Voiced means that the vocal folds are vibrating.

Velar refers to your soft palate, so velar sounds are produced when the back part of your tongue articulates with your soft palate. You can feel your soft palate with your tongue if you begin by placing your tongue on your hard palate. Trace it towards the back of your mouth and you should eventually feel a slight change in texture as your tongue hits the softer surface of your soft palate. It should feel like a “drop off,” except your soft palate is actually higher than your hard palate.

Stop means that there is a complete block of air when the sound is produced, so no air escapes.

Below we have listed some examples of words that contain a Voiced Velar Stop. We have also included the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription and the audio recording of each example for your convenience.

Garden = [gaɹdɪn]

Gap = [gæp]

American English IPA Consonants Go here to view all of the American English IPA consonants in their sound classification chart.

Voiceless Velar Stop Go here to learn about the next sound classification category on our list.