Voiceless pharyngeal fricative

The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is an h-bar, Template:Angbr IPA, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is X\. In the transcription of Arabic, Berber (and other Afro-Asiatic languages) as well as a few other scripts, it is often written Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr.

Typically characterized as fricative in the upper pharynx, it is often characterized as a whispered Template:IPAblink.

Features

Features of the voiceless pharyngeal fricative:

Occurrence

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).<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abaza		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'stone'
Abkhaz		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'we'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		lang}}/Template:Transliteration/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'god'
Afar		dalcu	main}}	'striped hyena'
Agul		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'barn'
Amis<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'burn, roast'	Word-final allophone of /Template:IPA link/.
Arabic<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	Standard	lang}}/Template:Transliteration	Template:Audio-IPA	'situation'	See Arabic phonology
	EssaouiraTemplate:Sfnp	lang}} (Template:Transliteration)	main}}	'chleuh'
Archi		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'state'
Central Neo-Aramaic	Turoyo	lang}} (Template:Transliteration)	main}}	'Christ'	Corresponds with [x] in most other dialects.
Atayal		lang}}	main}}	'in/at/on him/her/it'
Avar		lang}}/Template:Transliteration/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'earwax'
Azerbaijani		lang}}	main}}	'instrument'
Chechen		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'plum'
English	Some speakers, mostly of Received PronunciationTemplate:Sfnp	horrible	main}}	'horrible'	Glottal Template:IPAblink for other speakers.Template:Sfnp See English phonology
French<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>	Some speakers	lang}}	main}}	'to do, to make'
Galician<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	Some dialects	lang}}	main}}	'cat'	main}} in other dialects. See Galician phonology and gheada
Hebrew	Mizrahi	lang}}/Template:Transliteration	Template:Audio-IPA	'electricity'	Merged with Template:IPAblink for most modern speakers. See Modern Hebrew phonology.
	Temani	lang}}/aḥoḏ	main}}	'one'	Yemenite pronunciation of the letter chet. Merged with {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in most other dialects. See Yemenite Hebrew
Leonese	Riberan	lang}}	main}}	'flour'
Judaeo-Spanish	Haketia	lang}}	main}}	'Haketia'	Borrowed from Arabic and Hebrew
Kabardian		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'ship'
Kabyle		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'hairdresser'
Kullui			main}}	'twenty'	main}} historically derives from {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and occurs word-finallyTemplate:Sfn
Kurdish	Most speakers	lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'environment'	main}} in some Kurdish dialects
Maltese	Standard	lang}}	main}}	'one'
Nuu-chah-nulth		lang}}	main}}	'friendly'
Sioux	Nakota	lang}}	main}}	'yesterday'
Somali		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'cane'	See Somali phonology
Tarifit		lang}}	main}}	'goodbye'
Ukrainian<ref name="DanVak12">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'fingernails'	main}} (which may be transcribed {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) before voiceless consonants;<ref name="DanVak12"/> can be fronted to Template:IPAblink in some "weak positions".<ref name="DanVak12"/> See Ukrainian phonology

See also

• Pharyngeal fricative
• Heth
• Index of phonetics articles
• Guttural
• H with stroke

References

• Template:Citation
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• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Citation
• Template:Cite thesis

External links

• Template:Phoible