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Voiced glottal fricative

Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɦ⟩ in IPA


Summary

Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɦ⟩ in IPA

FieldValue
ipa symbolɦ
ipa number147
decimal614
xsampah\
braille
braille2h
imagefileIPA Unicode 0x0266.svg

A voiced glottal fricative, sometimes called a breathy-voiced glottal transition, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages. It is used by some English-speakers as the "h" sound in "ahead". The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is .

A sound may have real glottal constriction in a number of languages (such as Finnish), making it a true fricative. However, in most languages that have it, it only patterns like a fricative or approximant phonologically, and lacks the usual phonetic characteristics of a consonant. In such languages, has no inherent place or manner of articulation. Thus it has been described as a breathy-voiced counterpart of the following vowel from a phonetic point of view. However, its characteristics are also influenced by the preceding vowels and whatever other sounds surround it. Therefore, it can be described as a segment whose only consistent feature is its breathy voice phonation in such languages.

Northern Wu languages such as Shanghainese contrast voiced and voiceless glottal fricatives. The two glottal fricatives pattern like plosives.

Features

Features of a voiced glottal fricative:

  • Its phonation is breathy voiced, or murmured, which means the vocal cords are loosely vibrating, with more air escaping than in a modally voiced sound. It is sometimes referred to as a "voiced h". Strictly speaking this is incorrect, as there is no voicing.
  • In some languages, it has the constricted manner of articulation of a fricative. However, in many if not most it is a transitional state of the glottis with no manner of articulation other than its phonation type. Because there is no other constriction to produce friction in the vocal tract, most phoneticians no longer consider to be a fricative. True fricatives may have a murmured phonation in addition to producing friction elsewhere. However, the term "fricative" is generally retained for the historical reasons.
  • It may have a glottal place of articulation. However, it may have no fricative articulation, making the term glottal mean that it is articulated by the vocal folds, but this is the nature of its phonation rather than a separate articulation. All consonants except for the glottals, and all vowels, have an individual place of articulation in addition to the state of the glottis. As with all other consonants, surrounding vowels influence the pronunciation , and accordingly has only the place of articulation of these surrounding vowels.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AfrikaansStandardhoe'how'
AzeriStandardhkəm / مؤحکم'solid'
AlbanianNorthern Toskdhe menjëherë udhëtari'and immediately the traveller'
BasqueNortheastern dialectshemen'here'
CroatianSome speakershajde'lets go'
Czechhost'guest'See Czech phonology
DanishMon det har regnet?'I wonder if it has rained.'Common allophone of between vowels. See Danish phonology
Dutchgehoopt'hoped'Lenis glottal consonant undefined for voicing. See Dutch phonology
EnglishAustralian*behind*'behind'
Received Pronunciation
Broad South African*hand*'hand'Some speakers, only before a stressed vowel.
Estonianraha'money'Allophone of between voiced sounds. See Estonian phonology and Finnish phonology
Finnish
FrenchQuebecmanger'to eat'
Hebrewמַהֵר'fast'Occurs as an allophone of between voiced sounds. See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustaniहूँ / {{Nastaliqہوں}}'am'See Hindustani phonology
HungarianSome speakerstehát'so'
JapaneseSome speakers少しして /'speak a little bit'
IndonesianSome speakersbahan'ingredient'
Kalabarihóín'introduction'
Korean여행 / yeohaeng'travel'Occurs as an allophone of between voiced sounds. See Korean phonology
Limburgishhart'heart'The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. See Maastrichtian dialect phonology
Lithuanianhumoras'humour'Often pronounced instead of [ɣ]. See Lithuanian phonology
Marathiहा'garland'
Odiaଳ/haḷa'plough'
Nepali'solution'See Nepali phonology
Parkari Koliۿُونَواڙ'desolate, deserted'
PolishPodhale dialecthydrant'fire hydrant'
Kresy dialect
PortugueseMany Brazilian dialectsesse rapaz'this youth' (m.)
Many speakershashi'chopsticks'
Some Brazilian dialectsmesmo'same'Corresponds to either or (depending on dialect) in the syllable coda. Might also be deleted.
Cearense dialectgente'people'Debuccalized from , or .
Mineiro dialectdormir'to sleep'Before other voiced consonants, otherwise realized as .
Punjabiਹਵਾ / {{Nastaliqہوا}}'air'
Riffian Berberhwa'to go down'
RomanianTransylvanian dialectshaină'coat'
Sanskritहस्त /'hand'See Sanskrit phonology
Silesianhangrys'gooseberry'
Slovakhora'mountain'See Slovak phonology
SloveneLittoral dialectsThis is a general feature of all Slovene dialects west of the Škofja Loka–Planina line. Corresponds to in other dialects. See Slovene phonology
Rovte dialects
Rosen Valley dialect
Sylheti{{scriptSyloꠢꠥꠐꠇꠤ}} / {{scriptBengহুটকি}}'dried fish'
Teluguహల్లు'Consonant'
Ukrainianголос'voice'Also described as pharyngeal . See Ukrainian phonology
WuShanghainese閒話 / ghe-gho'language'
Suzhounese四號 / sy5-ghau6'fourth day of a Western month'
Zuluihhashi'horse'

Nasal

A nasalized voiced glottal fricative or approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Swazi distinguishes .

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
BasqueZuberoanihitz'dew, frost'
UMbunduContrasts with

Notes

References

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  • {{citation |editor-last=Hualde |editor-first=José Ignacio |editor-link=José Ignacio Hualde |editor2-last=Ortiz de Urbina |editor2-first=Jon
  • {{citation |author-link=Peter Ladefoged |author-link2=Ian Maddieson
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References

  1. {{Harvcoltxt. Laufer. 1991
  2. {{Harvcoltxt. Ladefoged. Maddieson. 1996
  3. Qian 2003, pp.14-16.
  4. Gu, Qin. (2008). "{{lang". {{lang.
  5. (2014). "3aSC18: Measures of spectral tilt in Shanghainese stops and glottal fricatives". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
  6. (2011). "A course in phonetics". Wadsworth Publishing.
  7. (n.d.). "Northern Tosk Albanian". Journal of the International Phonetic Association.
  8. {{Harvcoltxt. Hualde. Ortiz de Urbina. 2003
  9. {{Harvcoltxt. Grønnum. 2005
  10. {{Harvcoltxt. Gussenhoven. 1992
  11. {{Harvcoltxt. Cox. Fletcher. 2017
  12. {{Harvcoltxt. Roach. 2004
  13. {{Harvcoltxt. April. 2007
  14. {{Harvcoltxt. Harry. 2003
  15. {{Harvcoltxt. Gussenhoven. Aarts. 1999
  16. {{Harvcoltxt. Verhoeven. 2007
  17. "The pronunciation of /s/ and its variations across Bragança municipality's Portuguese". Pará Federal University.
  18. "The variation of post-vocallic /S/ in the speech of Petrópolis, Itaperuna and Paraty". Rio de Janeiro Federal University.
  19. "A neutralização dos Fonemas / v – z - Z / No Falar de Fortalexa". profala.ufc.br.
  20. Egurtzegi, Ander. (2015-06-30). "Different distributions of contrastive vowel nasalization in Basque". Loquens.
  21. (19 July 2021). "Voicing of glottal consonants and non-modal vowels". Journal of the International Phonetic Association.
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