Voiceless velar fricative

The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in loch, broch or saugh (willow).

Voiceless velar fricative
x
IPA Number140
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)x
Unicode (hex)U+0078
X-SAMPAx
Braille⠭ (braille pattern dots-1346)
Voiceless velar approximant
ɰ̊
IPA Number154 402A
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɰ​̊
Unicode (hex)U+0270 U+030A
X-SAMPAM\_0

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨x⟩, the Latin letter x. It is also used in broad transcription instead of the symbol ⟨χ⟩, the Greek chi, for the voiceless uvular fricative.

There is also a voiceless post-velar fricative (also called pre-uvular) in some languages, which can be transcribed as [x̠] or [χ̟]. For voiceless pre-velar fricative (also called post-palatal), see voiceless palatal fricative.

Some scholars also posit the voiceless velar approximant distinct from the fricative, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɰ̊⟩, but this symbol is not suitable in case of the voiceless velar approximant that is unspecified for rounding (the sound represented by the symbol ⟨ɰ̊⟩ is specified as unrounded), which is best transcribed as ⟨x̞⟩, ⟨ɣ̞̊⟩ or ⟨ɣ̊˕⟩ - see voiced velar approximant.

The velar approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the voiceless variant of the close back unrounded vowel ⟨ɯ̊⟩.

Features

Features of the voiceless 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 velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Varieties
IPADescription
xplain velar fricative
xʷlabialised
xʼejective
xʷʼejective labialised
x̜ʷsemi-labialised
x̹ʷstrongly labialised
xʲpalatalised
xʲʼejective palatalised

Occurrence

The voiceless velar fricative and its labialized variety are postulated to have occurred in Proto-Germanic, the ancestor of the Germanic languages, as the reflex of the Proto-Indo-European voiceless palatal and velar stops and the labialized voiceless velar stop. Thus Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥nom "horn" and *kʷód "what" became Proto-Germanic *hurnan and *hwat, where *h and *hw were likely [x] and [xʷ]. This sound change is part of Grimm's law.

In Modern Greek, the voiceless velar fricative (with its allophone, the voiceless palatal fricative [ç], occurring before front vowels) originated from the Ancient Greek voiceless aspirated stop /kʰ/ in a sound change that lenited Greek aspirated stops into fricatives.

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Abazaхьзы / kh'zy[xʲzə]'name'
Adygheхы / khy[xəː]ⓘ'six'
Afrikaansgroot[χrʊət]'big'
Albaniangjuha[ɟuxɑ]'language'Allophone of /h/. See Albanian phonology
AleutAtkan dialectalax[ɑlɑx]'two'
ArabicModern Standardﺧﻀراء[xadˤraːʔ]'green' (f.)May be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect.[1] See Arabic phonology
Assameseঅসমীয়া[ɔxɔmia]'Assamese'
Assyrianܚܡܫܐ ḳemša[xεmʃa]'five'
Avarчeхь / ҫeẋ[tʃex]'belly'
Azerbaijanixoş / хош/ﺧﻮش[xoʃ]'pleasant'
BasqueSome speakers[2]jan[xän]'to eat'Either velar or post-velar.[2] For other speakers it's [j ~ ʝ ~ ɟ].[3]
Brahui[4]ﺧﻦ[xan]'eye'Corresponds to /x/ in Kurukh and /q/ in Malto.
Bretonhor c'hi[hor xiː]'our dog'
Bulgarianтихо / tiho[ˈt̪ixo]ⓘ'quietly'Described as having "only slight friction" ([x̞]).[5]
Catalankharja[ˈxɑɾ(d)ʑɐ]'kharjah'Found in loanwords and interjections. See Catalan phonology
Chechenхан / xan[xɑːn]'time'
ChineseMandarin河 / hé[xɤ˧˥]'river'See Standard Chinese phonology
Czechchlap[xlap]'guy'See Czech phonology
DanishSouthern Jutlandickage[ˈkʰaːx]'cake'See Sønderjysk dialect
DutchStandard Belgian[6][7]acht[ɑxt]'eight'May be post-palatal [ç̠] instead. In dialects spoken above the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Waal the corresponding sound is a postvelar-uvular fricative trill [ʀ̝̊˖].[7] See Dutch phonology and Hard and soft G in Dutch
Southern Netherlands accents[7][8]
EnglishScottishloch[ɫɔx]'loch'Younger speakers may merge this sound with /k/.[9][10] See Scottish English phonology
Irishlough[lɑx]'lough'Occurs only in Gaelic borrowings. See Irish English phonology
Scouse[11]book[bʉːx]'book'A syllable-final allophone of /k/ (lenition).
Esperantomonaĥo[moˈnaxo]'monk'See Esperanto phonology
Estonianjah[jɑx]'yes'Allophone of /h/. See Estonian phonology
Eyakduxł[tʊxɬ]'traps'
Finnishkahvi[ˈkɑxʋi]'coffee'Allophone of /h/. See Finnish phonology
Frenchjota[xɔta]'jota'Occurs only in loanwords (from Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, etc.). See French phonology
Georgian[12]ჯოხი / joxi[ˈdʒɔxi]'stick'
GermanBuch[buːx]ⓘ'book'See Standard German phonology
Greekτέχνη / téchnî[ˈte̞xni]'art'See Modern Greek phonology
HebrewBiblicalמִיכָאֵל/micha'el[mixaʔel]'Michael'See Biblical Hebrew phonology
Hindustani Hindi ख़ुशी/khushii/k͟hushī [xʊʃiː] 'happiness' Occurs only in loanwords. May be replaced in Hindi with /kʰ/. See Hindustani phonology
Urdu ﺧﻮشی/khushii/k͟hushī
Hungariansahhal[ʃɒxːɒl]'with a shah'See Hungarian phonology
Icelandicoktóber[ˈɔxtoːupɛr̥]'October'See Icelandic phonology
Indonesiankhas[xas]'typical'Occurs in Arabic loanwords. Often pronounced as [h] or [k] by some Indonesians. See Indonesian phonology
Irishdeoch[dʲɔ̝̈x]'drink'See Irish phonology
Japaneseマッハ / mahha[maxːa]'Mach'Allophone of /h/.[13] See Japanese phonology
Kabardianхы / khy[xəː]ⓘ'sea'
Kazakhханзада / hanzada[xanzada]'prince'
Korean흥정 / heungjeong[xɯŋd͡ʑʌ̹ŋ]'bargaining'Allophone of /h/ before /ɯ/. See Korean phonology
Kurdishxanî[xɑːˈniː]'house'See Kurdish phonology
Kurukh[14]कुड़ुख़[kuɽux]'Kurukh'Corresponds to /x/ in Brahui and /q/ in Malto.
Limburgish[15][16]loch[lɔx]'air'The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. See Maastrichtian dialect phonology and Hard and soft G in Dutch
Lishan Didan Urmi Dialect חלבא / xalwa [xalwɑ] 'milk' Generally post-velar
Lithuanianchoras[ˈxɔrɐs̪]'choir'Occurs only in loanwords (usually international words)
Lojbanxatra[xatra]'letter'
MacedonianОхрид / Ohrid[ˈɔxrit]ⓘ'Ohrid'See Macedonian phonology
Malayاﺧير / akhir[axir]'last', 'end'Occurs in Arabic loanwords. Often pronounced as [h] or [k]. See Malay phonology
Manxaashagh[ˈɛːʒax]'easy'
Nepali आँखा [ä̃xä] 'eye' Allophone of /kʰ/. See Nepali phonology
NorwegianUrban East[17]hat[xɑːt]'hate'Possible allophone of /h/ near back vowels; can be voiced [ɣ] between two voiced sounds.[17] See Norwegian phonology
Pashtoاخته / axta[ax.t̪a]'occupied'See Pashto phonology
Persianدُخـتَر / dokhtar[dox'tær]'daughter'See Persian phonology
Polish[18]chleb[xlɛp]'bread'Also (in great majority of dialects) represented orthographically by ⟨h⟩. See Polish phonology
PortugueseFluminensearte[ˈaxtɕi]'art'In free variation with [χ], [ʁ], [ħ] and [h] before voiceless consonants
General Brazilian[19]rosa[ˈxɔzɐ]'rose'Some dialects. An allophone of /ʁ/. See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi Gurmukhi ਖ਼ਬਰ/khabar [xəbəɾ] 'news'
Shahmukhi ﺧﺒر/khabar
Romanianhram[xräm]'patronal feast of a church'Allophone of /h/. See Romanian phonology
Russian[20]хороший / khoroshiy[xɐˈr̠ʷo̞ʂɨ̞j]ⓘ'good'See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic[21]drochaid[ˈt̪ɾɔxɪtʲ]'bridge'See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-Croatianхраст / hrast[xrâːst]'oak'See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovakchlap[xɫäp]'guy'
Slovene Standard pohlep [poˈxlɛ̂p] 'greed' See Slovene phonology
Some dialects bog [ˈbôːx] 'god' Allophone of /ɣ/ before voiceless obstruents or pause. See Slovene phonology
Somalikhad[xad]'ink'Occurs in predominantly Arabic loan words. Allophone of /q/. See Somali phonology
Spanish[22]Latin American[23]ojo[ˈo̞xo̞]'eye'May be glottal instead;[23] in northern and central Spain it is often post-velar[23][24][25] or uvular /χ/.[25][26] See Spanish phonology
Southern Spain[23]
Sylhetiꠈꠛꠞ/khabar[xɔ́bɔɾ]'news'
Tagalogbakit[baxit]'why'Allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions. See Tagalog phonology
Toda[27]pax[pax]'smoke'
Turkish[28]ıhlamur[ɯxlamuɾ]'linden'Allophone of /h/.[28] See Turkish phonology
Turkmenhile[xiːle]'cunning' (noun)
Tyapkham[xam]1. 'calabash'; 2. 'prostitute'
Xhosarhoxisa[xɔkǁiːsa]'to cancel'
Ukrainianхлопець / khlopets'[ˈxɫɔ̝pɛt͡sʲ]'boy'See Ukrainian phonology
Uzbek[29]oxirgi[ɒxirgi]'last'Post-velar. Occurs in environments different from word-initially and pre-consonantally, otherwise it is pre-velar.[29]
Vietnamese[30]không[xəwŋ͡m˧]'no', 'not', 'zero'See Vietnamese phonology
Yaghanxan[xan]'here'
Yiꉾ / he[xɤ˧]'good'
ZapotecTilquiapan[31]mejor[mɘxoɾ]'better'Used primarily in loanwords from Spanish

Voiceless Approximant
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Norwegian Brekke dialect[32] seg [sɛɰ̊] 'oneself' Coda allophone of /ɡ/; reported to occur only in this word.[32] See Norwegian phonology
Kaldfarnes dialect[32]
Sørkjosen dialect[32] [sæɰ̊]
Undheim dialect[32] [seɰ̊]
Bryne dialect[32] sterkeste [ˈstæɰ̊kɑstə] 'strongest' Allophone of /r/ when it is in contact with voiceless consonants. Exact distribution may differ between dialects. In the Hafrsfjord dialect, [ɰ̊] may also occur in the word seg. See Norwegian phonology
Hafrsfjord dialect[32]
Raundalen dialect[32]
Stanghelle dialect[32]
Fyllingsdalen dialect[32] [ˈstæɰ̊kestɛ]
Spanish Standard European[33] Predrag [ˈpɾe̞ð̞ɾäɣ̞̊] 'Predrag' Allophone of /ɡ/ before a pause.[33] See Spanish phonology

See also

Notes
  1. Watson (2002), pp. 17, 19–20, 35–36 and 38.
  2. Hualde & Ortiz de Urbina (2003), pp. 16 and 26.
  3. Hualde & Ortiz de Urbina (2003), p. 16.
  4. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003), p. 100.
  5. Ternes, Elmer; Vladimirova-Buhtz, Tatjana (1999). "Bulgarian". Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-521-63751-0.
  6. Verhoeven (2005:243)
  7. Collins & Mees (2003:191)
  8. Gussenhoven (1999:74)
  9. Annexe 4: Linguistic Variables
  10. "University of Essex :: Department of Language and Linguistics :: Welcome". Essex.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  11. Wells (1982:373)
  12. Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
  13. Okada, Hideo (December 1991). "Japanese". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 21 (2): 94–96. doi:10.1017/S002510030000445X. S2CID 242782215. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  14. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003), p. 74.
  15. Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:159)
  16. Peters (2006:119)
  17. Vanvik (1979), p. 40.
  18. Jassem (2003), p. 103.
  19. Barbosa & Albano (2004), pp. 5–6.
  20. Padgett (2003), p. 42.
  21. Oftedal, M. (1956) The Gaelic of Leurbost. Oslo. Norsk Tidskrift for Sprogvidenskap.
  22. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
  23. Chen (2007), p. 13.
  24. Hamond (2001:?), cited in Scipione & Sayahi (2005:128)
  25. Lyons (1981), p. 76.
  26. Harris & Vincent (1988), p. 83.
  27. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003), p. 149.
  28. Göksel & Kerslake (2005:6)
  29. Sjoberg (1963), pp. 11–12.
  30. Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
  31. Merrill (2008), p. 109.
  32. "Nordavinden og sola: Opptak og transkripsjoner av norske dialekter". Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  33. Wetzels & Mascaró (2001), p. 224.

References
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