Voiceless linguolabial fricative

A voiceless linguolabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is ⟨θ̼⟩ or ⟨ɸ̺⟩.

Voiceless linguolabial fricative
θ̼
ɸ̺
IPA number	130 407
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Features

• 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 linguolabial, which means it is articulated with the tongue against the upper lip.
• 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.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Big Nambas[1]			[ˈinɛθ̼]	'he is asthmatic'