Voiceless labial–velar fricative

Voiceless labialized velar fricative
xʷ
ʍ
IPA number169
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ʍ
Unicode (hex)U+028D
X-SAMPAW
Braille⠖ (braille pattern dots-235) ⠺ (braille pattern dots-2456)
Voiceless labial–velar approximant
w̥
ʍ

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, 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]. The IPA Handbook describes ⟨ʍ⟩ as a "fricative" in the introduction, while a chapter within characterizes it as an "approximant".

There has historically been some controversy over whether a voiceless approximant could be distinct from a fricative, but more recent research distinguishes between turbulent (fricative-like) and laminar (vowel- or approximant-like) airflow in the vocal tract. English /ʍ/ is an approximant [w̥], a labialized glottal fricative [hʷ], or a [hw] sequence, not a velar fricative. Scots /ʍ/ has been described as a velar fricative, especially in older Scots and peripheral dialects, where it is [xw]. Ladefoged and Maddieson were unable to confirm that any language has fricatives produced at two places of articulation, as the term "labial–velar" implies. They conclude that "if [ʍ] is a fricative, it is better described as a voiceless labialized velar fricative".

Features

Features of a voiceless labialized velar fricative:

Occurrence

Voiceless labial–velar fricative

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Hupa xwe꞉y [xʷeːj] 'his property' A voiceless labialized velar fricative.
Kabardian тхуы [txʷə]ⓘ 'five' Corresponds to [f] in Adyghe.
Kurdish Kurmanji (Northern) خویشک / xwîşk [xʷɪʃk] 'sister'
Kalhori (Southern) خوەش / xweş [xʷæʃ] 'nice'
Lushootseed dxʷʔiyb [dxʷʔib] 'Newhalem, Washington'
Nuxalk cwtʼ [xʷtʼ] 'to fall in, collapse'
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 juego [ˈxʷe.ɣ̞o̞] 'game' In rapid speech. 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

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Aleut Atkan hwax̂ [w̥aχ] 'smoke'
Bering ʼЎaӽ
English Received Pronunciation in some Irish and Scottish speakers whine [w̥aɪ̯n] 'whine' English /ʍ/ is generally a labialized velar approximant. It is usually represented phonemically as /hw/, but phonetically it is not a sequence of [h] plus [w] (see English phonology). In General American and New Zealand English only some speakers maintain a distinction with /w/; in Europe, mostly heard in Irish and Scottish accents. See English phonology and pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩.
Cultivated South African
Conservative General American
Irish [w̥ʌɪ̯n]
Scottish
Southern American [w̥äːn]
New Zealand [w̥ɑe̯n]
Kham Gamale Kham ह्वा [w̥ɐ] 'tooth' Described as an approximant.
Slovene 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. See Slovene 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]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Association phonétique internationale (1952). "The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 1951)". Le Maître Phonétique. Troisième série. 30 (97). Front matter. JSTOR 44748475.
  2. ↑ International Phonetic Association (1978). "The International Phonetic Alphabet (Revised to 1979)". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 8 (1–2). Supplement. JSTOR 44541414.
  3. ↑ IPA 1999: ix
  4. ↑ IPA 1999: 136
  5. ↑ Pike (1943), pp. 71, 138–39.
  6. ↑ Shadle (2000), pp. 37–38.
  7. ↑ For instance, Lyle Campbell (2020) Historical Linguistics, 4th edition, page xxii.
  8. ↑ Ladefoged (2006), p. 68.
  9. ↑ International Phonetic Association (1999), p. 22.
  10. ↑ Johnston (1997), pp. 499, 504, 507, 510.
  11. ↑ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 330–2.
  12. 1 2 Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 326.
  13. ↑ Golla, Victor (1996). "Hupa Language Dictionary Second Edition". Retrieved Oct 31, 2021.
  14. ↑ Головко, Е. В. (1994). Словарь алеутско-русский и русско-алеутский (беринговский диалект) [Aleut-Russian and Russian-Aleut Dictionary (Bering dialect)]. Отд-ние изд-ва "Просвещение". p. 14. ISBN 978-5-09-002312-2.
  15. 1 2 "Received Pronunciation Phonology". Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  16. 1 2 Rogers (2000), p. 120.
  17. 1 2 Rogers (2000), p. 117.
  18. 1 2 3 Lass (2002), p. 121.
  19. ↑ Wells (1982), p. 432.
  20. 1 2 McMahon (2002), p. 31.
  21. ↑ Wells (1982), p. 408.
  22. ↑ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006).
  23. ↑ Wells (1982), p. 610.
  24. ↑ Wilde (2016).
  25. 1 2 Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999), p. 136.
  26. 1 2 Greenberg (2006), p. 18.

References