Voiceless uvular affricate

Voiceless uvular affricate
q͡χ
Sound
source · help

The voiceless uvular affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨q͡χ⟩.

Features

Features of the voiceless uvular affricate:

• Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.

• Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.

• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it 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.

• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe	Natukhai	кхъэ	[q͡χa]	'grave'	Dialectal. Corresponds to [qʰ] in other dialects.
Avar		хъарахъ	[q͡χʰːaˈraq͡χʰː]	'bush'	Contrasts with the ejective [q͡χʼː].
Chechen		кхор	[q͡χorː]	'pear'
English	Scouse[1]	clock	[kl̥ɒq͡χ]	'clock'	Possible word-final realization of /k/.[1]
German	Some Swiss dialects	Sack	[z̥ɑq͡χ]	'bag'
Kabardian		кхъэ	[q͡χa]	'grave'
Persian	Some dialects	قفل	[q͡χofl]	'lock'	Fortition of word-initial /q/.

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

References

1. Wells (1982), pp. 372–373.

Bibliography

• Wells, John C. (1982), Accents of English 2: The British Isles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24224-X