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 or, rather ambiguously, . The letter was defined as a "voiceless " until 1979, when it was defined as a fricative with the place of articulation of the same way that is an approximant with the place of articulation of . The IPA Handbook describes as a "fricative" in the introduction,IPA 1999: ix while a chapter within characterizes it as an "approximant".IPA 1999: 136
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 is an approximant ,For instance, Lyle Campbell (2020) Historical Linguistics, 4th edition, page xxii. a labialized glottal fricative , or a sequence, not a velar fricative. Scots has been described as a velar fricative, especially in older Scots and peripheral dialects, where it is . 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 'his property' A voiceless labialized velar fricative. Kabardian 'five' Corresponds to in Adyghe. Kurdish Kurmanji (Northern) / 'sister' Kalhori (Southern) / 'nice' Lushootseed 'Newhalem, Washington' Persian Classical Persian / 'to want' In modern standard dialects of Persian, the pronunciation has evolved to a simple Voiceless velar fricative () sound. Shuswap 'Shuswap language' Spanish juego 'game' In rapid speech. More commonly . See Spanish phonologyWasho or 'he's the one who's doing it' Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.
Voiceless labial–velar approximant Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Aleut Atkan 'smoke' Bering English Received Pronunciation in some Irish and Scottish speakers whine 'whine' English is generally a labialized velar approximant. It is usually represented phonemically as , but phonetically it is not a sequence of plus (see English phonology). In General American and New Zealand English only some speakers maintain a distinction with ; in Europe, mostly heard in Irish and Scottish accents. See English phonology and pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩. Cultivated South African Conservative General American Irish Scottish Southern American New Zealand Kham Gamale Kham 'tooth' Described as an approximant. Slovene 'everything' Allophone of in the syllable onset before voiceless consonants, in free variation with a vowel . Voiced before voiced consonants. See Slovene phonology.Washo or 'he's the one who's doing it' Variously described as a labialized velar fricative or a voiceless approximant.
See also Index of phonetics articles Hwair Wh (digraph) Wine–whine merger
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