Fricativeconsonants are produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together (e.g. the upper teeth and lower lip in the case of , or the back of the tongue and the soft palate, as in the case of German [x], the final consonant of Bach). This turbulent airflow is called "frication." A particular subset of fricatives are the sibilants (sometimes referred to as stridents). When forming a sibilant, one still is forcing air through a narrow channel, but the air is directed over the sharp edge of the teeth. English [s], [z], [ʃ], and [ʒ] are examples of this.
Ubykh may be the language with the most fricatives, with 26. This number actually outstrips the number of all consonants in English (which has 24 consonants).
