The voiceless labiovelar approximant (traditionally called a voiceless labiovelar fricative) is a type of consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

al sound, used in some spoken language

Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

s. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...

 that represents this sound is ʍ, a rotated lowercase letter ⟨w⟩.

[ʍ] is generally called a "fricative" for historical reasons, but in English, the language that the symbol ʍ is primarily used for, it is a voiceless approximant, equivalent to [w̥] or [hw̥]. On rare occasions the symbol is appropriated for a voiceless labialized velar fricative, [xʷ], in other languages.

Features

Features of the voiceless labial-velar approximant:

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...	Meaning	Notes
Cornish Cornish language Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...		whath Cornish language Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate... , hwath Cornish language Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...	[ʍæːθ]	'still', 'yet'	Is represented as ⟨wh⟩ and ⟨hw⟩ in the Standard Written Form Standard Written Form The Standard Written Form or SWF of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthography"... , as ⟨wh⟩ in Kernowek Standard Kernowek Standard Kernowek Standard is a variety of revived Cornish and a proposed set of revisions to the Standard Written Form. Developed gradually by a group called UdnFormScrefys , it was published as a proposal in a series of revisions. Its principal authors were Michael Everson, Neil Kennedy, and Nicholas... , Unified Cornish Unified Cornish Unified Cornish is a variety of revived Cornish. Developed gradually by Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish MSS... , Unified Cornish Revised and Modern Cornish Modern Cornish Modern Cornish is a variety of the revived Cornish language. It is sometimes called Revived Late Cornish or Kernuack Dewethas, to distinguish it from other forms of contemporary revived Cornish.... , and ⟨hw⟩ in Kernewek Kemmyn Kernewek Kemmyn Kernewek Kemmyn is a variety of the revived Cornish language.Kernewek Kemmyn was developed, mainly by Ken George, from Unified Cornish in 1986. It takes much of its inspiration from medieval sources, particularly Cornish passion plays, as well as Breton and to a lesser extent Welsh... .
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	Scottish English Scottish English Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....	whine English orthography English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English orthography, like other alphabetic orthographies, uses a set of habits to represent speech sounds in writing. In most other languages, these habits are regular enough so that they may be called rules...	[ʍʌɪn]	'whine'	Phonemically /hw/. Contrasts with /w/. See English phonology English phonology English phonology is the study of the sound system of the English language. Like many languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect...  and phonological history of wh Phonological history of wh The pronunciation of the digraph ‹wh› in English has varied with time, and can still vary today between different regions. According to the historical period and the accent of the speaker, it is most commonly realised as the consonant cluster or as...
	Some Southern American Southern American English Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make... dialects		[ʍaːn]