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    Overview of Afrikaans consonants
    quickinfo

    Consonants are generally described in terms of the following three parameters:

    • Place of articulation refers to the place in the mouth where the active and passive articulators form their closest constriction.
    • Manner of articulation refers to the type of airflow present during the articulation.
    • Voicing value refers to the nature of vocal-fold activity during the articulation of the consonant.
    General reading: Coetzee (1981); De Villiers and Ponelis (1992); Van Wyk (1977); Le Roux and Pienaar (1927); Kent (1992); MacKay (1987); Rietveld and Van Heuven (1997).

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    [+]Places of articulation for Afrikaans consonants

    Bilabial
    Bilabial speech sounds are produced with a constriction formed by both lips. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, bilabial obstruents are characterised by noise or noise bursts with a relatively flat spectrum (diffuse energy), and by formant transitions from and to adjacent vowels (all formants are usually lowered in the vicinity of a bilabial). Bilabial nasals show the presence of low frequency (~1000 Hz) anti-formants, or spectral valleys.

    The Afrikaans bilabial consonants are /p/, /b/ and /m/.

    Labiodental
    Labiodental speech sounds are produced with a constriction between the upper teeth and the lower lip. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, labiodental fricatives exhibit noise characterised by a relatively flat distribution of energy across the spectrum (no obvious prominence peaks).

    The Afrikaans labiodental consonants are /f/ and /v/; /ʋ/ is an allophone of /v/ in onset clusters, with plosives or /s/ as first member, e.g. in sweet /svet/ [sʋet] sweat.

    Alveolar
    Alveolar speech sounds are produced near the alveolar ridge, behind the upper teeth. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, alveolar obstruents are characterised by noise or noise bursts with a centre of gravity (COG) upward of 4000 Hz. Afrikaans /s/ exhibits notably higher COG values for alveolar obstruents than Dutch. Alveolar nasals have a spectral peak around 500 Hz and a spectral valley around 1 kHz.

    The Afrikaans alveolar consonants are /t/, /d/, /s/, /n/, /l/, /r/. The /z/ is found only in loan words, such as Zulu, as well as a result of regressive voicing assimilation, preceding voiced non-sonorant consonants (e.g. asbak /ɑs.bɑk/ [ɑz.bɑk]), and less frequently also sonorant consonants (e.g. asbak /ɑs.bɑk/ [ɑz.bɑk]).

    Palato-alveolar
    Palato-alveolarspeech sounds are produced slightly behind the alveolar ridge, towards the front of the palate. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, palato-alveolar fricatives exhibit noise characterised by a centre of gravity of around 3000 Hz. The centre of gravity is lower than that of alveolars.

    The Afrikaans palato-alveolar consonants are /ʃ/ and /ʑ/, both loan phonemes /ʃ/ is also frequently found as a product of coarticulation with preceding /r/, as in the word bars /bɑrs/ /bɑrʃ/ burst.

    Palatal
    Palatal speech sounds are produced with a constriction involving the tongue body and the hard palate. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, palatal sonorants have a formant structure characterised by a relatively high F2.

    The Afrikaans palatal consonant is [j].

    Velar
    Velar speech sounds are produced at the velum (soft palate). See . Velar obstruents are characterised by noise or noise bursts with a relatively low centre of gravity (typically around 4200 Hz), an acute noise peak at a low frequency (below 2 kHz) and one or more additional ones. Spectrograms show an identifiable formant structure, as opposed to fricatives and stops at other places of articulation; F2 is the most clearly visible formant. Velar sonorants have a formant structure characterised by a relatively low F2 and low F3, to the point where the two approach each other.

    The Afrikaans velar consonants are /k/, /x/, /ŋ/ and /ɣ/ is an allophone of /x/ in cases where regressive voicing asimilation occurs, as in the word oogbank /ox.bɑnk/ [uəɣ.bɑŋk].

    Uvular
    Uvular speech sounds are produced at the very back of the velum, close to or at the uvula. They may include vibration of the uvula (in trills and fricatives). See the human speech organs. Acoustically, uvular obstruents are characterised by noise with a low centre of gravity (around 4200 Hz) and a formant-like structure. Spectral peaks are around 1500 Hz, and a spectral valley generally occurs around 2500 Hz. Uvular sonorants have a formant structure characterised by a lower F2 than velars, and a relatively high F3.

    The uvular trill [R] functions as an allophone of /r/ in some individuals; more frequently so in the southern parts of South Africa, especially in the Western Cape.

    Glottal
    Glottal speech sounds are produced in the larynx, by approximation of the vocal folds.

    The Afrikaans glottal consonant is /h/.

    [+]Manner of articulation for Afrikaans consonants

    Plosives
    Plosives are consonants involving a complete closure of the articulators, along with a raised velum, followed by a rapid release of built-up pressure behind the closure. Acoustically, they exhibit a silent phase, followed by a brief noise burst.

    The Afrikaans plosives are /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/. A /g/ appears in some loan words, especially place names.

    Fricatives
    Fricatives are consonants involving the creation of turbulent airflow through a narrow channel produced by the close approximation of the active and passive articulators. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, they exhibit aperiodic energy (noise).

    The Afrikaans true fricatives are /f/, /s/, /x/, /v/, /j/. The /j/ is generally typified as a fricative in the case of Afrikaans; sometimes as an approximant too. See above for the special status of /ʑ/ and /ʃ/ as loan phonemes, and [ɣ] as allophone of /x/.

    Nasals
    Nasals are speech sounds produced with a simultaneous oral closure and a lowered velum, allowing air to escape through the nose. See the human speech organs. Acoustically, they are sonorant consonants, exhibiting low-amplitude, vowel-like periodicity. They are typically characterised on a spectrogram by the presence of antiformants (spectral valleys).

    The Afrikaans nasal phonemes are /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, while [ɲ] shows up as an allophone of /n/ in especially diminutive nouns, ending on /nt/, as in kantjie /kɑɲ.ci/ small side.

    Approximants
    Approximants are consonants involving the free flow of air through a channel wide enough to preclude turbulent noise. Acoustically, they are characterised by the presence of formant structure.

    The Afrikaans approximants are /l/, /r/, /ʋ/, /j/, /ɦ/. The /j/ is also often seen as a fricative in Afrikaans.

    Figure 1: Human speech organs
    [click image to enlarge]

    [+]Voicing values for Afrikaans consonants

    The presence of the vibration of the vocal folds during the pronunciation of a consonant produces voiced sounds; the absence of such action of the vocal folds, on the other hand, creates voiceless nonsonorant segments, always being consonants in the case of Afrikaans. Therefore consonants involve an open glottis during speech, with the vocal folds abducted.

    The Afrikaans voiceless consonants are /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /x/ with /ʃ/ being the only loan consonant. Voiceless plosives lack aspiration, but may show some presence of affrication. The voiced plosives /b/ and /d/ are basically characterised by the presence of prevoicing, although prevoicing is frequently absent.

    The Afrikaans voiced consonants can be nonsonorant: /b/; /d/; /v/ or sonorant: /m/; /n/; /ŋ/; /l/; /r/.

    Afrikaans consonants
    Table 1: Afrikaans consonants
    Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
    Plosive [p] [b] [t] [d] [c] [k] [g] [ɂ]
    Affricate ( [ts])
    Nasal [m] [n] [ɲ] [ŋ]
    Trill [r] ( [R])
    Lateral [l]
    Fricative [f] [v] [s] ( [z]) ( [ꭍ]) ( [ӡ]) [j] [x]
    Approximant [ʋ] [j] [ɦ]

    References
    • Coetzee, A.E1981Fonetiek vir eerstejaars.Academica
    • De Villiers, M. & Ponelis, F.A1992Afrikaanse klankleer.Tafelberg
    • Kent, Ray D. and Charles Read1992The acoustics analysis of speechSingular Publishing Group
    • Le Roux, T.H. & Pienaar, P. de V1927Afrikaanse fonetiek.Juta
    • MacKay, Ian R.I1987Phonetics: the science of speech productionCollege-Hill
    • Rietveld, Antonius C.M. & Heuven, Vincent J. van1997Algemene FonetiekUitgeverij Coutinho
    • Van Wyk, E.B1977Praktiese fonetiek vir taalstudente: 'n inleiding.Butterworth
    About this article
    Author(s): Daan Wissing
    Category: Afrikaans Phonology
    Keywords: consonantinventory
    Version: 1.0, May 2020
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Daan Wissing May 2020
    This is a beta version.
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