# Voiceless velar affricate

The voiceless velar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound are ⟨k͡x⟩ and ⟨k͜x⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k_x. The tie bar may be omitted, yielding ⟨kx⟩ in the IPA and kx in X-SAMPA.
Some languages have the voiceless pre-velar affricate, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical voiceless velar affricate, though not as front as the prototypical voiceless palatal affricate - see that article for more information.
Conversely, some languages have the voiceless post-velar affricate, which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of the prototypical voiceless velar affricate, though not as back as the prototypical voiceless uvular affricate - see that article for more information.

## Features

Features of the voiceless velar affricate:
* Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
* Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Cimbrian | Luserna dialect | khes | [kxɛːʂ] | 'cheese' | |
| Cimbrian | Sette Comuni dialect | khèmman | [kxɛː.mɐn] | 'to come' | |
| Dutch | Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect | blik | [ˈblɪk͡x] | 'plate' | Optional pre-pausal allophone of /k/. |
| Modern Greek | Ancient Greek borrowings | σάκχαρο | [ˈsak͡xaro] | '(blood) sugar' | |
| English | Broad Cockney | cab | [ˈk͡xɛˑb̥] | 'cab' | Possible word-initial, intervocalic and word-final allophone of /k/. See English phonology |
| English | New Zealand | cab | [ˈk͡xɛˑb̥] | 'cab' | Word-initial allophone of /k/. See English phonology |
| English | North Wales | cab | [ˈk͡xaˑb̥] | 'cab' | Word-initial and word-final allophone of /k/; in free variation with a strongly aspirated stop [kʰ]. See English phonology |
| English | Received Pronunciation | cab | [ˈk͡xaˑb̥] | 'cab' | Occasional allophone of /k/. See English phonology |
| English | Scouse | cab | [ˈk͡xaˑb̥] | 'cab' | Possible syllable-initial and word-final allophone of /k/. See English phonology |
| German | Standard Austrian | Kübel | [ˈk͡xyːbœl] | 'bucket' | Possible realization of /k/ before front vowels. See Standard German phonology |
| German | Bavarian dialects of Tyrol | Kchind | [ˈk͡xind̥] | 'child' | |
| German | Swiss dialects and Alemannic of southern Baden-Württemberg | Sack | [z̥ɑk͡x] | 'bag' | May be actually uvular [q͡χ] in some dialects. |
| Korean | Korean | 크다 (keuda) | [k͡xɯ̽da] | 'big' | Allophone of /kʰ/ before /ɯ/. See Korean phonology |
| Lakota | Lakota | lakhóta | [laˈk͡xota] | 'Lakota' | Allophone of /kʰ/ before /a/, /ã/, /o/, /ĩ/, and /ũ/. |
| Navajo | Navajo | kǫʼ | [k͡xõʔ˩] | 'fire' | Allophone of /kʰ/ before the back vowels /o, a/. See Navajo phonology |
| Slovene | Slovene | sikh | [ˈs̪îːk͡x] | 'Sikh' | Very rare, occurring only in loanwords. See Slovene phonology |
| Xhosa | Xhosa | | | | Represented by <krh>. Contrasts /kʼ, kʰ, ɡ̊ʱ, kxʼ, kxʰ, x, ɣ̈/. See Xhosa phonology. |
| !Xóõ | !Xóõ | [ǁ͡kxʼâã] | [ǁ͡kxʼâã] | 'grass' | Used in pulmonic-contour clicks. |