What is Voiceless consonant?
{{simplifying}} {{Infobox IPA | above = Voiceless | ipa symbol = ◌̥ | decimal=805 }} In [[linguistics]], '''voicelessness''' is the property of sounds being pronounced without the [[larynx]] vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of [[phonation]], which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies [[voice (phonetics)|voicing]] and that voicelessness is the lack of phonation. The [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) has distinct letters for many voiceless and [[modal voice|modally voiced]] pairs of consonants (the [[obstruent]]s), such as {{IPA|[p b], [t d], [k ɡ], [q ɢ], [c ɟ], [f v], and [s z]}}. Also, there are diacritics for voicelessness, {{unichar|0325|COMBINING RING BELOW|ulink=Phonetic symbols in Unicode|cwith=◌}} and {{unichar|030A|COMBINING RING ABOVE|ulink=Phonetic symbols in Unicode|cwith=◌}}, which is used for letters with a [[descender]]. Diacritics are typically used with letters for prototypically voiced sounds, such as [[vowel]]s and [[sonorant consonant]]s: {{IPA|[ḁ], [l̥], [ŋ̊]}}. In Russian use of the IPA, the voicing diacritic may be turned for voicelessness, e.g. {{angbr IPA|ṋ}}.<ref>E.g. Bondarko, Verbickaja & Gordina (1991) ''Osnovy obščej fonetiki.'' St. Petersburg University Press.</ref> ==Voiceless vowels and other sonorants== [[Sonorant]]s are sounds such as vowels and [[nasal consonant|nasal]]s that are voiced in most of the world's languages. However, in some languages sonorants may be voiceless, usually [[allophone|allophonically]]. For example, the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] word ''[[sukiyaki]]'' is pronounced {{IPA|[sɯ̥kijaki]}} and may sound like {{IPA|[skijaki]}} to an English speaker, but the lips can be seen to compress for the {{IPA|[ɯ̥]}}. Something similar happens in [[English language|English]] words like ''p'''e'''culiar'' {{IPA|[pʰə̥ˈkj̊uːliɚ]}} and ''p'''o'''tato'' {{IPA|[pʰə̥ˈtʰeɪ̯ɾoʊ̯]}}. Voiceless vowels are also an areal feature in languages of the [[American Southwest]] (like [[Hopi language|Hopi]] and [[K