Voiceless labio-velar approximant

Voiceless labio-velar approximant
ʍ
w̥
IPA number	169
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʍ
Unicode (hex)	U+028D
X-SAMPA	W
Kirshenbaum	w<vls>
Image
Sound

The voiceless labiovelar (labialized velar) approximant (traditionally called a voiceless labiovelar fricative) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʍ⟩ (a rotated lowercase letter ⟨w⟩) or ⟨w̥⟩.

[ʍ] is generally called a "fricative" for historical reasons, but in English, the language that the letter ⟨ʍ⟩ is primarily used for, it is a voiceless approximant, equivalent to [w̥] or [hw̥]. On rare occasions the symbol is appropriated for a labialized voiceless velar fricative, [xʷ], in other languages.

Features

Features of the voiceless labial-velar approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
• Its place of articulation is labialized velar, which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (the velum) while rounding the lips.
• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
• 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 lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Cornish		whath, hwath	[ʍæːθ]	'still', 'yet'	Is spelled ⟨wh⟩ and ⟨hw⟩ in the Standard Written Form, as ⟨wh⟩ in Kernowek Standard, Unified Cornish, Unified Cornish Revised and Modern Cornish, and ⟨hw⟩ in Kernewek Kemmyn.
English	Hiberno-English	whine	[ʍʌɪn]	'whine'	Phonemically /hw/. Contrasts with /w/. See English phonology and phonological history of wh
	Scottish English
	Southern American dialects		[ʍäːn]
	Canadian Maritime [citation needed]		[ʍaɪn]
	Cultivated SAE [citation needed]				Older speakers. Most people have merged it into /w/.
	New Zealand [citation needed]		[ʍɑen]
Nahuatl		Cuauhtēmallān	[kʷaʍteːmalːaːn]	'Guatemala'	Allophone of /w/ before voiceless consonants.

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• hwair
• Wh (digraph)

Bibliography

• Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-016746-8 
• Wells, J.C. (1982), Accents of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press