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sibilant
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sibilant

phonetics
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History

sibilant, in phonetics, a fricative consonant sound, in which the tip, or blade, of the tongue is brought near the roof of the mouth and air is pushed past the tongue to make a hissing sound. In English s, z, sh, and zh (the sound of the s in “pleasure”) are sibilants. Sometimes the affricates ch and j are also considered as sibilants. See also fricative.