The /h/ Sound, Voiceless Glottal Fricative

/h/

/h/ is a voiceless glottal fricative. To make it, the sound is made in the glottis, the space between the vocal folds and the air is pushed through a narrow gap, which makes friction. It is voiceless, so the vocal folds do not vibrate.

Hear It In The App Naming Practice

Example Words

Word	UK	US
hat	/hæt/	/hæt/	Syllables · Pronounce
behind	/bɪˈhaɪnd/	/bɪˈhaɪnd/	Syllables · Pronounce
ahead	/əˈhed/	/əˈhed/	Syllables · Pronounce

Distinctive Features

/h/ is told apart from every other English sound by two distinctive features.

See them in DF Analysis

Allophones Of /h/

/h/ has 2 allophones in the app, starting with [hʷ], a consonant immediately before /w/ or a rounded vowel. The full list, where each occurs and the examples are in Allophones, which opens with any course or with Adroit Plus.

See The Allophones Get Access

Words With The /h/ Sound

/h/ At The Start Of A Word

/h/ In The Middle Of A Word

Minimal Pairs

Minimal Pairs /h/ And /f/ (Hat And Fat)

Questions Students Ask

Is /h/ voiced or voiceless?

/h/ is voiceless.

What is the place of articulation of /h/?

/h/ is glottal, which means the sound is made in the glottis, the space between the vocal folds.

What is the manner of articulation of /h/?

/h/ is a fricative, which means the air is pushed through a narrow gap, which makes friction.

Which words have the /h/ sound?

For example hat, behind, ahead.