The voiceless labial–velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in spokenlanguages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨xʷ⟩ or occasionally ⟨ʍ⟩. The letter ⟨ʍ⟩ was defined as a voiceless [w̥] 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]. However, the IPA Handbook treats it as both a "fricative" (IPA 1999: ix).
Some linguists posit voiceless approximants distinct from voiceless fricatives. To them, English /ʍ/ is an approximant [w̥],[1] a labialized glottal fricative [hʷ], or an [hw] sequence, not a velar fricative.[2]Scots/ʍ/ has been described as a velar fricative,[3] especially in older Scots, where it was [xw].[4] Other linguists believe that a "voiceless approximant" is a contradiction in terms, and so [w̥] must be the same as [xʷ]. Ladefoged and Maddieson were unable to confirm that any language has fricatives produced at two places of articulation, like labial and velar.[5] They conclude that "if it is a fricative, it is better described as a voiceless labialized velar fricative".[6]
Its manner of articulationisfricative, 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 labio-velar fricative or approximant.[2] It is usually represented phonemically as /hw/, but phonetically there is not a sequence of [h] plus [w] (see English phonology). In General American[9] and New Zealand English[10] only some speakers maintain a distinction with /w/; in Europe, mostly heard in Irish and Scottish accents.[8] See English phonology and phonological history of wh.
Allophone of /ʋ/ in the syllable onset before voiceless consonants, in free variation with a vowel [u]. Voiced [w] before voiced consonants.[19][20] See Slovene phonology.
^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 (5th ed.), Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers
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
