Voiceless uvular affricate

Voiceless uvular affricate
qχ
Audio sample
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Encoding
X-SAMPAqX

The voiceless uvular affricate is a sound used in some spoken languages. The IPA letter for this sound is ⟨qχ⟩. It is not in English.

Characteristics

  • The phonation is voiced. This means that the vocal cords vibrate while the sound is being pronounced.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is palatal. This means that this sound is produced with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.
  • It is an oral consonant. This means that air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is affricate. This means that this sound is produced by first stopping the air flowing from the mouth, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place this sound is produced, to make turbulence.

Examples

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AlemannicMost High and Highest Alemannic dialectsGschänk[ˈkʃæɴq͡χ]'present'Velar [k͡x] in other dialects.
AdygheNatukhaiкхъэ[q͡χa]ⓘ'grave'Dialectal. Corresponds to [qʰ] in other dialects.
Avarхъарахъ/څ‍ﺎراڅ[q͡χʰːaˈraq͡χʰː]ⓘ'bush'Contrasts with the ejective [q͡χʼː].
Chechenкхаара/qaara/قآآرآ[q͡χaʔara]'Wednesday'
Chukchiӈирэӄ/ňirèḳ[ŋireq͡χ]'two'Allophone of [q].
EnglishScouse[1]clock[kl̥ɒq͡χ]'clock'Possible word-final realization of /k/.[1]
Georgian Some dialects აფხაზეთი [apʰq͡χazetʰi] 'Abkhazia' Only after bilabial stops. Otherwise [x].
Kabardianкхъэ/ٯّ‍‍ە[q͡χa]ⓘ'grave'
PersianSome dialectsﻗﻔﻞ[q͡χofl]'lock'Lenition of word-initial /q/.
Rendillemunkhet[munq͡χet]'forgotten'Only after nasal consonants. Otherwise [x].

References

  1. 1 2 Wells (1982), pp. 372–373.