Voiceless labio-velar fricative - Definition and Overview

IPA - Unicode	ʍ
IPA - image
X-SAMPA	W
Kirshenbaum	w<vls>
Sound sample

The voiceless labial-velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʍ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is W. The voiceless labial-velar fricative occurs in those English dialects that distinguish between the words which and witch; it is the sound denoted by the letters "wh". Features of this consonant:

• Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is labial-velar which means it is articulated both with the lips and with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum).
• Its phonation type 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.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.