Voiced postalveolar fricative - Definition and Overview

IPA - Unicode	ʒ
IPA - image
X-SAMPA	Z
Kirshenbaum	Z
Sound sample

The voiced postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʒ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is Z.

The voiced postalveolar fricative occurs in English, although in only a handful of words, and it is the sound denoted by the letter "s" in treasure and the final sound of the word mirage. The sound is more common in French, where it is represented by the letter <j>. It also occurs in Russian and Bulgarian, where it is represented by the letter <Ж> (zhe). Features of this consonant:

• Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
• Its place of articulation is postalveolar which means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge and the palate, but closer to the alveolar ridge than for alveolo-palatal consonants.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.