An obstruent ( /ˈɒbstruːənt/ OB-stroo-ənt) is a speech sound such as [ k], [ d͡ʒ], or [ f] that is formed by obstructing airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate. [1] All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include vowels as well as consonants.
Subclasses
Obstruents are subdivided into:
- plosives (oral stops), such as [p, t, k, b, d, ɡ], with complete occlusion of the vocal tract, often followed by a release burst;
- fricatives, such as [f, ɸ, θ, s, ʃ, x, v, β, z, ʒ, ɣ], 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 [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ]. [2]
Voicing
Obstruents are often prototypically voiceless, but voiced obstruents are common. This contrasts with sonorants, which are prototypically voiced and only rarely phonemically voiceless. [3]
See also
References
- ^ Gussenhoven, Carlos; Haike, Jacobs. Understanding Phonology, Fourth Edition, Routledge, 2017
- ^ Zsiga, Elizabeth. The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
- ^ Blevins, Juliette (2018). "Evolutionary phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants". Typological Studies in Language. 121: 31–58. doi: 10.1075/tsl.121.01ble.
- Ian Maddieson (1984). Patterns of Sounds. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-26536-3.
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
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