Voiceless labial–velar fricative
Consonantal sound
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A voiceless labial–velar fricative, or more accurately a voiceless labialized velar fricative and sometimes analyzed as a voiceless labial–velar approximant, is a type of consonantal sound, used in spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨xʷ⟩ or, rather ambiguously, ⟨ʍ⟩. The letter ⟨ʍ⟩ was defined as a "voiceless [w]" until 1979,[1] when it was defined as a fricative with the place of articulation of [k͡p] the same way that [w] is an approximant with the place of articulation of [ɡ͡b].[2] The IPA Handbook describes ⟨ʍ⟩ as a "fricative" in the introduction,[3] while a chapter within characterizes it as an "approximant".[4]
| Voiceless labialized velar fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| xʷ | |||
| ʍ | |||
| IPA number | 169 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ʍ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+028D | ||
| X-SAMPA | W | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
There was once 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 /ʍ/ is an approximant [w̥],[7] a labialized glottal fricative [hʷ], or an [hw] sequence, not a velar fricative.[8] Scots /ʍ/ 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 "labial–velar" implies.[11] They conclude that "if [ʍ] 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 labial–velar fricative
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hupa[13] | xwe꞉y | [xʷeːj] | 'his property' | A voiceless labialized velar fricative. | |
| Kabardian | тхуы | ⓘ | 'five' | In Adyghe, it is pronounced [f]. | |
| Kurdish | Kurmanji (Northern) | خویشک / xwîşk | [xʷɪʃk] | 'sister' | |
| Kalhori (Southern) | خوەش / xweş | [xʷæʃ] | 'nice' | ||
| Lushootseed | dxʷʔiyb | [dxʷʔib] | 'Newhalem, Washington' | ||
| Persian | Classical Persian | خواستن / xwâstän | [xʷɑːs.ˈtan] | 'to want' | In modern standard dialects of Persian, the pronunciation has evolved to a simple Voiceless velar fricative ([x]) sound. |
| Shuswap | secwepemctsín | [ʃəxʷəpəməxˈtʃin] | 'Shuswap language' | ||
| Spanish | Fast speech | juego | [ˈxʷe.ɣ̞o̞] | 'game' | More commonly [xw]. See Spanish phonology |
| Washo | Wáʔi | [ˈxʷaʔi] or [ˈw̥aʔi] | 'he's the one who's doing it' | Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.[citation needed] | |
Voiceless labial–velar approximant
| Family | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eskimo-Aleut | Aleut[14] | Atkan | hwax̂ | [w̥aχ] | 'smoke' | |
| Bering | ʼЎaӽ | |||||
| Germanic | English | Conservative Received Pronunciation[15] | whine | [w̥aɪ̯n] | 'whine' | English /ʍ/ 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 phonological history of wh. |
| Cultivated South African[18] | ||||||
| Conservative General American[16] | ||||||
| Irish[18][19] | [w̥ʌɪ̯n] | |||||
| Scottish[18][20][21] | ||||||
| Southern American[22] | [w̥äːn] | |||||
| New Zealand[17][20][23] | [w̥ɑe̯n] | |||||
| Sino-Tibetan | Kham | Gamale Kham | ह्वा | [w̥ɐ] | 'tooth' | Described as an approximant.[24] |
| Slavic | Slovene[25][26] | vse | [ˈw̥sɛ] | 'everything' | Allophone of /ʋ/ 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 (isolate) | Wáʔi | [ˈxʷaʔi] or [ˈw̥aʔi] | 'he's the one who's doing it' | Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.[citation needed] | ||