q is the IPA symbol for the Voiceless Uvular Stop, a voiceless uvular stop consonant. It appears in 58 of 500 languages (12% cross-linguistic frequency).
q

Voiceless Uvular Stop

Consonant · voiceless

No audio available for this symbol
Languages using this sound 58 / 500
Cross-linguistic frequency 12%

Found in a minority of languages.

Type consonant

Articulation

Every speech sound is defined by three properties: its class (consonant, vowel, or tone), its place of articulation (where in the vocal tract it is formed — lips, teeth, palate, etc.), its manner (how airflow is controlled — stopped, funneled into a fricative, channeled through the nose), and its voicing (whether the vocal cords vibrate during production).

Class
Consonant
Voicing
Voiceless
Place
Uvular
Manner
Stop

Languages using this sound

This sound appears in 58 of the 500 languages in our database. Languages that use a sound only in loanwords or in rare, specialized contexts are marked as marginal (*) — the sound exists but is not a core part of the phonological system. Click any language to view its full sound inventory.

Related sounds