Voiceless dental non-sibilant affricate

The voiceless dental non-sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨t͡θ⟩, ⟨t͜θ⟩, ⟨t̪͡θ⟩, and ⟨t̟͡θ⟩.

Voiceless dental non-sibilant affricate
tθ
t̪θ
𝼤
Audio sample
source · help

Features

Features of the voiceless dental non-sibilant affricate:

• Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth, termed respectively apical and laminal. Note that most stops and liquids described as dental are actually denti-alveolar.
• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Burmese[1]		သုံး / thon:	[t̪θóʊ̯̃]	'three'	Common realization of /θ/.[1]
Chinese	Jiaoliao Mandarin, Yinan[2]	攥 / zuàn	[t̪θɑ̃˥]	'grip'	Corresponds to /ts/ in other varieties.
Chipewyan[3]		ddhéth	[t̪θɛ́θ]	'hide'	Contrasts unaspirated, aspirated and ejective affricates.[3]
English	Dublin[4]	think	[t̪θɪŋk]	'think'	Corresponds to [θ] in other dialects; may be [t̪] instead.[4]
	Maori[5]				Possible realization of /θ/.[5] See New Zealand English phonology
	New York City[6]				Corresponds to [θ] in other dialects, may be a stop [t̪] or a fricative [θ] instead.[6][7]
	Cajun[7]
	Received Pronunciation	eighth	[eɪt̪θ]	'eighth'
		tenth	[tɛnt̪θ]	'tenth'	The [n] may become dentalised [n̪].
Slave	Slave proper	eníddhę	[ɛ̀nít̪θɛ̃̀]	'we want'	Corresponds to /p/ or /kʷ/ in other varieties of Slave.

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

Notes

1. Watkins (2001), p. 292.
2. Shao, Liu & Shao (2010), p. 9.
3. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 91.
4. Collins & Mees (2003), p. 302.
5. Warren & Bauer (2004), p. 618.
6. Labov (1966), pp. 36–37.
7. Charpentier (2017), p. 5.

References

• Charpentier, Dylan (Fall 2017). "1.2.1". Why Dey Talk Like Dat?: A Study of the Status of Cajun English as a Dialect or an Accent (Master of Arts thesis). ProQuest. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
• Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003) [First published 1981]. The Phonetics of English and Dutch (5th ed.). Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 9004103406.
• Labov, William (1966). The Social Stratification of English in New York City (PDF) (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
• Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
• Shao, Yanmei; Liu, Changfeng; Shao, Mingwu (2010). 沂南方言志. 齐鲁书社. ISBN 978-7-5333-2223-6.
• Warren, Paul; Bauer, Laurie (2004). "Maori English: phonology". In Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.). A handbook of varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 614–624. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
• Watkins, Justin W. (2001). "Illustrations of the IPA: Burmese" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 31 (2): 291–295. doi:10.1017/S0025100301002122. S2CID 232344700.

External links

• List of languages with [t̪θ] on PHOIBLE