Unit 6:

Fricatives and affricates

 Fricatives
• Definition:
• Fricatives are consonant sounds that are made by allowing the
air to escape through a narrow (small) passage making a hissing
sound.

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• There are nine consonant phonemes that are called
fricatives:​
• / f, v, θ,ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h /

• Why do we call them fricatives?​

• We call them so because they are produced with friction as
their most important feature. The lungs push the
air through a narrow opening where it causes friction of
various kinds

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Continuant sounds

• • Fricatives are continuant consonants, which means that you can

continue making them without interruption as long as you have
enough air in your lungs.
• • Plosives are not continuants.
• • How important is the narrow passage for the air ? • P. 39

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 The fricatives of English
• The fricatives are divided according to their place of articulation.
Kinds of fricatives:
 Labiodental fricatives
 Dental fricatives
 Alveolar fricatives
 Alveo-palatal fricatives

• •1-labiodental /f,v/
• The lower lip is in contact with upper teeth ! p. 41
• • examples
• Fan / van safer/saver half /halve

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LABIODENTAL These
sounds are formed with
the upper teeth and the
.lower lip as in [f] and [v]
Important points:
1. The soft palate is raised so that no air
goes through the nose and it is all forced
through the mouth.
2. The lower lip is very close to the upper
front teeth: this forms the narrowing
and when air is pushed through this
narrowing it causes slight friction.
3. The tongue is not directly involved in making these
sounds, but it does not lie idle; it takes up the
position necessary for the following sound, so in / fi:
/ it will be in the /i:/ position whilst /f/ is being
pronounced, and in /fri:/ it will be in the /r/ position,
and so on.
What is the differencecbetween f and v
• The difference between / f / and / v / is mainly one
of strength and voice:​
• / f / is a strong consonant,/v/ is a weak one.​
• / f / is voiceless, but /v/ is voiced

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 Then, they can be described as
follows:

/ f / is a strong, voiceless, labiodental, fricative consonant.

/ v / is a weak , voiced, labiodental fricative consonant.

When / f / and / v / occur after a vowel, they have an effect
on the length of the vowel.
The strong consonant / f / makes the vowel shorter.
The weak consonant / v / makes the vowel longer.
The Rule is:
Strong voiceless consonants at the end of words shorten the
preceding vowel, weak voiced consonants don’t.

:Example
safe / seɪf / & save / seɪv /
The / eɪ / in ‘save’ is longer than the / eɪ / in safe.
dental

• •2-/θ ð /
• dental
• •Sometimes they are described as if the tongue is between the teeth
but the tongue is normally placed behind the teeth with the blade of
the tongue touching the inner side of the upper teeth. Fig 19 p.41
• • Examples: thumb/ thus. Ether/father breath/breathe

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DENTAL
These sounds are
formed with the
tongue tip behind
the upper front
teeth like [ð ] and
[Ө].
Important points:
1. The soft palate is raised so that no air goes through the nose and it
is all forced through the mouth.
2. The tip of the tongue is touching the upper front teeth: this is the
narrowing where the friction is made.
3. The noise made by the friction for /θ/ and /ð/ is not very great,
much less than for /s/ and /z/.
What is the difference between /θ/ and /ð/?

The difference between / θ / and / ð / is mainly of

strength and voicing:
/ θ / is a strong consonant,/ ð / is a weak one.
/ θ / is voiceless, but / ð / is voiced.
 Then, they can be described as follows:
/ θ / is a strong, voiceless, dental, fricative consonant.
/ ð / is a weak , voiced, dental, fricative consonant.
When / θ / and / ð / occur after a vowel, they have an effect on
the length of the vowel.
The strong consonant / θ / makes the vowel
shorter, but the weak consonant / ð / doesn’t.
Example: faith / feɪθ / & bathe /beɪð/
The /eɪ/ diphthong in ‘faith’ is shorter than /eɪ/ in ‘bathe’.
alveolar
• •/s, z/ alveolar
• •Same place of articulation as/t,d/. The tongue touches the alveolar
ridge, but unlike the plosives (t - d); the air escapes a narrow passage
along the center of the tongue.
• • Examples : say zone facing. phasing rice rise

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ALVEOLAR
These are formed
with the front
part of the
tongue on the
alveolar ridge,
such as [s] and
.[z]
 Important points:
1. The soft palate is raised so that no air goes through
the nose and it is forced through the mouth.
2. The tip and the blade of the tongue are touching
the alveolar ridge. There is very considerable narrowing
at this point, not near the teeth and not near the hard
palate.
3. The teeth are very close together.
4. The friction for these sounds, especially for /s/, is much
greater than for / f, v, θ/ and / ð /.
What is the difference between /s/ and /z/?

The difference between /s/ and /z/ is mainly one of strength

and voicing:
/s/ is a strong consonant, /z/ is a weak one.
/s/ is voiceless, but /z/ is voiced.
 Then, they can be described as follows:

/s/ is a strong, voiceless, alveolar, fricative consonant.

/z/ is a weak , voiced, alveolar, fricative
consonant.
When /s/ and /z/ occur after a vowel, they have
an effect on the length of the vowel.
The strong consonant /s/ makes the vowel
shorter, but the weak consonant /z/ doesn’t.
Example: loose /lu:s/ & lose /lu:z /
The /u:/ in loose is shorter than the /u:/ in lose.
post-alveolar or palato-alveolar
• / ʃ , ʒ / post-alveolar or palato-alveolar
• The tongue is in contact with an area slightly further back than that
for (s–z).If you make /s/ then /ʃ/, you should be able to feel your
tongue move backwards.
• Examples: ship Russia measure Irish garage

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 /ʃ/ & /ʒ/
Example words: ‘sh-- --’ ‘jabot’/
‘fashion’ ‘measure’ / ‘push’ ‘garage’
Post-alveolar: the tongue touches an area further
back than that for /s/ and /z/.
Look at the following diagram:
Post-alveolar(ALVEO-
PALATAL) Sounds which
are produced with the
tongue at the very front
of the palate, near the
alveolar ridge .

/ ʃ / &/ ʒ /
 Important points
1. The soft palate is raised so that no air goes through the
nose and it is all forced through the mouth.
2. There is narrowing between the tip of the tongue and
the back of the alveolar ridge.
3. The front of the tongue is higher than for than for /s/
and /z/.
4. The lips are very slightly rounded.
Remember:
/ ʒ / does not occur at the beginning of English words but / ʃ / quite
frequently does.
At the end of words/ ʃ / is quite common but/ ʒ / is very rare and
only occurs in a few words borrowed from French.
When / ʃ / and / ʒ / occur at the end of words, after a vowel,
they have an effect on the length of the vowel.
The strong consonant/ ʃ / makes the vowel shorter.
The weak consonant / ʒ / makes the vowel longer.
glottal

• • / h / glottal
• •The place of articulation for this consonant is glottal. The sound is
produced when the glottis is narrow i.e the vocal folds are close
together.
• • Examples: head ahead playhouse

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/h/ is a sound which is produced
without the active use of the tongue
and other parts of the mouth. It is
produced at the glottis. The narrowing
that produces the friction noise is
between the vocal folds.
• • Phonetically /h/ is a voiceless vowel with the quality of the voiced
vowel it precedes.
• • hit hat hot hut
• •Phonologically /h/ is a consonant found before vowels in initial or
medial position.

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/h/
/hn/ (x ) /hd/ (x) /hen/ (x) /had/ (x )
It is never followed by a consonant
There are as many /h/ -sounds in English as
there are vowels, because /h/ always occurs
before a vowel and consists of the sound of
breath passing between the open vocal cords
and out of the mouth which is already prepared
for the following vowel.
Remember
/h/ does not make very much noise, but it
must not be left out when it should be
sounded because many words are
distinguished by the presence or absence
of /h/:
Example: here /hiə/ ear /iə/
• Voiceless (Fortis)
• •/f,θ,s,ʃ/
• • Voiced (Lenis)
• •/v,ð,z,ʒ/
• • / h/ is regarded as between voiced and voiceless.

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The affricates of English

• •Affricates are consonants that begin as a plosive and end as a

fricative
• The plosive and the fricative phonemes must be homorganic
(i.e., pronounced at the same place of articulation).​
• Affricates are considered as single, independent phonemes.​
• • There are only two affricate phonemes in English / tʃ , dʒ /
• • Examples : church judge

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 /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
English has two affricates (plosives released with frication)
/tʃ/ is a long, strong, voiceless, alveolar, affricate.
Example: church /tʃ 3: tʃ /
/dʒ/ is a short, weak, voiced, alveolar, affricate.
Example: judge /dʒ ʌ dʒ /
************************************************
******
• •NOTE: we would not class all sequences of plosive plus fricative as
affricates.
• Example; /k/ and /f/ in breakfast are not affricate (not homorganic)
/t/ and /ʃ/ in church are affricates (homorganic)
• Homorganic: the plosive and the following fricative must be made
with the same articulators (same place of articulation)
• SO, in affricates = plosives and fricatives must be homorganic

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• • /tʃ , dʒ/ plosive + fricative = ONE phoneme affricate
• • /t/ one phoneme , /ʃ/ another phoneme , /tʃ/ another new
phoneme
• • Note the difference Cheap Sheep
• / ʧi:p/ /ʃi:p/
• • /tʃ / >>>>>> voiceless ( Fortis ) • / dʒ/ >>>>>> voiced ( Lenis )

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Nasals and other
consonants
• • Plosives done
• • Fricatives done
• • Affricates done
• • The remaining consonants
• • /m, n ,ŋ/ >>>nasals
• • / l / >>> lateral
• •/ r , w , j / >>>approximants •
• • All of these consonants are voiced
Nasal consonants

• In producing nasal consonants, the air passes through the nose not
the mouth.
• >>>> this happens when the soft palate is lowered.
• In all other consonants and in English vowels the soft palate is raised
and air cannot pass through the nose, only through the mouth.
• /m/ >>>>bilabial (remember p b) • The two lips
• / n / >>>>alveolar (remember t d) • Tongue blade touching
alveolar
.
ridge.
• / ŋ / >>>>velar (remember k g ) • Back of tongue touching
soft palate
 • /ŋ/

• • A sound that gives considerable problem for foreign learners.

• • It is important not to produce a k or g sound at the end- pronounce
the ŋ like m or n
• • / m , n / occur in initial, medial, and ,final position in words.
• • / ŋ / never occurs in initial position.
 Description
/m/ bilabial, nasal, voiced
Example: meet /mi:t/
/n/ alveolar, nasal, voiced
Example: neat /ni:t/
/ŋ/ velar, nasal, voiced
Example: ring /rinŋ/
• / ŋ /never occurs initially.
• If the letters ‘nk’ occur in the middle of a word, it is transcribed
with /ŋk/.
Example: blinking /blɪŋkɪŋ/
But if the letters ‘ng’ occur in the middle of a word, it is
transcribed as follows:
1. if the word has two morphemes as ‘hanger’ (2 morphemes=
hang + er), it is transcribed without / g /: /hæŋə/
2. if the word has only one morpheme as ‘finger’, it is transcribed
with / g /: /fɪŋgə /
More examples ‘singer’ / sɪŋə / ‘anger’ /æŋgə /
Exception:
The superlative and comparative forms of
adjectives are treated as single-morpheme
words.
Examples:
‘long +er’ ‘longer’ /lɒŋgə/
‘long + est’ ‘longest’ /lɒŋgəst/
 Approximant Consonants

Approximants: consonants that are almost

like vowels
/l/ as in ‘long’
/r/ as in ‘rice’
/w/ as in ‘window’
/j/ as in ‘yellow’
Approximants

Approximants are consonants formed by very

little obstruction to the airflow through the
mouth. It is produced by bringing one articulator
in the vocal tract close to another without causing
audible friction.
Lateral consonant l

Lateral approximant consonant sounds are made

by releasing air around the sides of the tongue while making
a block in the middle.
 The position of the organs of speech
for /l/ as in /lɪv/ ‘live’ is shown in
the following figure

• Alveolar [l] is formed by letting the

airstream flow around the sides of the tongue
as it makes contact with the alveolar ridge
Position for /l/ in words>>>initial medial ,final
•/l/>>>alveolar (tongue blade touching alveolar ridge)
 Lateral /l/ distribution

• When it follows /p,k/, at the beginning of a stressed syllable , it become voiceless.​

• Phonetically speaking, there are two basic realizations ( allophones) of the
phoneme /l/:​
• “Dark l “ :​
• eels = /i:lz/ ​Similar to u​-it occurs only before a consonant or a pause, never
before vowels.
• Dark / l / >>>> example kill /kɪɫ /symbol for dark l>>/ɫ/
• “clear l “ :​
• lea = /li:/​- It occurs only before vowels.
• Clear / l / >>>>example lick /lɪk / symbol for clear l>>/l/
• General American and Scottish English lacks this distinction and has
dark, L in all positions, while Irish English has clear L only. Both
variants occur in Standard British English.
• • The two types of l are in complementary distribution, hence they
are allophones of a single phoneme l.
The approximant r

• An approximant is a type of consonant in which articulators approach

each other but don’t get close to each other to produce a complete
consonant. In producing r, the tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar area but never
actually makes contact with any part of it.
• The soft palate is raised so no air can go through the nose. The tongue is slightly curled
backward with the tip raised (retroflex)
• / r / >>> voiced, post-alveolar or palato-alveolar
• r sound is different in other languages; the tongue actually touches
the alveolar area. >>> like Arabic
• After voiceless stops /r/ loses it voice and become voiceless. ​
• Example: ‘press’​
• In BBC accent, pronounce / r / only before vowels
• Example: ‘red’ ‘arrive’ /r/ in the final position is usually
not pronounced. ​
• Don’t pronounce /r / after vowels and in ,final position
• Example: ’car’ ‘ever’ ‘here’
• BBC accent ( non-rhotic ) don’t pronounce / r / in ,final position
• Some accents ( e.g. American and Scots ) pronounce the /r/ in ,final
position (rhotic accents)
 The approximants /j/ and /w/

• They are phonetically like vowels but phonologically like consonants (for example, they
occur before vowel phonemes), thus, they are called semi-vowels.​
• Phonetically speaking:​
• [j] is the consonant version of [i:]​
• [w] is the consonant version of [u]​
• /j/>>>> •palatal (tongue close to hard palate)
• Examples: yet yes pure
• /w/ >>>> •Bilabial ( two lips )
• Examples: wet twin where

••
/ j/
j/ This consonant is a quick glide from the position of the vowel /i:// •
​.or /i/ to any other vowel
When /j/ follows /p, t, k/ it loses the voice which it usually has, and is •
made voiceless; this causes some friction to be heard
• Remember /j/ does not occur in the final position
/w/
This consonant consists of a quick glide from the vowel /u:/ or /u/ •
​.to whatever vowel following it
You must remember that when /w/ immediately follows /t/ or /k/ •
the glide is not voiced, though the lips are again rounded during the
​.stop consonant
twice / twais/ quite / kwait •
• Remember /w/ does not occur in final the position
• What is the place of articulation of the phoneme /w/?