bo/ <> ꁦꋠ ‘man’
ii-Yiii/bo/ <> ‘mountain’
ii-Yiii/bo/ <> ‘own’
ii-Yiii/bɤ/ <>
ii-Yiii/bɤ/ <> ꀊꁪ ‘oh!’
ii-Yiii/bɤ/ <>
ii-Yiii/bʉ̙/ <> ꁬꃷ ‘ant’
ii-Yiii/bʉ/ <> ꁭꑌ ‘yak’
ii-Yiii/bʉ/ <> ꁮꏂ ‘snake’
ii-Yiii/bʉ/ <> ꁯꄸꃬꑇ ‘centipede’
ii-Yiii/bʉ̙/ <> ꁰꇨ ‘hard’
ii-Yiii/bʉ̙/ <> ꁱꐭ ‘speak’
ii-Yiii/bɨ̙/ <> ‘afterbirth’
ii-Yiii/bɨ/ <> ꉢꁳ ‘give to me’
ii-Yiii/bɨ/ <> ꁴꇖ ‘tight’
ii-Yiii/bɨ/ <> ‘give’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe/ <> ‘leech’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe/ <> ꁷꎸ ‘portion out’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe/ <> ꁸꑌꑣꑌ ‘fairly’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe/ <> ‘be a guest’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe̙/ <> ꉹꁻ ‘shoot an arrow’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbe̙/ <> ꄰꁼꏿ ‘decisive’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbä̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbä̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbä̙/ <> ‘cover’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbä̙/ <> ꁡꑍꅉ ‘pitiful’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbo/ <> ‘hide’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbo/ <> ꃼꂂ ‘skillful’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbo/ <> ‘skirt’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbo/ <> ‘good’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ̙/ <> ꉌꂵꂅ ‘be uncomfortable’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ/ <> ꃬꀮꂇ ‘a rooster crows’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbʉ̙/ <> ‘full’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ̙/ <> ‘overflow’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ/ <> ꀨꂍ ‘tree sp.’
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ̙/ <>
ii-Yiii/ᵐbɨ̙/ <> ‘peel’

None