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What is a Fricative?
Fricative / Consonants are produced by air flowing through a narrow channel made by placing
two articulators close together. The air that escapes through this narrow channel often makes a
hissing sound. Fricatives are continuant consonants, i.e., they can be made without interruption
as long as you have air in your lungs. Fricatives can be categorized into some groups based on
their place of articulation.

Bilabial: Bilabials are consonant sounds produced by using both lips together. English bilabial
fricatives include /p b m w /.

Labio-dental fricatives: They are produced when the lower lip comes into contact with the
upper lip. /f/ and /v/ are the labiodentals fricative in the English language. Ex: ‘fan’, ‘van’,
‘half’, ‘halve’.

Dental fricatives: These fricatives are produced when the tongue is placed between the teeth;
the air escapes through the gaps between the teeth. /θ/and /ð/are examples of dental fricatives.
Ex: ‘thumb’, ‘thus’, ‘father’, ‘breath’.

Alveolar fricatives: Alveolar fricatives are produced when the air escapes through the narrow
passage along the centre of the tongue. /s/ and /z/ are examples of alveolar fricatives. Ex: ‘sip’,
‘zip’, ‘rice’, ‘rise’.

Post-alveolar fricatives: These fricatives are produced when the air escapes through a passage
along the centre of the tongue; the tongue is in contact with an area slightly further back than
the alveolar fricatives. Examples include /ʒ/ and /∫/. Ex: ‘ship’, ‘Irish’, ‘garage’, ‘measure’.

Glottal fricatives: Glottal fricatives are produced by the friction between the vocal cords. /h/
(as in hello and happy) is the only glottal fricative in English. Ex: ‘head’, ‘ahead’.
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What is an Affricate?
An affricate is a complex consonant that begins in a plosive and ends as a fricative. An
affricative is usually homorganic, i.e., both the plosive and fricative are made with the same
articulator. They are made by stopping the flow of air somewhere in the vocal tract, and then
releasing the air comparatively slowly so that the friction sound is produced.

There are only two affricative sounds in the present day English. They are /ʧ/ (ch sound) and
/ʤ/ (j sound). /ʧ/ is a voiceless alveopalatal affricate and /ʤ/ is a voiced alveopalatal
affricate. Ex: show, measure, chip and judge.

The difference between Fricative and Affricate : Fricatives and affricates are two types
of consonants that differ from other consonants due to their manner of articulation.
Definition:
Fricative: Fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by
placing two articulators close together.
Affricate: Affricative is a complex consonant that begins in a plosive and ends as a fricative.

Articulation:
Fricative: Fricative is made by forcing the air flow through a narrow channel made by placing
two articulators close together.
Affricate: Affricative is made by stopping the flow of air somewhere in the vocal tract, and
then releasing the air comparatively slowly.

Examples:
Fricative: /f/,/v/, /s/,/z/,/θ/,/ð/, /ʒ/ and /∫/ are examples of fricatives.
Affricate: /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are the only affricate consonants in the English language.
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The manner of articulation is the way the airstream is affected as it flows from the
lungs and out the nose and mouth. Here are some key terms for consonant manner of
articulation.
 Affricate: A stop followed by a fricative with the same place of articulation,
such as /ʧ/ as in “chip” and /ʤ/ as in “germ.”
 Approximant: A sound made by bringing articulators together to shape airflow,
while not blocking air or causing hissing. Examples include “read,” “weed,”
“lead,” and “you.”
 Flap: A rapidly made stop consonant, usually voiced, such as the “t” in “Betty”
as pronounced in American English
 Fricative: A hissy consonant, such as in “fat,” “vat,” “thick,” “this,” “sip,” “zip,”
“ship,” and “leisure”. It’s made by producing friction in the airstream.
 Glide: A subgroup of the approximants, also called semivowels, including the
sounds /j/ as in “you” and /w/ as in “we”.
 Lateral: Sounds made by directing airflow around the sides of the tongue, such
as /l/ in “listen”.
 Liquid: The other two English approximants (besides glides), /l/ and /ɹ/.
 Nasal: Sounds produced with airflow escaping through the nasal passage, such
as in “meat,” “neat,” and “sing’’.
 Stop: Also known as plosive, a sound made with complete closure of the oral
cavity.