Fricatives

Here we have information about fricatives. We will define what a fricative is, show you some examples of words that contain a fricative, and even provide audio recordings so that you can listen to these examples, solidifying your overall understanding of fricatives.

"Fricatives are produced when air is forced through a narrow passage in your mouth. Although there is a partial blockage of air, there isn’t a complete closure. This creates friction, hence the name ""fricative."" When classifying sounds, a fricative is considered a type of obstruction."

Two sounds that are classified as fricatives include f and ʃ, which are both notated on the IPA chart of American English consonants.

A couple of examples of words that contain these sounds are “Fit” and “Ship.” Below you can see their IPA transcriptions with the fricative indicated by a color.

We have also recorded these words for your convenience. For each example, you will first hear the pronunciation of the fricative, followed by the word.

Fit = [fɪt]

Ship = [ʃɪp]

More Information

American English IPA Consonants
Go here to view all of the American English IPA consonants in their sound classification chart.

Affricates
Go here to learn about the next type of obstruction on our list.