Pronunciation: [ɐfɹɪkˈe͡ɪʃən] (IPA) 
Affrication is spelled with two "f"s and two "c"s, pronounced "æfɹɪˈkeɪʃən". The "f" sound is represented by the letter "f", while the "k" sound is represented by the combination of the letters "c" and "h". This sound is a combination of a stop consonant ("k") and a fricative consonant ("h"), resulting in a unique sound known as an affricate. Affrication refers to the process of making an affricate sound in speech.
Affrication is a linguistic term that refers to a specific phonetic process in which a consonant, typically a stop or a fricative, changes into an affricate sound. Affricates are a type of consonant sound characterized by a combination of a stop and a fricative in a single phoneme.
During affrication, the oral closure that typically exists in the production of stop sounds is followed by a release of the air in a fricative manner. This process usually occurs when a stop consonant is consecutively followed by a fricative consonant, resulting in the production of an affricate sound in a single syllable. It can also be seen as the conversion of a stop followed by a fricative into a single affricate sound.
For example, in English, the combination of /t/ and /ʃ/ in the word "church" undergoes affrication to produce the affricate sound /t͡ʃ/. Similarly, in the word "judge," the combination of /d/ and /ʒ/ goes through affrication to create the affricate sound /d͡ʒ/. Affrication can occur across various languages and contributes to the diversity of speech sounds.
In summary, affrication is a phonetic process that involves the transformation of a stop consonant followed by a fricative into a single affricate sound.
The word "affrication" is derived from the Latin verb "affricare", which means "to rub against" or "to scrape". It is formed by combining the prefix "ad-" (meaning "to" or "towards") and the verb "fricare" (meaning "to rub"). In linguistic terms, "affrication" refers to a phonological process where a sound transition occurs from a stop consonant to a fricative consonant.
