Voiced glottal fricative

The voiced glottal fricative, sometimes called breathy-voiced glottal transition, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages which patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant phonologically, but often lacks the usual phonetic characteristics of a consonant. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɦ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is h\.

Voiced glottal fricative
ɦ
IPA Number147
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɦ
Unicode (hex)U+0266
X-SAMPAh\
Braille⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠓ (braille pattern dots-125)

In many languages, [ɦ] has no 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.[1] It may have real glottal constriction in a number of languages (such as Finnish[2]), making it a fricative.

Northern Wu languages such as Shanghainese contrast the voiced and voiceless glottal fricatives.[3] The two glottal fricatives pattern like plosives.[4][5]

Features

Features of the 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.[6]
  • 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 [ɦ] 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 [ɦ], and accordingly [ɦ] has only the place of articulation of these surrounding vowels.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the centrallateral dichotomy does not apply.
  • The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AfrikaansStandardhoekom[ɦu.kɔm]'why'
AzeriStandardhkəm[mœːɦcæm]'solid'
AlbanianNorthern Tosk[7]dhe menjëherë udhëtari[ðɛ miɲɜˈɦɛɹoθˈtaɽ̞i]'and immediately the traveller'Occasional allophone of /h/ in connected speech.
BasqueNortheastern dialects[8]hemen[ɦemen]'here'Can be voiceless [h] instead.
Czechhlava[ˈɦlava]'head'See Czech phonology
Danish[9]Mon det har regnet?[- te̝ ɦɑ -]'I wonder if it has rained.'Common allophone of /h/ between vowels.[9] See Danish phonology
Dutch[10]haat[ɦaːt]'hate'See Dutch phonology
EnglishAustralian[11]behind[bəˈɦɑe̯nd]'behind'Allophone of /h/ between voiced sounds.[11][12] See Australian English phonology and English phonology
Received Pronunciation[12][bɪˈɦaɪ̯nd]
Broad South Africanhand[ˈɦɛn̪t̪]'hand'Some speakers, only before a stressed vowel.
Estonianraha[ˈrɑɦɑ]'money'Allophone of /h/ between voiced sounds. See Estonian phonology and Finnish phonology
Finnish
FrenchQuebec[13]manger[mãɦe]'to eat'Limited to a minority of speakers. Can also be realized as a voiceless [h].
Hebrewמַהֵר'fast'Occurs as an allophone of /h/ between voiced sounds. See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustaniहूँ / ہوں[ɦũː]'am'See Hindustani phonology
HungarianSome speakerstehát[tɛɦaːt]'so'Intervocalic allophone of /h/. Occurs as voiceless /h/ for other speakers. See Hungarian phonology
JapaneseSome speakers少しして/sukoshi hanashite[14][sɯkoʃi ɦɑnɑʃite]'speak a little bit'
IndonesianSome speakersbahan[baˈɦan]'ingredients'
Kalabari[15]hóín[ɦóĩ́]'introduction'
Korean여행 / yeohaeng[jʌɦεŋ]'travel'Occurs as an allophone of /h/ between voiced sounds. See Korean phonology
Limburgish[16][17]hart[ɦɑ̽ʀ̝t]'heart'The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. See Maastrichtian dialect phonology
Lithuanianhumoras[ˈɦʊmɔrɐs̪]'humour'Often pronounced instead of [ɣ]. See Lithuanian phonology
Marathiहा[ɦaːɾ]'garland'
Odia/haḷa[ɦɔɭɔ]'plough'
Nepaliहल[ɦʌl]'solution'See Nepali phonology
PolishPodhale dialecthydrant[ˈɦɘ̟d̪rän̪t̪]'fire hydrant'Contrasts with /x/. Standard Polish possesses only /x/. See Polish phonology
Kresy dialect
PortugueseMany Brazilian dialectsesse rapaz[ˈesi ɦaˈpajs]'this youth' (m.)Allophone of /ʁ/. [h, ɦ] are marginal sounds to many speakers, particularly out of Brazil. See Portuguese phonology and guttural R
Many speakershashi[ɦɐˈʃi]'chopsticks'
Some Brazilian[18][19] dialectsmesmo[ˈmeɦmu]'same'Corresponds to either /s/ or /ʃ/ (depending on dialect) in the syllable coda. Might also be deleted.
Cearense dialect[20]gente[ˈɦẽnt͡ʃi]'people'Debuccalized from [ʒ], [v] or [z].
Mineiro dialectdormir[doɦˈmi(h)]'to sleep'Before other voiced consonants, otherwise realized as [h].
Punjabiਹਵਾ / ہوا[ɦə̀ʋä̌ː]'air'
Riffian Berberhwa[ɦwæ]'to go down'
RomanianTransylvanian dialects[21]haină[ˈɦajnə]'coat'Corresponds to [h] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Silesianhangrys[ˈɦaŋɡrɨs]'gooseberry'
Slovakhora'mountain'See Slovak phonology
SloveneLittoral dialectshora[ˈɦɔra]'mountain'This is a general feature of all Slovene dialects west of the Škofja LokaPlanina line. Corresponds to [ɡ] in other dialects. See Slovene phonology
Rovte dialects
Rosen Valley dialect
Sylhetiꠢꠥꠐꠇꠤ[ɦuʈki]'dried fish'
Teluguహల్లు[ɦəlːu]'Consonant'
Ukrainianголос[ˈɦɔlos]'voice'Also described as pharyngeal [ʕ][citation needed]. See Ukrainian phonology
WuShanghainese閒話/ghe-gho[ɦɛ˩ ɦo˦]'language'See Northern Wu phonology
Suzhounese四號/5sy-ghau6[sz̩˥˩ ɦæ˧˩]'fourth day of a Western month'
Zuluihhashi[iːˈɦaːʃi]'horse'

See also

Notes

References

External links