A game we have on the ZBB. You write a word in IPA or SAMPA and make sound changes in it. It's fun to look at the end result. You may only make one sound change at a time.

/ˈpæ.ɹəˌlaɪz.iŋ/

Velarisation of obstruents except before front vowels:
[ˈpæ.ɹəˌlˠaɪz.iŋˠ]

l and ŋ are not obstruents. They're sonorants.

Velarisation of sonorants except before front vowels:
[ˈpæ.ɹˠəˌlˠaɪz.iŋˠ]


Fixed.

Implosivation (?) of word-initial stops:

[ˈɓæ.ɹˠəˌlˠaɪz.iŋˠ]

off-topic: I can't understand how to velarize consonants. I know what the velum is, and I know how to pronounce velar consonants, but I can't understand how to velarize stuff like [ɹ l ŋ], among others... Specially [ŋ] which is already velar.

It's like pronuncing them with a ɣ after. Really, it's no harder than palatalizing.

That's the symbol used (superscript ˠ) but I would actually say it's more like pronouncing a simultaneous [ɰ] with the consonant. I would also say it appears to be more difficult than palatalization, or at least less distinctive because it's rarer. Palatalization is pretty common among the world's languages.

And with that:

Vocalization of [lˠ] to [w].

[ˈɓæ.ɹˠəˌwaɪz.iŋˠ]

[ˈɓæ.ɹˠəˌwæz.iŋˠ]

See wut I did ther?

Shifted [aɪ] to [æ].

[ˈɓæ.ɹˠəˌwæʑ.iŋˠ]

I'm a native American English speaker, which means I apparently velarize my /l/ when it's at the end of a word. But I still have no clue how to velarize consonants either.


Well, [ɣ] is often used to represent the velar approximant anyway so maybe that's what the IPA makers were thinking of.