Pharyngeal consonants are typically pronounced at two regions of the pharynx, upper and lower.

Among widespread speech sounds in the world's languages, the upper pharynx produces a voiceless fricative [ħ] and a voiced sound that ranges from fricative to (more commonly) approximant, [ʕ].

The epiglottal region produces the plosive [ʡ] as well as sounds that range from fricative to trill, [ʜ] and [ʢ].

The Nǁng language (Nǀuu) is claimed to have an upper pharyngeal place of articulation among its stops.

The extIPA provides the letter ⟨𝼂⟩ (a turned small-capital ɢ), equivalent to IPA ⟨ɢ̠⟩, to transcribe such a voiced upper pharyngeal plosive.