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Glite Dictionary
affricative

affricative

9.9
A speech sound made by stopping air then releasing a short noisy burst, like the 'ch' in chair
  • noun
  • /ˈæfrɪkətɪv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : africada
  • The English 'ch' in 'chair' is classified as an affricative sound.

Examples

  • An affricative combines a stop with a fricative.

  • The English 'ch' in 'chair' is classified as an affricative sound.

  • Linguists study how affricatives are produced in different languages.

  • The presence of affricative consonants can distinguish one language from another.

  • The sound affricative is crucial in phonetics.

  • Linguists study how affricatives are produced in different languages.

  • The presence of affricative consonants can distinguish one language from another.

Synonyms

affricate
vsaffricative
  • Specialized
9.9

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

is the alternative term with the same technical meaning
affricate consonant
vsaffricative
  • Specialized
8.5

A sound that starts blocked then changes to a noisy hiss, like ch in chair or j in joy

is the shorter term used by specialists for the same sound

Surface Forms

affricative singular
affricatives plural

Morphology

affricative = affricate (transparent) = affricate + ive

The word is formed by adding the adjectival/nominal suffix '-ive' to 'affricate', yielding a form meaning 'relating to or being an affricate', which is directly predictable.

Etymology

The word affricative comes from an old Latin root fricare meaning 'to rub' and is related to friction and fricative. So an affricative is a speech sound that starts with a stop of air and then becomes a quick rubbing sound, which is why the 'ch' in 'chair' is an affricative.