AFFRICATE

also called Semiplosive, a consonant sound that begins as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and concludes with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). Examples of affricates are the ch sound in English "chair," which may be represented phonetically as a t sound followed by sh; the j in English "jaw" (a d followed by the zh sound heard in French "jour" or in English "azure"); and the ts sound often heard in German and spelled with z as in "nazi."