Consider the sounds [ʧ, ʤ]. They share the same manner of articulation; they are what type of sounds?

• A. Post-alveolars
• B. Plosives
• C. Affricates
• D. Approximants

Answer: (C)

Affricates are sounds that combine a complete stop with a following fricative release. The sounds [ʧ] and [ʤ] fit this exactly: they start with a brief stop closure at the postalveolar region and then release into a turbulent fricative. That stop-plus-frication movement is the defining feature of an affricate, which is why these two are categorized together as affricates. They differ in voicing ([ʧ] is voiceless, [ʤ] is voiced), and they share the same place (postalveolar), but the important shared property here is the manner of articulation—an affricate. They are not plain plosives, which wouldn’t have that fricative release, nor are they approximants, which lack a stop closure and subsequent frication.