Lecturer Ms Y. Chorfi 		Sétif-2- University 		1st Year Classes 		2017-2018

		3.2. Fricatives  / ˈf r ɪ k ə t ɪ v z / and Affricates / ˈæ f r ɪ k ə t s /
3.2.1 Fricatives 
	Fricatives are consonants which result when two articulators are brought close together, but unlike the plosives, the articulators are not near enough to make a total closure at the oral cavity. During their production, the escaping air has to squeeze through a very narrow opening either at the glottis or in the vocal tract making a continuous audible friction which is heard as hissing for a voiceless fricative, and buzzing for a voiced one. Fricatives belong to a large class of sounds called continuants as they are produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth.  
a. English fricatives

Glottal state
( + - ) Voicing	Point of articulation	
Transcription
(IPA symbol)

Voiceless 
Voiced    

Voiceless 
Voiced    

Voiceless
Voiced

Voiceless
Voiced

Voiceless	
Labiodental
Fast                       / f ɑː s t /     
Vast                      / v ɑː s t /

Dental 
(Interdental in North American accents)
Sheath                 / ʃ iː θ /
Sheathe              / ʃ iː ð /

Alveolar
Sip                     / s ɪ p /
Zip                    / z ɪ p /

Palato-alveolar, 
Post-alveolar, Alveopalatal
Rush                / r ʌ ʃ /
Rouge             / r uː ʒ / 

Glottal
Hat                  / h æ t /

/ f /
/ v /

/ θ /
/ ð /

/ s /
/ z /

/ ʃ /
/ ʒ /

/ h /	

b. English fricatives (phonetic description)

	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Glottal	
Voiceless
Voiced	/ f /
/ v /	/ θ /
/ ð /
	/ s /
/ z /
	/ ʃ /
/ ʒ /
	/ h /	

c. The phonological description 
- Initial fricatives
	All the fricatives in English can be word-initials though the sound / ʒ / is rare except in French loan words like genre / ʒ ɑː r ə / or / ʒ ɒ n r ə /, gigue / ʒ iː g / and jabot / ʒ æ b əʊ /. Most of them could be followed by vowels and consonants (one of the set of / l, r, w, j / in addition to /p, t, k / after /s/), for instance, flight / f l aɪ t /, view / v j uː /, through / θ r uː /, suit / s j uː t / spare / s p eə /, shrew / ʃ r uː/, huge  / hjuːdʒ /,  and others can be followed solely by vowels, and they are / ð, z, ʒ/ for instance though /ðəʊ/ and zebra /ziːbrə/. When they are initials, the voiced fricatives become devoiced [v̥, ð̥, z̥, ʒ̥]    
- Medial fricatives
	All the fricatives can be medial in orthography which could be either syllable initial or final in phonetics. For instance, / θ / is final in “truthful” / ˈtruːθ. fəl / and initial in “panther” /pæn. θə /. The voiced fricatives are devoiced, but like the plosives they become fully voiced when occurring between two voiced sounds for instance / z / is fully voiced in “amazing” / ə ˈm eɪ z ɪ ŋ / and “season [ ˈs iː z n̩ ]. Besides, the voiceless glottal sound becomes slightly voiced between two voiced sounds, for instance, like in the word ahead / əˈhed /. It’s called breathy voiced, and it’s represented in IPA with [ ɦ ] or [ h̬ ]. 
- Final fricatives
 All the fricatives in English can be word-finals except / h /; again the sound / ʒ / is rare, for instance, beige /b eɪ ʒ /. Being final, the voiced fricatives become devoiced, for instance, / ð / in bathe [b eɪ ð̥ ], / v / in brave 
[ b r eɪ v̥ ], / z / in size [s aɪ z̥] and / ʒ / in prestige [p r e s ˈt iː ʒ̥]. 

3.2.2 Affricates 
 	They are consonants produced like a stop in that there is a complete closure at some part of the vocal tract.  However, they are like a fricative as they clearly involve a friction. This friction occurs during the release phase of the closure as the air is released slowly making a hissing or a buzzing sound. Sounds which are produced with a constriction of a complete closure followed by a release phase in which friction occurs are called affricates. 
a. English affricates
	English has two affricates, both are palato-alveolars. They are heard initially in choose and juice, and are transcribed as / tʃ / and / dʒ /. They start as / t / and / d / and end as / ʃ / and / ʒ / respectively; both the plosive and the following fricative are homorganic as / t, d / and / ʃ, ʒ / are produced with the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, thus they make one single sound. 
b. English affricates (phonetic description)

	Palato-alveolar	
Voiceless
Voiced	/ tʃ /       “H”   / eɪ tʃ / 
/ dʒ /     “ J”    / dʒ eɪ /
	
c. The phonological description 
	The affricates can be initial, medial and final in orthography; they could only be followed by vowels. For instance, they are word-initial in joke / dʒ əʊ k / and choke / tʃ əʊ k /, medial in picture /ˈpɪk.tʃə/ and injure /ˈɪn.dʒə /, and final in batch / bætʃ / and badge / bædʒ /. The voiced affricate becomes devoiced [d̥ʒ̥] in initial and final positions, and it’s fully voiced between two voiced sounds. The voiceless affricate is slightly aspirated [ tʃʰ ] in the same environments for the aspiration of / p, t, k /.  
3.2.3 Groove and slit fricatives 
	The fricatives fall into two subcategories: slit fricatives and groove fricatives. The difference between the two depends on the opening through which the air is released (width and depth); in slit fricatives, the air is released through a narrow horizontal opening, and in groove fricatives, the tongue is slightly hollowed. There are four slit fricatives in English / f, v, θ, ð /. The groove fricatives are produced with more intensity than the slit fricatives, and have a sharper s-like sound; therefore, they are called sibilants. English has four groove fricatives /s, z, ʃ, ʒ /. Because of the fricative element, the two affricates are considered as groove fricatives too.