Velarization

Velarization or velarisation is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, velarization is transcribed by one of four diacritics:

• A tilde or swung dash through the letter U+0334 ◌̴ COMBINING TILDE OVERLAY covers velarization, uvularization and pharyngealization, as in [ɫ] (the velarized equivalent of [l])
• A superscript Latin gamma U+02E0 ˠ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL GAMMA after the letter standing for the velarized consonant, as in ⟨tˠ⟩ (a velarized [t])
• To distinguish velarization from a velar fricative release, U+1D5A ᵚ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL TURNED M may be used instead of ⟨ˠ⟩, as in ⟨pᵚ⟩
• A superscript ⟨w⟩ U+02B7 ʷ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL W may be used to indicate simultaneous velarization with labialization, as in ⟨sʷ⟩, but is often used more broadly for protruded labialization, without specifying velarization.

Although electropalatographic studies have shown that there is a continuum of possible degrees of velarization, the IPA does not specify any way to indicate degrees of velarization, as the difference has not been found to be contrastive in any language. However, the IPA convention of doubling diacritics to indicate a greater degree can be used: ⟨ˠˠ⟩.