Ḥ Explained

(minuscule: ) is a letter of the Latin alphabet, formed from H with the addition of a dot diacritic.

Usage

Ḥ is used to represent the voiceless pharyngeal fricative (pronounced as //ħ//) in Arabic, some Syriac languages (such as Turoyo and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic), Ancient Egyptian, and traditional Hebrew (whereas Hebrew-speaking Israelis and Ashkenazi Jews (though not strictly) have usually replaced the pronunciation of Ḥ in the respective eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, Ḥet with a voiceless uvular fricative (pronounced as //χ//)). This sound also exists in the Tigrinya and Somali languages, in Modern South Arabian languages and in smaller North East African languages.

Asturian

Ḥ is used in Asturian to represent a voiceless glottal fricative (/h/) sound in Asturian words such as ḥou and ḥue, as well as some place names in the eastern part of Asturias (such as Ḥontoria and Villaḥormes).[1]

Sanskrit

Ḥ represents visarga, the phone pronounced as /link/ in Sanskrit phonology in the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration. Other transliteration systems use different symbols.

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.academiadelallingua.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Normes-Ortogr%C3%A1fiques-7%C2%AA-edici%C3%B3n-2012.pdf Normes Ortográfiques