Voiceless dental non-sibilant affricate

A 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 affricate
tθ
t̪θ
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Features

Features of a 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 that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
• It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Burmese		သုံး / thon:	[t̪θóʊ̯̃]	'three'	Common realization of /θ/.
Chinese	Jiaoliao Mandarin, Yinan	攥 / zuàn	[t̪θɑ̃˥]	'grip'	Corresponds to /ts/ in other varieties.
Chipewyan		ddhéth	[t̪θɛ́θ]	'hide'	Contrasts unaspirated, aspirated and ejective affricates.
English	Dublin	think	[t̪θɪŋk]	'think'	Corresponds to [θ] in other dialects; may be [t̪] instead.
	Maori				Possible realization of /θ/. See New Zealand English phonology
	New York City				Corresponds to [θ] in other dialects, may be a stop [t̪] or a fricative [θ] instead.
	Cajun
	Received Pronunciation	eighth	[eɪt̪θ]	'eighth'	In a limited set of word-final environments.
Greek		γοτθικός	[ɣo̞t̪θiˈko̞s]	'gothic'	Represented by ⟨τθ⟩, appears in some specific words.
Slave	Slave proper	eníddhę	[ɛ̀nít̪θɛ̃̀]	'we want'	Corresponds to /p/ or /kʷ/ in other varieties of Slave.

See also

• Index of phonetics articles