Alveolar ejective affricate

Alveolar ejective affricate
t͡sʼ
Sound
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The alveolar ejective affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨t͡sʼ⟩.

Features

Features of the alveolar ejective affricate:

• Its manner of articulation is sibilant affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the air flow entirely, then directing it with the tongue to the sharp edge of the teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.

• Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

• Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.

• 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.

• The airstream mechanism is ejective (glottalic egressive), which means the air is forced out by pumping the glottis upward.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abaza		хъацIа	[qat͡sʼa]	'man'
Adyghe		папцӀэ	[pʰaːpt͡sʼa]	'sharp'
Armenian	Eastern Armenian	ծառ	[t͡sʼɑr]	'tree'	Corresponds to tenuis [t͡s⁼] in other Eastern dialects.
Avar		мацӀ	[mat͡sʼ]	'language'
Chechen		цIе	[t͡sʼe]	'name'
Georgian		წელი	[t͡sʼeli]	'year'
Hadza		zzapale	[t͡sʼapaɾe]	'digging stick'
Haida		ttsanskkaagid	[t͡sʼanskʼaːkit]	'beams'
Kabardian		цӀэ	[t͡sʼa]	'name'
Lushootseed		c’uʔkʷs	[t͡sʼuʔkʷs]	'seven'
Nuxálk		xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓	[xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]	'he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant'
Tlingit		ts’ankwaat	[t͡sʼankʷaːt]	'spider'

See also

• List of phonetic topics