Voiceless uvular plosive

A voiceless uvular plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is pronounced like a voiceless velar plosive [k], except that the tongue makes contact not on the soft palate but on the uvula. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is â¨qâ©.

IPA number111

Entity (decimal)q

Unicode (hex)U+0071

X-SAMPAq

Quick facts q, IPA number ...

Voiceless uvular plosive

q

IPA number 111

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Entity (decimal) q

Unicode (hex) U+0071

X-SAMPA q

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Features

Features of a voiceless uvular stop:

Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.
Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
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

Uvular

More information Language, Word ...

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abaza		ÑÑÐ°ÑÓÐ°/qacâa	[qatÍ¡sÊ¼a]	'man'
Adyghe		Ð°ÑÐ°ÐºÑÑ/atÃ¡qa	[ataËqa]^â	'rooster'
Aleut^[1]		ÔÐ¸ÌÐ³Ð°ÔÑ/qiighaxÌ	[qiËÉ£aÏ]	'grass'
Arabic	Modern Standard^[2]	ÙÙØ·/qiá¹á¹	[qitË¤Ë]^â	'cat'	See Arabic phonology
	Hejazi	ÙÙÙÙÙÙØ©/qimma	[qÉªmËa]	'peak'	Allophone of /g/. See Hejazi Arabic phonology
	Gulf^[3]	ØºÙØ¯Ø§Ù/qaden	[qÉdÃ¦n]	'tomorrow'	Corresponds to /É£/ in other dialects.
	Algerian	ØºÙØ¯Ø§Ù/qaden	[qÉdÃ¦n]	'tomorrow'	Corresponds to /É£/ in other dialects.
Assyrian		Ü©Ü/qa	[qa]	'for'	Often realized as a tense /k/^[vague] rather than uvular /q/.
Archi		ÑÑÐ°Ð»/q"Ã¡l	[qaËl]	'human skin'
AvÃ¡-Canoeiro^[4]		[ËqÉËtÃµ]		'this'	Possible realisation of /k/. In the speech of people aged 40 to 80 years, the consonant is in free variation with [qË¤], [qÊ°] and [k] in post-tonic or primarily or secondarily stressed syllables.^[4]
Bashkir		Ò¡Ð°Ò/qaÄ	[qÉÃ°]^â	'goose'
Bengali		à¦à¦²à¦¾à¦à¦¼à¦¾	[Ã¦lÉqÉ]	Ëarea'	Only occurs in loanwords. See Bengali phonology
Chechen		ÐºÑÐ¾Ñ/qoâ	[qÉÊ]	'three'
Chukchi		ÐÑÑÑÐ¼Ð¹ÑÓÑÐ½/nyÄymjyá¸³Ã¨n	[nÉtÍ¡ÊÉmjÉqen]	'bitter'
Crimean Tatar		ÐÑÑÑÑÐ¼/QÄ±rÄ±m	[qÉ¯.rÉ¯m]	'Crimea'
Dawsahak		[qoq]		'dry'
English	Multicultural London^[5]^[6]	cut	[qÊt]	'cut'	Allophone of /k/ before non-high back vowels.^[6]^[7]
English	Non-local Dublin^[8]	back	[bÉq]	'back'	Allophone of /k/ after a retracted vowel for some speakers.^[8]
Eyak		gÌ£u:jih	[qÊËtÊÉªÌ¤]	'wolf'
German	Chemnitz dialect^[9]	Rock	[qÉkÊ°]	'skirt'	In free variation with [ÊÌ], [Ê], [Ï] and [ÊÌ¥].^[9] Does not occur in the coda.^[9]
Greenlandic		illoqarpoq	[iÉ¬ËoqÉppÉq]	'he has a house'	See Greenlandic phonology
Hebrew	Biblical	×§××/qol	[qol]	'voice'	See Biblical Hebrew phonology
	Mizrahi	×§××/qol	[qol]		See Mizrahi Hebrew
	Shar'ab Temani	×§××/qÃ¶l	[qÃ¸Ël]		See Yemenite Hebrew
Hmong	White Hmong	ð¬ð¬°ð¬¦ð¬µ / qub	[quË¦]	'old', 'ancient', 'outdated' or 'archaic'
Hungarian		korom	[qorom]	'soot'	Possible allophone of /k/ before back vowels. See Hungarian phonology
Hindustani	Hindi	à¤¬à¤°à¥à¤à¤¼/barq	[bÉrq]	'lightning'	Mostly in HindiâUrdu loanwords from Arabic, pronounced mainly in Urdu and by educated Hindi speakers, with rural Hindi speakers often pronouncing it as a [k]. See Hindustani phonology^[10]^[11]^[12]
Hindustani	Urdu	Ø¨ÙØ±Ù/barq	[bÉrq]	'lightning'
Ibaloi		kolpot		'cloud'
Inuktitut		áá¦ááááááá/ihipqiuqtuqâ	[ihipÉ¢iuqtuq]	'explore'	See Inuit phonology
Iraqw		qeet	[qeËt]	'break'
Kabardian		ÐºÑÑÐ±ÑÑÐ´ÐµÐ¹/qabardey	[qabardej]^â	'Kabardian'
Kabyle		âµâ´°âµâ´²â´°âµ¢âµâµâµ	[Î¸ÉqÎ²Ã¦jlÉªÎ¸]^â	'Kabyle language'	May be voiced [É¢].
		taqbaylit
		Ø«Ø§ÙÙØ¨ÙÙÙØ«
Kavalan		qaqa	[qaqa]	'elder brother'
Kazakh		ÒÐ°Ð·Ð°ÒÑÑÐ°Ð½/Qazaqstan	[qÉzÉqËstÉn]	'Kazakhstan'	An allophone of /k/ before back vowels
Ket		ÒÐ°Ð½/qan	[qan]	'begin'
Klallam		qÉmtÉm	[qÉmtÉm]	'iron'
Kurdish	Sorani	ÙÙÙØªØ§Ø¨Ø®Ø§ÙÛ/qutabxane	[qutÉbxÉnÉ]	'School'	An allophone of /k/ before back vowels
Kurdish	Kurmanji	Qalikdar	[qÉlÉ¯kdÉr]	'crustacean'	An allophone of /k/ before back vowels
Kutenai		qaykiÅ¥wu	[qajkitÊ¼wu]	'nine'
Kyrgyz		ÐÑÑÐ³ÑÐ·ÑÑÐ°Ð½/QÄ±rÄÄ±zstan	[qÉ¯rÊÉ¯sËstÉn]	'Kyrgyzstan'	An allophone of /k/ before back vowels
Lishan Didan	Urmi Dialect	××§××/aqla	[aqlÉ]	'foot, leg'
Maltese	Archaic Cottonera Dialect	qattus	[qÉËtËuËs]	'cat'
Malto		à¤à¤¼à¤¾à¤¨/qÃ¡n	[qa:n]	'eye'	Corresponds to /x/ in other North Dravidian languages. See Malto language#Phonology.
Nez Perce		ÊawÌlÃwaaÊinpqawtaca	[ÊawËÉªlwaËÊinpqawtatÍ¡sa]	'I go to scoop him up in the fire'
Nivkh		ÑÑÒÑÌ/tÃ¤qÅ	[tÊ²aqrÌ¥]	'three'
Ossetian	Iron	ÐÐ·Ã¦ÑÐ´Ð¶ÑÑÑÃ¦Ñ/ZawjÃ«qaw	[ËzÉÌ¹ÊÌ¯dÍ¡ÊÉªÌqÉÌ¹ÊÌ¯]	'Vladikavkaz'
Persian	Early New Persian	ÙÙÙØ§Ø´ÙÙ/qaÅuq	*/qaËÊuq/	'spoon'	May be allophonicly voiced to [É¢] before a voiced stop. See Persian phonology.
	Dari standard	ÙÙÙØ§Ø´ÙÙ/qaÅuq	[qÉËËÊÊq]
	Tajik standard	ÒÐ¾ÑÑÒ/qoÅuq	[qÉÊuq]
	Some Iranian speakers ^[who?]	ÙÙÙØ±Ø¨Ø§ØºÙ/qurbaÄe	[qurbÉÉ£e]	'frog'	In Western Iranian dialects /q/ and /É£/ have merged into /É¢/. Though some dialects in eastern Iran may preserve the distinction in some words. See Persian phonology.
Quechua^[13]		qallu	[qaÊu]	'tongue'
Sahaptin		qu	[qu]	'heavy'
Seediq		Seediq	[ËseËÊediq]	'Seediq'
Seereer-Siin^[14]		^{[example needed]}	â	â
Shor		ÒÐ°Ð¼/qam	[qÉm]	'shaman'
Somali		qaab	[qaËb]	'shape'	See Somali phonology
StâÃ¡tâimcets		teq	[tÉq]	'to touch'
Tlingit		gÌ±agw	[qÉÌkÊ·]	'tree spine'	Tlingit contrasts six different uvular stops
Tatar		ÐºÐ°Ð¹Ð´Ð°Ð½/qaydan	[qÉj.dÉn]	'from where?'
Tsimshian		gwildmá¸µaÌ±p'a	[É¡Ê·ildmqÉpÊ¼a]	'tobacco'
Turkmen		ak	[É:q]	'white'	Allophone of /k/ next to back vowels
Ubykh		qhÃ«	[qÊ°É]	'grave'	One of ten distinct uvular stop phonemes. See Ubykh phonology
Uyghur		Ø¦Ø§Ù/aq	[Éq]	'white'
Yup'ik		meq	[mÉq]	'fresh water'
Yukaghir	Northern	Ð¼Ð°Ð°ÑÑ/mÃ¡rq	[maËrq]	'one'
Yukaghir	Southern	Ð°ÑÐ°ÑÐ»/ataql	[ataql]	'two'
!XÃ³Ãµ		ÇqhÃ¡Ã¡	[ÇÍ¡qÊ°ÉÌË]^â	'to smooth'

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Pre-uvular

Quick facts qá«, kÌ ...

Voiceless post-velar or pre-uvular plosive
qá«
kÌ
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There is also a voiceless post-velar or pre-uvular plosive^[15] in some languages, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical uvular consonant, though not as front as the prototypical velar consonant. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, though it can be transcribed as â¨qÌâ© or â¨qá«â© (both symbols denote an advanced â¨qâ©) or â¨kÌ â© (a retracted â¨kâ©).

More information Language, Word ...

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	Australian^[16]	caught	[á¸µÊ°oËt]	'caught'	Pre-uvular; allophone of /k/ before /Ê oË É oÉª ÊÉ/.^[16] See Australian English phonology
Uzbek^[17]		qol	[qÌoÉ«]	'arm'	Pre-uvular; sometimes realized as an affricate [qÍ¡ÏË].^[17]
Western Neo-Aramaic	Bakh'a	^{[example needed]}			Pre-uvular, though in Ma'loula it is slightly more front.
Western Neo-Aramaic	Ma'loula	^{[example needed]}			Pre-uvular, though in Ma'loula it is slightly more front.

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Notes

[1]
Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
[2]
Watson (2002), p. 13.
[3]
Qafisheh (1977), p. 266.
[4]
Silva (2015), p. 39.
[5]
Torgersen, Kerswill & Fox (2007).
[6]
"John Wells's phonetic blog: k-backing". 27 July 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
[7]
Cheshire, Jenny; Kerswill, Paul; Fox, Sue; Torgersen, Eivind (2011-04-01). "Contact, the feature pool and the speech community: The emergence of Multicultural London English" (PDF). Journal of Sociolinguistics. 15 (2): 151â196. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00478.x. ISSN 1467-9841. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
[8]
"Glossary". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
[9]
Khan & Weise (2013), p. 235.
[10]
Shapiro, Michael C. (1989). A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 20. ISBN 978-81-208-0508-8. In addition to the basic consonantal sounds discussed in sections 3.1 and 3.2, many speakers use any or all five additional consonants (à¤à¤¼ á¸³, à¤à¤¼ á¸³h,à¤à¤¼ Ä¡, à¤à¤¼ z, à¤«à¤¼ f) in words of foreign origin (primarily from Persian, Arabic, English, and Portuguese). The last two of these, à¤à¤¼ z and à¤«à¤¼ f, are the initial sounds in English zig and fig respectively. The consonant à¤à¤¼ á¸³ is a voiceless uvular stop, somewhat like k, but pronounced further back in the mouth. à¤à¤¼ á¸³h is a voiceless fricative similar in pronunciation to the final sound of the German ach. à¤à¤¼ Ä¡ is generally pronounced as a voiceless uvular fricative, although it is occasionally heard as a stop rather than a fricative. In devanÄgari each of these five sounds is represented by the use of a subscript dot under one of the basic consonant signs. In practice, however, the dot is often omitted, leaving it to the reader to render the correct pronunciation on the basis of his prior knowledge of the language.
[11]
Morelli, Sarah (20 December 2019). A Guru's Journey: Pandit Chitresh Das and Indian Classical Dance in Diaspora. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-05172-2. Hindi has a nasal sound roughly equivalent to the n in the English sang, transliterated here as á¹ or á¹, and has two slightly differing sh sounds, transliterated as Å and á¹£. ... A few words contain consonantsâ¦from Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, and English: à¤à¤¼ (Ù) is transliterated as q, à¤à¤¼ (Ø®) as kh, à¤à¤¼ (Øº) as g, à¤à¤¼ (Ø¸ ,Ø², or Ø¶) as z, à¤à¤¼ (Ú) as zh, and à¤«à¤¼ (Ù) as f.
[12]
Kulshreshtha, Manisha; Mathur, Ramkumar (24 March 2012). Dialect Accent Features for Establishing Speaker Identity: A Case Study. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4614-1137-6. A few sounds, borrowed from the other languages like Persian and Arabic, are written with a dot (bindu or nukta) as shown in Table 2.2. â¦those who come from rural backgrounds and do not speak really good Khariboli, pronounce these sounds as the nearest equivalents in Hindi.
[13]
Ladefoged (2005), p. 149.
[14]
Mc Laughlin (2005), p. 203.
[15]
Instead of "pre-uvular", it can be called "advanced uvular", "fronted uvular", "post-velar", "retracted velar" or "backed velar". For simplicity, this article uses only the term "pre-uvular".
[16]
Mannell, Cox & Harrington (2009).
[17]
Sjoberg (1963), p. 11.

Voiceless uvular plosive

Features

Occurrence

Uvular

Pre-uvular

See also

Notes

References

External links

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