Obstruent

Obstruent

An obstruent is a type of consonant sound that is characterized by a significant constriction or closure at some point in the vocal tract, which obstructs the airflow and creates turbulence. Obstruents are contrasted with sonorants, which are produced with a relatively open vocal tract. Obstruents include plosives, fricatives, and affricates.

Types of Obstruents

Obstruents can be classified into three main categories based on the manner of articulation:

• Plosives: Also known as stops, these sounds are produced by completely blocking the airflow in the vocal tract and then releasing it suddenly. Examples include the sounds [p], [t], and [k].
• Fricatives: These sounds are produced by forcing air through a narrow constriction, creating continuous turbulent airflow. Examples include the sounds [f], [s], and [ʃ].
• Affricates: These sounds begin as plosives with a complete blockage of airflow, but then release into a fricative. Examples include the sounds [tʃ] and [dʒ].

Phonetic Characteristics

Obstruents are typically voiceless, meaning the vocal cords do not vibrate during their production. However, many languages also have voiced obstruents, where the vocal cords do vibrate. For example, [b], [d], and [g] are voiced plosives, while [v], [z], and [ʒ] are voiced fricatives.

Obstruents in Different Languages

The presence and distribution of obstruents can vary significantly across different languages. Some languages have a rich inventory of obstruents, while others may have fewer. For instance, the English language has a wide range of obstruents, including both voiced and voiceless varieties, whereas some languages may lack certain types of obstruents altogether.

Related Concepts

• Sonorant
• Manner of articulation
• Place of articulation
• Voicing (phonetics)
• Phoneme

See Also

• Consonant
• Vowel
• Phonetics
• Phonology
• International Phonetic Alphabet

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