Obstruent
{{Short description|Speech sound formed by obstructing airflow}}
An obstruent ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|b|s|t|ɹ|u|ə|n|t}} {{respell|OB|stroo|ənt}}) is a speech sound such as {{IPAblink|k}}, {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}, or {{IPAblink|f}} that is formed by obstructing airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate.Gussenhoven, Carlos; Haike, Jacobs. Understanding Phonology, Fourth Edition, Routledge, 2017 All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include vowels as well as consonants.
Subclasses
Obstruents are subdivided into:
- plosives (oral stops), such as {{IPA|[p, b]}}, with complete occlusion of the vocal tract, often followed by a release burst;
- fricatives, such as {{IPA|[s, z]}}, with limited closure, not stopping airflow but making it turbulent;
- affricates, which begin with complete occlusion but then release into a fricative-like release, such as {{IPA|[t͡s] and [d͡z]}}.Zsiga, Elizabeth. The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Voicing
Obstruents are often prototypically voiceless, but voiced obstruents are common. This contrasts with sonorants, which are prototypically voiced and only rarely phonemically voiceless.{{cite journal |last1=Blevins |first1=Juliette |title=Evolutionary phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants |journal=Typological Studies in Language |date=2018 |volume=121 |pages=31-58 |doi=10.1075/tsl.121.01ble}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|author=Ian Maddieson|author-link=Ian Maddieson|title=Patterns of Sounds|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-521-26536-3}}
- {{SOWL}}
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