Voiceless pharyngeal fricative

IPA Unicode 0x0127

Voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨ħ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is ?\.

Characteristics

The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of fricative sound, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. The place of articulation for this sound is the pharynx, which is why it is described as pharyngeal. Being voiceless, the vocal cords do not vibrate during the articulation of this sound.

Articulation

To articulate the voiceless pharyngeal fricative, the articulator (the back of the tongue in this case) is retracted towards the pharyngeal wall. This constricts the airflow through the pharynx, creating a turbulent sound. The voiceless nature of this fricative means that the vocal cords are spread apart, allowing air to flow freely through the glottis without causing them to vibrate.

Occurrence

The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is found in various languages around the world, though it is not as common as some other fricatives. Languages that feature this sound include certain varieties of Arabic, where it is represented by the letter ⟨ح⟩, and in some dialects of Hebrew, where it is represented by the letter ⟨ח⟩. It is also present in some Berber languages, as well as in the Taa language, which is known for its extensive phonetic inventory.

Phonetic Notation

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the voiceless pharyngeal fricative is represented by the symbol ⟨ħ⟩. This notation helps linguists and language learners alike to identify and describe the sound accurately across different languages.

See Also

• Pharyngeal consonant
• Fricative consonant
• Voiceless dental fricative
• International Phonetic Alphabet