Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
affricate consonant

affricate consonant

8.5
A sound that starts blocked then changes to a noisy hiss, like ch in chair or j in joy
  • noun
  • /ˈæfrɪkeɪt ˈkɒnsənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : consonante africada
  • In the word 'judge', the letter 'j' represents an affricate consonant that begins as a stop before becoming a fricative.

Examples

  • Linguists classify 'j' as an affricate consonant in words like 'judge'.

  • The affricate consonant in 'chair' is pronounced as a combination of two sounds.

  • Some languages use an affricate consonant where English uses a simple stop.

  • The English word 'church' begins with an affricate consonant sound.

  • An affricate consonant is a unique sound.

  • Languages such as Mandarin feature an affricate consonant that differs from the English speech sounds.

  • The initial sound in the word 'church' is classified as an affricate consonant, combining both stopping and fricative articulations.

Synonyms

affricate
vsaffricate consonant
  • Specialized
9.9

A consonant sound that begins by blocking the air then continues as a hiss, like ch or j

is the identical technical term used for that same sound
affricative
vsaffricate consonant
  • Specialized
9.9

A speech sound made by stopping air then releasing a short noisy burst, like the 'ch' in chair

is the same concept but expressed with slightly different wording

Surface Forms

affricate consonant singular
affricate consonants plural

Morphology

affricate + consonant

The phrase is a straightforward compositional technical label: 'affricate' describes a consonant type (stop+fricative) and 'consonant' names the class of sounds, so together they mean 'a consonant that is affricate'. This follows normal noun-modifier composition and is directly derivable if a learner knows both constituent meanings, making it transparent.

Etymology

Affricate consonant comes from the idea of a sound that first acts like a stop, when the tongue blocks the air, and then turns into a fricative, a quick hiss as the air comes out. That's why it names sounds like the 'ch' in 'chair' and the 'j' in 'joy'.