| Voiceless uvular plosive | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| q | |||
| IPA number | 111 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | q | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0071 | ||
| X-SAMPA | q | ||
| Braille |  | ||
| |||
Thevoiceless uvular plosive orstop is a type ofconsonantal sound, used in somespokenlanguages. It is pronounced like avoiceless velar plosive[k], except that the tongue makes contact not on thesoft palate but on theuvula. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨q⟩, and the equivalentX-SAMPA symbol isq.
There is also thevoiceless pre-uvular plosive[1] in some languages, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical uvular consonant, though not as front as the prototypical velar consonant. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, though it can be transcribed as ⟨q̟⟩ or ⟨q˖⟩ (both symbols denote anadvanced ⟨q⟩) or ⟨k̠⟩ (retracted ⟨k⟩). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols areq_+ andk_-, respectively.
Features of the voiceless uvular stop:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abaza | хъацӀа/qac’a | [qat͡sʼa] | 'man' | ||
| Adyghe | атакъэ/atáqa | [ataːqa]ⓘ | 'rooster' | ||
| Aleut[2] | ҟи́гаҟъ/qiighax̂ | [qiːɣaχ] | 'grass' | ||
| Arabic | Modern Standard[3] | قـط/qiṭṭ | [qitˤː]ⓘ | 'cat' | SeeArabic phonology |
| Hejazi | قِـمَّة/qimma | [qɪmːa] | 'peak' | Allophone of/g/. SeeHejazi Arabic phonology | |
| Gulf[4] | غـداً/qaden | [qədæn] | 'tomorrow' | Corresponds to/ɣ/ in other dialects. | |
| Algerian | |||||
| Assyrian | ܩܐ/qa | [qa] | 'for' | Often realized as a tense /k/[vague] rather than uvular /q/. | |
| Archi | хъал/q"ál | [qaːl] | 'human skin' | ||
| Avá-Canoeiro[5] | [ˈqɔːtõ] | 'this' | Possible realisation of/k/. In the speech of people aged 40 to 80 years, the consonant is infree variation with[qˤ],[qʰ] and[k] in post-tonic or primarily or secondarily stressed syllables.[5] | ||
| Bashkir | ҡаҙ/qađ | [qɑð]ⓘ | 'goose' | ||
| Chechen | кхоъ/qo’ | [qɔʔ] | 'three' | ||
| Chukchi | Нычымйыӄэн/nyčymjyḳèn | [nət͡ʃəmjəqen] | 'bitter' | ||
| Crimean Tatar | Къырым/Qırım | [qɯ.rɯm] | 'Crimea' | ||
| Dawsahak | [qoq] | 'dry' | |||
| English | Australian[6] | caught | [ḵʰoːt] | 'caught' | Pre-uvular; allophone of/k/ before/ʊoːɔoɪʊə/.[6] SeeAustralian English phonology |
| Multicultural London[7][8] | cut | [qʌt] | 'cut' | Allophone of/k/ before non-high back vowels.[8][9] | |
| Non-local Dublin[10] | back | [bɑq] | 'back' | Allophone of/k/ after aretracted vowel for some speakers.[10] | |
| Eyak | g̣u:jih | [qʊːtʃɪ̤] | 'wolf' | ||
| German | Chemnitz dialect[11] | Rock | [qɔkʰ] | 'skirt' | In free variation with[ʁ̞],[ʁ],[χ] and[ʀ̥].[11] Does not occur in the coda.[11] |
| Greenlandic | illoqarpoq | [iɬːoqɑppɔq] | 'he has a house' | SeeGreenlandic phonology | |
| Hebrew | Biblical | קול/qol | [qol] | 'voice' | SeeBiblical Hebrew phonology |
| Mizrahi | SeeMizrahi Hebrew | ||||
| Shar'abTemani | קול/qöl | [qøːl] | SeeYemenite Hebrew | ||
| Hmong | White Hmong | 𖬆𖬰𖬦𖬵 /qub | [qu˦] | 'old', 'ancient', 'outdated' or 'archaic' | |
| Hungarian | korom | [qorom] | 'soot' | Possible allophone of /k/ before back vowels. SeeHungarian phonology | |
| Hindustani | Hindi | बर्क़/barq | [bərq] | 'lightning' | Mostly in Hindi–Urdu loanwords fromArabic, pronounced mainly inUrdu and by educated Hindi speakers, with rural Hindi speakers often pronouncing it as a[k]. SeeHindustani phonology[12][13][14] |
| Urdu | بَرق/barq | ||||
| Ibaloi | kolpot | 'cloud' | |||
| Inuktitut | ᐃᐦᐃᑉᕆᐅᖅᑐᖅ/ihipqiuqtuq’ | [ihipɢiuqtuq] | 'explore' | SeeInuit phonology | |
| Iraqw | qeet | [qeːt] | 'break' | ||
| Kabardian | къэбэрдей/qabardey | [qabardej]ⓘ | 'Kabardian' | ||
| Kabyle | ⵜⴰⵇⴲⴰⵢⵍⵉⵜ | [θɐqβæjlɪθ]ⓘ | 'Kabyle language' | May be voiced[ɢ]. | |
| taqbaylit | |||||
| ثاقـبيليث | |||||
| Kavalan | qaqa | [qaqa] | 'elder brother' | ||
| Kazakh | Қазақстан/Qazaqstan | [qɑzɑqˈstɑn] | 'Kazakhstan' | An allophone of/k/ beforeback vowels | |
| Ket | қан/qan | [qan] | 'begin' | ||
| Klallam | qəmtəm | [qəmtəm] | 'iron' | ||
| Kurdish | Sorani | قـوتابخانە/qutabxane | [qutɑbxɑnə] | 'School' | An allophone of/k/ beforeback vowels |
| Kurmanji | Qalikdar | [qɑlɯkdɑr] | 'crustacean' | An allophone of/k/ beforeback vowels | |
| Kutenai | qaykiťwu | [qajkitʼwu] | 'nine' | ||
| Kyrgyz | Кыргызстан/Qırğızstan | [qɯrʁɯsˈstɑn] | 'Kyrgyzstan' | An allophone of/k/ beforeback vowels | |
| Lishan Didan | Urmi Dialect | אקלא/aqla | [aqlɑ] | 'foot, leg' | |
| Maltese | ArchaicCottonera Dialect | qattus | [qɐˈtːuːs] | 'cat' | |
| Malto | क़ान/qán | [qa:n] | 'eye' | Corresponds to /x/ in other North Dravidian languages. | |
| Nez Perce | ʔaw̓líwaaʔinpqawtaca | [ʔawˀɪlwaːʔinpqawtat͡sa] | 'I go to scoop him up in the fire' | ||
| Nivkh | тяқр̆/täqŕ | [tʲaqr̥] | 'three' | ||
| Ossetian | Iron | Дзæуджыхъæу/Zawjëqaw | [ˈzə̹ʊ̯d͡ʒɪ̈qə̹ʊ̯] | 'Vladikavkaz' | |
| Persian | Early New Persian | قَـاشُق/qaşuq | */qaːʃuq/ | 'spoon' | May be allophonicly voiced to [ɢ] before a voiced stop. SeePersian phonology. |
| Dari standard | [qɑːˈʃʊq] | ||||
| Tajik standard | қошуқ/qoşuq | [qɔʃuq] | |||
| Some Iranian speakers | قـورباغه/qurbağe | [qurbɒɣe] | 'frog' | In Western Iranian dialects /q/ and /ɣ/ have merged into /ɢ/. Though some dialects in eastern Iran may preserve the distinction in some words. SeePersian phonology. | |
| Quechua[15] | qallu | [qaʎu] | 'tongue' | ||
| Sahaptin | qu | [qu] | 'heavy' | ||
| Seediq | Seediq | [ˈseˈʔediq] | 'Seediq' | ||
| Seereer-Siin[16] | [example needed] | — | — | ||
| Shor | қам/qam | [qɑm] | 'shaman' | ||
| Somali | qaab | [qaːb] | 'shape' | SeeSomali phonology | |
| St’át’imcets | teq | [təq] | 'to touch' | ||
| Tlingit | ghagw | [qɐ́kʷ] | 'tree spine' | Tlingit contrasts six different uvular stops | |
| Tatar | кайдан/qaydan | [qɑj.dɑn] | 'from where?' | ||
| Tsimshian | gwildmḵa̱p'a | [ɡʷildmqɑpʼa] | 'tobacco' | ||
| Turkmen | ak | [ɑ:q] | 'white' | Allophone of /k/ next to back vowels | |
| Ubykh | qhë | [qʰɜ] | 'grave' | One of ten distinct uvular stop phonemes. SeeUbykh phonology | |
| Uyghur | ئاق/aq | [ɑq] | 'white' | ||
| Uzbek[17] | qol | [q̟oɫ] | 'arm' | Pre-uvular; sometimes realized as an affricate[q͡χ˖].[17] | |
| Western Neo-Aramaic | Bakh'a | [example needed] | Pre-uvular, though in Ma'loula it is slightly more front. | ||
| Ma'loula | [example needed] | ||||
| Yup'ik | meq | [məq] | 'fresh water' | ||
| Yukaghir | Northern | маарх/márq | [maːrq] | 'one' | |
| Southern | атахл/ataql | [ataql] | 'two' | ||
| !Xóõ | ǀqháá | [ǀ͡qʰɑ́ː]ⓘ | 'to smooth' | ||
In addition to the basic consonantal sounds discussed in sections 3.1 and 3.2, many speakers use any or all five additional consonants (क़ḳ, ख़ḳh,ग़ġ, ज़z, फ़f) in words of foreign origin (primarily from Persian, Arabic, English, and Portuguese). The last two of these, ज़z and फ़f, are the initial sounds in Englishzig andfig respectively. The consonant क़ḳ is a voiceless uvular stop, somewhat likek, but pronounced further back in the mouth. ख़ḳh is a voiceless fricative similar in pronunciation to the final sound of the Germanach. ग़ġ is generally pronounced as a voiceless uvular fricative, although it is occasionally heard as a stop rather than a fricative. Indevanāgari each of these five sounds is represented by the use of a subscript dot under one of the basic consonant signs. In practice, however, the dot is often omitted, leaving it to the reader to render the correct pronunciation on the basis of his prior knowledge of the language.
Hindi has a nasal sound roughly equivalent to then in the English sang, transliterated here asṅ orṁ, and has two slightly differingsh sounds, transliterated asś andṣ. ... A few words contain consonants…from Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, and English: क़ (ق) is transliterated as q, ख़ (خ) askh, ग़ (غ) as g, ज़ (ظ ,ز, or ض) as z, झ़ (ژ) as zh, and फ़ (ف) as f.
A few sounds, borrowed from the other languages like Persian and Arabic, are written with a dot (bindu or nukta) as shown in Table 2.2. …those who come from rural backgrounds and do not speak really good Khariboli, pronounce these sounds as the nearest equivalents in Hindi.
