Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
ʍ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ʍ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ʍ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ʍ you have here. The definition of the word
ʍ will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ʍ, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Translingual
Description
An inverted letter w.
Pronunciation
Symbol
ʍ
- (IPA, officially prior to 1979) a voiceless labialized velar approximant, IPA(key):
- (IPA, officially since 1979) a voiceless labialized velar fricative, IPA(key):
- (superscript ⟨ꭩ⟩, IPA) voiceless labialization (such as word-final in German auch), aspirated labialization (such as ⟨kꭩ⟩ for ), -fricated release of a plosive, -coloring, or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic
Usage notes
- This symbol is redundant in the IPA. It is officially defined as a labial-velar fricative, which if taken literally would mean , but which IPA president Peter Ladefoged thought would actually need to be . Historically its primary use has been for the English wh-sound, which in most accents is or rather than . It continues to be identified as ⟨w̥⟩ by many linguists. ⟨ʍ⟩ is not frequently used for languages other than English and Scots, with a less ambiguous transcription such as ⟨w̥⟩, ⟨hʷ⟩ or ⟨xʷ⟩ generally being preferred.
See also
- w
- ɧ (a letter defined specifically for Swedish)
