Encountered a strange looking segment thanks to @ macleginn in Kpelle, who wrote to the author.
It is a /hʷ/. It alternates with /v/ in some environments, hence the way they write it. There is no contrast between /h/ and /hʷ/ between rounded vowels.
It did indeed become /f/ in another dialect of Kpelle spoken in Liberia.
Encountered a strange looking segment thanks to @ macleginn in Kpelle, who wrote to the author.
It is a /hʷ/. It alternates with /v/ in some environments, hence the way they write it. There is no contrast between /h/ and /hʷ/ between rounded vowels.
It did indeed become /f/ in another dialect of Kpelle spoken in Liberia.
Todo: update