Voiceless pharyngeal fricative

Voiceless pharyngeal fricative
ħ
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The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a sound used in some spoken languages. The letter in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ħ⟩ It is not in English but is in Arabic.

Characteristics

  • The phonation is voiceless. This means that this sound 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.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is pharyngeal. This means that this sound is produced with the root of the tongue against the back of the throat (the pharynx).
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is fricative. This means that this sound is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, to make turbulence.
  • It is an oral consonant. This means that air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant. This means that this sound is produced by directing the air along the center of the tongue, but not to the sides.

Examples

This sound is the most commonly cited realization of the Semitic letter hēth, which occurs in all dialects of Arabic, Classical Syriac, Western Neo-Aramaic, Central Neo-Aramaic, Ge'ez, Tigre, Tigrinya as well as Biblical, Mishnaic and Mizrahi Hebrew. It has also been reconstructed as appearing in Ancient Egyptian, a related Afro-Asiatic language. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Ashkenazi Hebrew and most speakers of Modern Hebrew have merged the voiceless pharyngeal fricative with the voiceless velar (or uvular) fricative. However, phonetic studies have shown that the so-called voiceless pharyngeal fricatives of Semitic languages are often neither pharyngeal (but rather epiglottal) nor fricatives (but rather approximants).[1]

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AbazaхIахъвы/kh'akh"vy[ħaqʷə]'stone'
Abkhazҳара/khara[ħaˈra]'we'See Abkhaz phonology
Adygheтхьэ/tkh'ė/ﺗﺤﻪ[tħa]ⓘ'god'
Afar dalcu [dʌlħu] 'striped hyena'
AgulмухI/mukh'[muħ]'barn'
Amis[2]tuduh[tuɮuħ]'burn, roast'Word-final allophone of /ʜ/.
Arabic[3] Standardﺣﺎل/ḥāl[ħaːl]ⓘ'situation'See Arabic phonology
Essaouira[4] شلوح (šlūḥ) [ʃlɵːħ] 'chleuh'
ArchiхIал/kh'al[ħal]'state'
Central Neo-AramaicTuroyoܡܫܝܚܐ (mšìḥo)[mʃiːħɔ]'Christ'Corresponds with [x] in most other dialects.
Atayal hiyan [ħijan] 'in/at/on him/her/it'
AvarxIебецI/kh'ebets'/ﺣﯧﺒﯧﺾ[ħeˈbetsʼ]'earwax'
Azerbaijaniəhdaş[æħd̪ɑʃ]'instrument'
Chechenxьач/ẋaç/ﺣﺎچ[ħatʃ]ⓘ'plum'
EnglishSome speakers, mostly of Received Pronunciation[5]horrible[ħɒɹɪbəl]'horrible'Glottal [h] for other speakers.[5] See English phonology
French[6]Some speakersfaire[feː(ă)ħ]'to do, to make'
Galician[7]Some dialectsgato[ˈħatʊ]'cat'Corresponds to /ɡ/ in other dialects. See Galician phonology and gheada
HebrewMizrahiחַשְׁמַל/ḥašmal[ħaʃˈmal]ⓘ'electricity'Merged with [χ] for most modern speakers. See Modern Hebrew phonology.
Temaniאֶחָדֿ/aḥoḏ[æˈħɔð]'one'Yemenite pronunciation of the letter chet. Merged with /χ/ in most other dialects. See Yemenite Hebrew
Judeo-Spanish Haketia Ḥaketía[ħakeˈti.a]'Haketia'Borrowed from Arabic and Hebrew
Jerusalem ḥakura[ħaˈkuɾa]'small vegetable garden'Borrowed from Arabic and Hebrew
Kabardianкхъухь/ꝗvɦ/ٯّوح[q͡χʷəħ]ⓘ'ship'
Kabyleⴰⵃⴻⴼⴼⴰⴼ/aḥeffaf/اﺣـﻔﺎف[aħəfːaf]'hairdresser'
Kullui[biːħ]'twenty'/ħ/ historically derives from /s/ and occurs word-finally[8]
KurdishMost speakersḧol[ħol]ⓘ'environment'Corresponds to /h/ in some Kurdish dialects
Leonese Riberan harina [ħaˈɾi.na] 'flour'
MalteseStandardwieħed[wiːħet]'one'
Nuu-chah-nulthʔaap-ḥii[ʔaːpˈħiː]'friendly'
SiouxNakotahaxdanahâ[haħdanahã]'yesterday'
Somalixood/ﺣٗﻮد/𐒄𐒝𐒆[ħoːd]ⓘ'cane'See Somali phonology
Tarifittameǧaḥt[θæmədʒæħt]'salt'
Ukrainian[9]нігті/nihti[ˈnʲiħtʲi]'fingernails'Allophone of /ʕ/ (which may be transcribed /ɦ/) before voiceless consonants;[9] can be fronted to [x] in some "weak positions".[9] See Ukrainian phonology

Approximant

Voiceless pharyngeal approximant
ħ̞
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A voiceless pharyngeal approximant is a rare consonant, used in some spoken languages. It is not in English.

Characteristics

  • The phonation is voiceless. This means that this sound 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.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is pharyngeal. This means that this sound is produced with the root of the tongue against the back of the throat (the pharynx).
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is approximant. This means that this sound is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place this sound is produced. However, it is not narrowed enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
  • It is an oral consonant. This means that air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant. This means that this sound is produced by directing the air along the center of the tongue, but not to the sides.

References

  1. ↑ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:167–168)
  2. ↑ Maddieson, Ian; Wright, Richard (October 1995). "The Vowels and Consonants of Amis — A Preliminary Phonetic Report" (PDF). Fieldwork Studies of Targeted Languages III. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics Volume 91. pp. 45–65.
  3. ↑ Watson (2002:19)
  4. ↑ Francisco (2019), p. 89.
  5. 1 2 Collins & Mees (2003), p. 148.
  6. ↑ Mager, Irene (1974). A critical analysis of the teaching of French phonology (Thesis). OCLC 9841438. ProQuest 193965929.
  7. ↑ Regueira (1996:120)
  8. ↑ Thakur 1975, p. 181.
  9. 1 2 3 Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995:12)
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