Voiceless velar fricative

Voiceless velar fricative
x
IPA number	140
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	x
Unicode (hex)	U+0078
X-SAMPA	x
Kirshenbaum	x
Braille

The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in loch, broch or saugh (willow).

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨x⟩, the Latin and English letter x. It is also used in broad transcription instead of the symbol ⟨χ⟩, the Greek chi, (or, more properly, ⟨ꭓ⟩, the Latin chi) for the voiceless uvular fricative.

There is also a voiceless post-velar fricative (also called pre-uvular) in some languages. For voiceless pre-velar fricative (also called post-palatal), see voiceless palatal fricative.

IPA: Pulmonic consonants [edit]
Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal Manner ↓ Bi­labial Lab-den. Ling-lab. Den. Alv. Pst-alv. Retro. Pal. Vel. Uvul. Pharyn. Glottal Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̼ n̪ n̥ n n̠ ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t̪ d̪ t d t̠ d̠ ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant affricate t̪s̪ d̪z̪ ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ ʈʂ ɖʐ t̠ɕ d̠ʑ Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh Sibilant fricative s̪ z̪ s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ Approximant β̥˕ ɸ̬˕ ʋ̥ ʋ θ̞ ð̞ ɹ̥ ɹ ɹ̠ ɻ̊ ɻ j̊ j ɰ̊ ɰ ʁ̞ ʕ̞ ʔ̞ Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̪ ɾ̥ ɾ ɾ̠ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̆ Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̼ r̪ r̥ r r̠ ɽr̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ ʈɭ̊˔ ɖɭ˔ cʎ̝̊ ɟʎ̝ kʟ̝̊ ɡʟ̝ Lateral fricative ɬ̪ ɮ̪ ɬ ɮ ɭ̊˔ ɭ˔ ʎ̝̊ ʎ̝ ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l̪ l̥ l l̠ ɭ̊ ɭ ʎ̥ ʎ ʟ̥ ʟ ʟ̠ Lateral tap/flap ɺ ɭ̆ ʎ̆ ʟ̆
Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged to be impossible.