ʍ

Description
An inverted letter w.

Symbol

 * 1)  a voiceless labialized velar approximant,
 * 2)  a voiceless labialized velar fricative,
 * 3)  voiceless labialization (such as word-final  in German auch), aspirated labialization (such as ⟨kꭩ⟩ for ), -fricated release of a plosive, -coloring, or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic

Usage notes

 * This symbol is redundant in the IPA. It is officially defined as a labial-velar fricative, which if taken literally would mean, but which IPA president Peter Ladefoged thought would actually need to be . Historically its primary use has been for the English wh-sound, which in most accents is or  rather than . It continues to be identified as ⟨w̥⟩ by many linguists. ⟨ʍ⟩ is not frequently used for languages other than English and Scots, with a less ambiguous transcription such as ⟨w̥⟩, ⟨hʷ⟩ or ⟨xʷ⟩ generally being preferred.