Voiceless labial–velar fricative
Consonantal sound
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A voiceless labialâvelar fricative, or more accurately a voiceless labialized velar fricative and sometimes analyzed as a voiceless labialâvelar approximant, is a type of consonantal sound, used in spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is â¨xÊ·â© or, rather ambiguously, â¨Êâ©. The letter â¨Êâ© was defined as a "voiceless [w]" until 1979,[1] when it was defined as a fricative with the place of articulation of [kÍ¡p] the same way that [w] is an approximant with the place of articulation of [É¡Í¡b].[2] The IPA Handbook describes â¨Êâ© as a "fricative" in the introduction,[3] while a chapter within characterizes it as an "approximant".[4]
| Voiceless labialized velar fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| xÊ· | |||
| Ê | |||
| IPA number | 169 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ʍ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+028D | ||
| X-SAMPA | W | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
There has historically been some controversy over whether a voiceless approximant could be distinct from a fricative,[5] but more recent research distinguishes between turbulent (fricative-like) and laminar (vowel- or approximant-like) airflow in the vocal tract.[6] English /Ê/ is an approximant [wÌ¥],[7] a labialized glottal fricative [hÊ·], or an [hw] sequence, not a velar fricative.[8] Scots /Ê/ has been described as a velar fricative,[9] especially in older Scots and peripheral dialects, where it is [xw].[10] Ladefoged and Maddieson were unable to confirm that any language has fricatives produced at two places of articulation, as the term "labialâvelar" implies.[11] They conclude that "if [Ê] is a fricative, it is better described as a voiceless labialized velar fricative".[12]
Features
Features of a voiceless labialized velar fricative:
- Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
- Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips.
- Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
Voiceless labialâvelar fricative
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hupa[13] | xweêy | [xÊ·eËj] | 'his property' | A voiceless labialized velar fricative. | |
| Kabardian | ÑÑ ÑÑ | â | 'five' | In Adyghe, it is pronounced [f]. | |
| Kurdish | Kurmanji (Northern) | Ø®ÙÛØ´Ú© / xwîÅk | [xʷɪÊk] | 'sister' | |
| Kalhori (Southern) | Ø®ÙÛØ´ / xweÅ | [xʷæÊ] | 'nice' | ||
| Lushootseed | dxÊ·Êiyb | [dxÊ·Êib] | 'Newhalem, Washington' | ||
| Persian | Classical Persian | Ø®Ùاست٠/ xwâstän | [xÊ·ÉËs.Ëtan] | 'to want' | In modern standard dialects of Persian, the pronunciation has evolved to a simple Voiceless velar fricative ([x]) sound. |
| Shuswap | secwepemctsÃn | [ÊÉxÊ·ÉpÉmÉxËtÊin] | 'Shuswap language' | ||
| Spanish | Fast speech | juego | [ËxÊ·e.É£ÌoÌ] | 'game' | More commonly [xw]. See Spanish phonology |
| Washo | WáÊi | [ËxÊ·aÊi] or [ËwÌ¥aÊi] | 'he's the one who's doing it' | Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.[citation needed] | |
Voiceless labialâvelar approximant
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleut[14] | Atkan | hwaxÌ | [wÌ¥aÏ] | 'smoke' | |
| Bering | ʼÐaÓ½ | ||||
| English | Received Pronunciation in some Irish and Scottish speakers[15] | whine | [wÌ¥aɪ̯n] | 'whine' | English /Ê/ is generally a labialized velar approximant.[12] It is usually represented phonemically as /hw/, but phonetically it is not a sequence of [h] plus [w] (see English phonology). In General American[16] and New Zealand English[17] only some speakers maintain a distinction with /w/; in Europe, mostly heard in Irish and Scottish accents.[15] See English phonology and pronunciation of English â¨whâ©. |
| Cultivated South African[18] | |||||
| Conservative General American[16] | |||||
| Irish[18][19] | [wÌ¥Êɪ̯n] | ||||
| Scottish[18][20][21] | |||||
| Southern American[22] | [w̥äËn] | ||||
| New Zealand[17][20][23] | [wÌ¥Ée̯n] | ||||
| Kham | Gamale Kham | हà¥à¤µà¤¾ | [wÌ¥É] | 'tooth' | Described as an approximant.[24] |
| Slovene[25][26] | vse | [ËwÌ¥sÉ] | 'everything' | Allophone of /Ê/ in the syllable onset before voiceless consonants, in free variation with a vowel [u]. Voiced [w] before voiced consonants.[25][26] See Slovene phonology. | |
| Washo | WáÊi | [ËxÊ·aÊi] or [ËwÌ¥aÊi] | 'he's the one who's doing it' | Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.[citation needed] | |