Voiceless labiodental affricate
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| Voiceless labiodental affricate | |
|---|---|
| p̪͡f | |
| Audio sample | |
A voiceless labiodental affricate ([p̪͡f] in IPA) is a rare affricate consonant that is initiated as a labiodental stop [p̪] and released as a voiceless labiodental fricative [f].
The XiNkuna dialect of Tsonga has this affricate, as in [tiɱp̪͡fuβu] "hippopotami" and aspirated [ɱp̪͡fʰuka] "distance" (compare [ɱfutsu] "tortoise", which shows that the stop is not epenthetic), as well as a voiced labiodental affricate, [b̪͡v], as in [ʃileb̪͡vu] "chin". There is no voiceless labiodental fricative [f] in this dialect of Tsonga, only a voiceless bilabial fricative, as in [ɸu] "finished". (Among voiced fricatives, both [β] and [v] occur, however.)
German has a similar sound in Pfeffer /ˈp͡fɛfər/ ('pepper') and Apfel /ˈap͡fəl/ ('apple'). Phonotactically, this /p͡f/ does not occur after long vowels, diphthongs or /l/. It differs from a true labiodental affricate in that it starts out bilabial but then the lower lip retracts slightly for the frication.
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