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 spokenlanguages. 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]
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 /ʍ/ is an approximant [w̥],[7] a labialized glottal fricative [hʷ], or a [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.
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 pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩.
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.
Association phonétique internationale (1952). "The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 1951)". Le Maître Phonétique. Troisième série. 30 (97). Front matter. JSTOR44748475.
International Phonetic Association (1978). "The International Phonetic Alphabet (Revised to 1979)". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 8 (1–2). Supplement. JSTOR44541414.
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. ISBN978-5-09-002312-2.
International Phonetic Association (1999), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-65236-7
Johnston, Paul (1997), "Regional Variation", in Jones, Charles (ed.), The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.433–513, ISBN978-0-7486-0754-9, JSTOR10.3366/j.ctvxcrwhq.15
Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, ISBN3-11-016746-8
Ladefoged, Peter (2006), A Course in Phonetics (5thed.), Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers
Shadle, Christine (2000), "The Aerodynamics of Speech", in Hardcastle, W. J.; Laver, J. (eds.), Handbook of Phonetic Sciences, Blackwell, ISBN0-631-18848-7
Šuštaršič, Rastislav; Komar, Smiljana; Petek, Bojan (1999), "Slovene", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.135–139, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, ISBN0-521-65236-7, S2CID249404451