What it stands for: Usually a voiced velar fricative — which is like the "ch" in German "ach" but voiced. Where it comes from: A modified version of a handwritten q. In English: We've never even ...

a 'y' sound as in "yes," and a sort of soft gargle we no longer use in English (a voiced velar fricative). During the Middle English period, we borrowed a lot from French, which used 'g' for a ...

Each of these sounds we’ve discussed so far has a near-identical voiced twin, like [f] and [v], [p] and [b], or [t] and [d]. Even the velar fricative, /x/, has one. It’s found in many ...

That, according to academic research, is what is happening to the Doric dialect because the use of the velar fricative - the official term for the ''ch'' which Scots have a gift for dragging from ...

a 'y' sound as in "yes," and a sort of soft gargle we no longer use in English (a voiced velar fricative). From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week ...