| Voiced glottal fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɦ | |||
| IPA number | 147 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ɦ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0266 | ||
| X-SAMPA | h\ | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
Thevoiced glottal fricative, sometimes calledbreathy-voiced glottal transition, is a type of sound used in somespokenlanguages which patterns like africative orapproximantconsonantphonologically, but often lacks the usualphonetic characteristics of a consonant. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɦ⟩, and the equivalentX-SAMPA symbol ish\.
In many languages,/ɦ/ has no inherent place or manner of articulation. Thus, it has been described as abreathy-voiced counterpart of the followingvowel from a phonetic point of view. However, its characteristics are also influenced by thepreceding vowels and whatever other sounds surround it. Therefore, it can be described as a segment whose only consistent feature is its breathy voicephonation in such languages.[1] It may have real glottal constriction in a number of languages (such asFinnish[2]), making it a fricative.
Northern Wu languages such asShanghainese contrast the voiced andvoiceless glottal fricatives.[3] The two glottal fricatives pattern like plosives.[4][5]
Features of the voiced glottal fricative:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Standard | hoekom | [ɦu.kɔm] | 'why' | |
| Azeri | Standard | möhkəm /مؤحکم | [mœːɦcæm] | 'solid' | |
| Albanian | NorthernTosk[7] | dhemenjëherëudhëtari | [ðɛmiɲɜˈɦɛɹoθˈtaɽ̞i] | 'and immediately the traveller' | Occasional allophone of/h/ in connected speech. |
| Basque | Northeastern dialects[8] | hemen | [ɦemen] | 'here' | Can be voiceless[h] instead. |
| Czech | hlava | [ˈɦlävä] | 'head' | SeeCzech phonology | |
| Danish[9] | Mon dethar regnet? | [-te̝ɦɑ-] | 'I wonder if it has rained.' | Common allophone of/h/ between vowels.[9] SeeDanish phonology | |
| Dutch[10] | haat | [ɦaːt] | 'hate' | SeeDutch phonology | |
| English | Australian[11] | behind | [bəˈɦɑe̯nd] | 'behind' | Allophone of/h/ between voiced sounds.[11][12] SeeAustralian English phonology andEnglish phonology |
| Received Pronunciation[12] | [bɪˈɦaɪ̯nd] | ||||
| BroadSouth African | hand | [ˈɦɛn̪t̪] | 'hand' | Some speakers, only before a stressed vowel. | |
| Estonian | raha | [ˈrɑɦɑ] | 'money' | Allophone of/h/ between voiced sounds. SeeEstonian phonology andFinnish phonology | |
| Finnish | |||||
| French | Quebec[13] | manger | [mãɦe] | 'to eat' | Limited to a minority of speakers. Can also be realized as a voiceless[h]. |
| Hebrew | מַהֵר | [mäɦe̞ʁ]ⓘ | 'fast' | Occurs as an allophone of/h/ between voiced sounds. SeeModern Hebrew phonology | |
| Hindustani | हूँ /ہوں | [ɦũː] | 'am' | SeeHindustani phonology | |
| Hungarian | Some speakers | tehát | [tɛɦaːt] | 'so' | Intervocalic allophone of/h/. Occurs as voiceless/h/ for other speakers. SeeHungarian phonology |
| Japanese | Some speakers | 少し話して / sukoshihanashite[14] | [sɯkoɕiɦanaɕi̥te] | 'speak a little bit' | |
| Indonesian | Some speakers | bahan | [baˈɦan] | 'ingredient' | |
| Kalabari[15] | hóín | [ɦóĩ́] | 'introduction' | ||
| Korean | 여행 /yeohaeng | [jʌɦεŋ] | 'travel' | Occurs as an allophone of/h/ between voiced sounds. SeeKorean phonology | |
| Limburgish[16][17] | hart | [ɦɑ̽ʀ̝t] | 'heart' | The example word is from theMaastrichtian dialect. SeeMaastrichtian dialect phonology | |
| Lithuanian | humoras | [ˈɦʊmɔrɐs̪] | 'humour' | Often pronounced instead of [ɣ]. SeeLithuanian phonology | |
| Marathi | हार | [ɦaːɾ] | 'garland' | ||
| Odia | ହଳ/haḷa | [ɦɔɭɔ] | 'plough' | ||
| Nepali | हल | [ɦʌl] | 'solution' | SeeNepali phonology | |
| Parkari Koli | ۿُونَواڙ | [ɦuːnaʋaːɽ] | 'desolate, deserted' | ||
| Polish | Podhale dialect | hydrant | [ˈɦɘ̟d̪rän̪t̪] | 'fire hydrant' | Contrasts with/x/. Standard Polish possesses only/x/. SeePolish phonology |
| Kresy dialect | |||||
| Portuguese | Many Brazilian dialects | esserapaz | [ˈesiɦaˈpajs] | 'this youth' (m.) | Allophone of/ʁ/.[h,ɦ] are marginal sounds to many speakers, particularly out of Brazil. SeePortuguese phonology andguttural R |
| Many speakers | hashi | [ɦɐˈʃi] | 'chopsticks' | ||
| SomeBrazilian[18][19] dialects | mesmo | [ˈmeɦmu] | 'same' | Corresponds to either/s/ or/ʃ/ (depending on dialect) in the syllable coda. Might also be deleted. | |
| Cearense dialect[20] | gente | [ˈɦẽt͡ʃi] | 'people' | Debuccalized from[ʒ],[v] or[z]. | |
| Mineiro dialect | dormir | [doɦˈmi(h)] | 'to sleep' | Before other voiced consonants, otherwise realized as[h]. | |
| Punjabi | ਹਵਾ /ہوا | [ɦə̀ʋä̌ː] | 'air' | ||
| Riffian Berber | hwa | [ɦwæ] | 'to go down' | ||
| Romanian | Transylvanian dialects[21] | haină | [ˈɦajnə] | 'coat' | Corresponds to[h] in standard Romanian. SeeRomanian phonology |
| Sanskrit | हस्त / hasta | [ˈɦɐs̪t̪ɐ] | 'hand' | SeeSanskrit phonology | |
| Silesian | hangrys | [ˈɦaŋɡrɨs] | 'gooseberry' | ||
| Slovak | hora | [ˈɦɔ̝rä]ⓘ | 'mountain' | SeeSlovak phonology | |
| Slovene | Littoral dialects | [ˈɦɔra] | This is a general feature of allSlovene dialects west of theŠkofja Loka–Planina line. Corresponds to[ɡ] in other dialects. SeeSlovene phonology | ||
| Rovte dialects | |||||
| Rosen Valley dialect | |||||
| Sylheti | ꠢꠥꠐꠇꠤ /হুটকি | [ɦuʈki] | 'dried fish' | ||
| Telugu | హల్లు | [ɦəlːu] | 'Consonant' | ||
| Ukrainian | голос | [ˈɦɔlos] | 'voice' | Also described as pharyngeal[ʕ][citation needed]. SeeUkrainian phonology | |
| Wu | Shanghainese | 閒話 /ghe-gho | [ɦɛ˩ɦo˦] | 'language' | SeeNorthern Wu phonology |
| Suzhounese | 四號 /sy5-ghau6 | [sz̩˥˩ɦæ˧˩] | 'fourth day of a Western month' | ||
| Zulu | ihhashi | [iːˈɦaːʃi] | 'horse' | ||
