Voiceless velar fricative

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨⟩, the Latin letter x. It is also used in broad transcription instead of the symbol ⟨⟩, the Greek chi, for the voiceless uvular fricative.

For a voiceless pre-velar fricative (also called post-palatal), see voiceless palatal fricative § Post-palatal.

Features

Features of a voiceless velar fricative:

• Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
• It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
• It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.