ʁʷ vs ħ

Voiced Uvular Fricative vs Voiceless Uvular Fricative

How these sounds differ

ʁʷ

Voiced Uvular Fricative

Voicing: voiced
Place: uvular
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 7 / 500

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Voiceless Uvular Fricative

Voicing: voiceless
Place: uvular
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 24 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with ʁʷ

Languages with both

Languages with ħ

4 languages in our database contrast both sounds as distinct phonemes. Languages that have one but not the other tend to merge them into a single phoneme — meaning speakers of those languages often struggle to hear the distinction when learning a language that contrasts them.

Has ʁʷ, not ħ (3)

Avar Nakh-Daghestanian YUPIK Eskimo-Aleut Tashlhiyt Berber Afro-Asiatic

Has ħ, not ʁʷ (20)

SOCOTRI Afro-Asiatic Atayal Austronesian Nootka Wakashan Kwakiutl Wakashan Iraqw Afro-Asiatic Maltese Afro-Asiatic Bats Nakh-Daghestanian BRAO Austroasiatic DAHALO Afro-Asiatic KURDISH Indo-European Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Arabic Afro-Asiatic Egyptian Arabic Afro-Asiatic Somali Afro-Asiatic Tigrinya Afro-Asiatic Kurdish Indo-European Lebanese Arabic Afro-Asiatic Ewe Atlantic-Congo Tamazight Berber Afro-Asiatic Tigre Afro-Asiatic