From ⟨ʿ⟩, which is used in scientific transliteration of Semitic languages, itself based on the Greekspiritus asper. The IPA form may also have been influenced by Arabicع.
The consonant transcribed⟨ʕ⟩ in Arabic and some other Afro-Asiatic languages is usually a pharyngeal approximant (see second audio above). It may also be apharyngealizedglottal stop[ʔˤ]. True fricative realization is rare.