FRICATIVE CONSONANTS
Phonology
Lecturer : Hj. Alfu Nikmah, M.Pd.
Written by :
1. Muhammad Abdul F (1810510002)
2. Indria Sikha Putri (1810510011)
3. Verry Handayani (1810510029)
4. Risda Maulida (1810510030)
5. Husna Amanina (1810510031)
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
TARBIYAH FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC INSITUTE OF KUDUS
2019
FRICATIVE
A. Definition
Fricative consonants are formed by a narrowing of the mouth passage by
two articulators, such as the lips, teeth, tongue or palate, coming into near contact.
The air forcing its way through the narrow gap creates turbulence or friction,
hence the name fricative. For fricative the outgoing air is partially obstructed. The
two articulators are brought close to each other in such a way that there is some
narrow opening left for the air to pass out. The air being forced to go through that
small opening causes an audible frictional sound to be heard, called a fricative: the
nasal passage is also closed by raising the soft palate.1
English has voiced and voiceless fricative at labiodental (v, f), pst-dental
(ð,θ), blade-alveolar (z, s), and palate-alveolar (ʒ/ʃ) point of articulation; in
addition, it has a voiced post-alveolar fricative ( r ) and voiceless glottal fricative
(h).
Examples:
a.) Word:
Thin /θΙn/
Thumb /θΛm/
Theme /θi:m/
b.) Sentences :
They went together through thick and trough thin.
Though the three walked through
1
Clark, John &Yallop, Colin. 1995. An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge:
Blackwell Publishers,Inc. Hlm :27
B. Types of Fricative
1. Labiodental fricatives (/f/,/ v/)
a.) /f/
- Articulatory Definition : Is a voiceless labio-dental fricative
- Articulatory Description :
The lower lip is put lightly against the upper teeth in such a way
that there is a slight opening left for the water to go out and to cause
some frictional Sound to be heard. The soft palate is raised so that no
air passes out through-out the nose. The vocal cords are not vibrating.
- Notes
The labio-dental point of articulation of /f/ may sometimes
become bilabial in the environment of the bilabial sound / w/.
Indonesian has a labio-dental fricative such as found in words such as
fakir, fajar, firman, etc, which has been barrowed from Arabic. It is
to be expected that Indonesian students will not have difficulty in
pronouncing the English /f/ fricative. Those with Javanese linguistic
backgrounds may have difficulty in pronouncing / f/, since the sound
is not found in Javanese. They tend to replace / f / by / p / in all
positions.2
2
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm :127
Examples:
-pole /poul/ -foal /foul/
-pull /pUl -full/fUl/
-leap /li:p/ -leaf /li:f/
My wife found a knife near the safe.
A fat foal feels a leaf with its feet.
The farmer left his field for fifteen years.
b.) /v/
- Articulatory Definition : /v/ is a voiced labiodental fricative.
- Articulatory Description :
The lower lip is put lightly against the upper teeth in such a way
that there is a slight opening left for the air to go out and to cause
some frictional sound to be heard. The soft palate is raised so that no
air passes out throughout the nose. The vocal cords are vibrating.3
- Notes
The labio-dental fricative / v/ is the voiced counterpart of the two
are, thus, produced with the same point and manner of articulation,
one is accompanied with the vibration of the vocal cords: /v/, while
the other is not: /f/. Both are found in English, so that the student
should be warned to make the voiced-voiceless distinction in the
pronunciation of the two fricatives in order to avoid misunderstanding
on the part of the hearers.
3
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 128
Examples :
-Prove /pru:v/ -Proof /pru:f/
- Believe /bili:v/ -Belief /bili:f/
We have to save the life of his wife
You can save money more safely in a bank
2. Dental Fricatives (ð, θ)
The sounds are made by the tongue tip nearly contacting the back of the
upper incisors. The tongue is relatively flat and a narrow slit is formed in the
mouth. The friction is created as the air passes over the tongue and past the upper
incisors. They are /θ/ and /ð/
a. /θ/
- Articulatory Definition : /θ/ is a voiceless dental fricative.
- Articulatory Description :
Instead of putting the tip of the tongue very close to the back part
of the upper teeth (post-dental fricative) the tip of the tongue may be put
between the upper and lower teeth (interdental fricative) without
producing a distinctive acoustic effect on the hearer. /θ/ is normally spelled
with th, which may also stand for /ð/. 4
4
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm: 130
Examples:
- thin /θIn/
- thought /θͻ :t/
- thumb /θΛm/
- theme /θi:m/
- path /pa:θ/
They went together through thick and through thin.
Though the three walked through.
b. /ð/
- Articulatory definition : /ð/ is a voiced dental fricative.
- Notes :
Most students with Javanese or Indonesian linguistic background
may replace English /ð/ with a voiced dental stop, which should be
strongly discouraged. They make a complete obstruction instead of a
partial obstruction. If such is the case, they should be asked to hold the
tip of the tongue so loose near the upper teeth or between the upper
and lower teeth that the outgoing air escapes with a frictional sound.
The sound so produced will be the English voiced dental fricative /ð/,
which can be lengthened at will. 5
/ð/ is usually spelled with th. But the student should remember
whether th in a certain word is to be pronounced as /θ/ or /ð/, because
th may represented either of the two.
Examples:
- They /ðeI/
- There /ðeɘ(r)/
- Other /’Λðɘ(r)/
- Clothing /kloUðIƞ/
5
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 132
- Breathe /bri:ð/
They visit their other brother.
They can’t breathe in bad weather.
3. Alveolar Fricatives (s/z/ r)
The third pair is the alveolar fricatives. The sounds are formed by the front of the
tongue nearly contacting the alveolar ridge. They are: /s/z/ and / r/6
a.) /s/
- Articulatory Definition : /s/ is a voiceless dental fricative.
- Notes :
Both Indonesian and Javanese have a corresponding voiceless
blade-alveolar fricative, which is simiar to the English /s/ mentioned
above, and thus no pronunciation problem is anticipated here.
Some difficulty will arise when the sound occurs in a cluster of
consonants in the same syllable, in which case it is preceded or
followed by other consonants. The reason is because /s/ is never found
in clusters of consonants in the student' s language.
6
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 124
Examples:
- Spell /spel/
- Still /stil/
- School /sku:l/
- Smile /smail/
- Snail /sneil/
A small stream along a straight street.
The strong instructor in a strange school.
b.) /z/
- Articulatory Definition : /z/ is a voiced counter part of /s/.
- Notes :
Javanese has no voiced blade alveolar fricative /z/, so that a
Javanese student might have difficulty in pronouncing the English /z/.
Some Indonesian speaking persons have /z/ in their stock of sounds,
especially in words deriving from Arabic, e.g. /zaman, zakat, azas/ etc.
Others would use a voiced alveolar affricate (which may be
transcribed as /dz) instead of /zl, or in very rare cases, especially in
medial position with /s/, e.g./ dzaman, dzakat, asas/ etc.7
Examples:
- Zinc /ziƞk/
- Zeal /ziːl/
- Z /zi:/
- Zephyr /ˈzefə(r)/
- Seize /si:z/
A lazy lizard in the zoo.
His sons deserve a praise
7
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 136
c.) /r/
- Articulatory Definition : /r/ is a post-alveoral fricative.
- Articulatory Description :
The tip of the tongue is raised in the direction of the back part of
the teeth, forming a narrow passage for the water to go through so that
a frictional sound is heard. The vocal cords are made to vibrate. the
nasal passage is closed of. The lips are a bit rounded.8
-Notes :
The passage between the tip of the tongue and the teeth ridge may
sometimes be so wide that no friction is heard which case the sound is
called a frictionless continuant. A continuant is a sound that can be
produced and held continuously without change of quality, such as
vowels, nasals laterals, and so on.
The students are likely to replace the English voiced post-alveolar
fricative /r/ by the /r/ of their own language, which is a rolled
consonant. For instance the tip of the tongue can be made to vibrate
against the teeth ridge which is called a lingual rolled consonant; the
Javanese or Indonesian /r / is an example of this type of rolled
consonant.
Examples :
- Right / raIt/
- Drain /dreIn/
My Brother Gradually Grows Stronger
He Ran Rapidly Trough the Crowd
8
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 141
4. Palato Alveolar (ʃ , ʒ)
a.) / ʃ/
- Articulatory Definition : / ʃ / is a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative.
- Articulatory Description :
The blade of the tongue is raised towards a point midway between
the teethridge and the hard palate. At the same time the main body of
the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate and retracted.
The lips are usually rounded. The vocal cords are not vibrating, and no
air escapes through the nose.9
- Notes
Most students have difficulty in pronouncing this English
fricative / ʃ /since the sound is not found in neither Indonesien nor
Javanese. They always substitute Is for so that there is likely to be
misunderstanding in their English speech for failure In making a
distinction between the two sounds. They will pronounce such a pair
of words as 'sells' and shells' in the same way ie. /seiz/, which is, of
course, interpreted by the hearer as a repetition of the same word
'seils'.
9
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 138
The students should, therefore. be made aware of the distinctive
feature of /s/ and , and taught the right way of pronouncing the
English / ʃ/. They have to bear in mind that for the pronunciation of
that fricative the lips are slightly rounded, while the main body of the
tongue is raised and the tip retracted.
Examples :
a. Words for the distinction of / ʃ / and /s/
-Show / ʃoU/ - So (soU)
-Push / pu ʃ / - Puss (pus)
b. / ʃ / in phrase and sentenses
She sees many ships by the sea-shore.
This shoe-brush is sold in a shop.
b.) /ʒ/
- Articulatory Definition : /ʒ/ is a voiced bladealveolar fricative.10
- Notes :
It can be anticipated that the pronunciation of /ʒ/, like //, by
Indonesian students will be a problem, since the sound doesn't exist in
the student's languange, they tend to replace it by /z/, which is of
course not right. It should be remembered that /z/ and /ʒ/ have a
distinctive function in English since they distinguish meaning.
When the student pronounces /z/ instead of /ʒ/ he should try to
retract the tip of the tongue, raise the main body of the tongue, and
round the lips so as to produce the English /ʒ/ correctly. The fricative
10
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 140
/ʒ/ is never found in word initial position, and is very limited in
distribution.11
The sound /ʒ/ to /z/ is as // is to /s/.
Example s:
- rouge /ru:ʒ/
- mirage /mIra:ʒ/
- barrage /bæra:ʒ/
- garage /gæra:ʒ/
- camouflage /kæmufla:ʒ/
His decision to leave the division is usual.
Pleasure can't be measured like treasure.
a mirage is an illusion usually seen in a desert.
5. Glottal Fricative (/h/)
- Articulatory Definition :/h/ is a voiceless glottal fricative.
- Articulatory Description :
In English, /h/ is only found before a vowel (in prevocalic
position), and never after a vowel (in post-vocalic position). In
11
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press) reprinted. Hlm : 141
Javanese or Indonesian, on the other hand, the sound /h/ occurs in both
prevocalic and post-vocalic positions.
In the production of a voiced /h/ the vocal cords keep vibrating
from the pronunciation of the preceding voiced sound. In the
production of voiced /h/ the glottis is not wide enough while there is
more breath force.
Indonesian and Javanese students will not have any trouble in the
pronunciation of English /h/ since the sound is quite similar to the
corresponding /h/ sound of their language. In the English ortoghraphy
the letter h after w (wh) is mute in certain words. The letter h may also
be mute such as in : hour, honour, honest, annihilate.
Examples :
- heat /hi:t/ - hike /haIk/ - hold /hoUld/ - hoe /hoU/
Whose house is this?
He heard her hoarse voice.
Perhaps his horse isn't healthy.
REFERENCES
Clark, John &Yallop, Colin. 1995. An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology.
Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers,Inc.
Prof. Dr. Ramelan MA, 2003. English phonetics, (Semarang: UNNES Press)
reprinted.
