# Voiced alveolar fricative

The voiced alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a sibilant or non-sibilant fricative is being described.
* The symbol for the alveolar sibilant is ⟨z⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is z. The IPA letter ⟨z⟩ is not normally used for dental or postalveolar sibilants in narrow transcription unless modified by a diacritic (⟨z̪⟩ and ⟨z̠⟩ respectively).
* The IPA symbol for the alveolar non-sibilant fricative is derived by means of diacritics; it can be ⟨ð̠⟩ or ⟨ɹ̝⟩.
Voiced coronal fricatives :
| | | Dental | Denti- alveolar | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Post-alveolar | Post-alveolar | Post-alveolar |
| | | Dental | Denti- alveolar | Alveolar | Retracted | Retroflex | Palato- alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
| Sibilant | plain | z̪ | z̟ | z͇ | z̠ | ʐ | ʒ | ʑ |
| Non-sibilant | plain | ð | | ð͇ | | ɻ̝ | | |
| Non-sibilant | tapped | | | ɾ̞ | | | | |
Coronal sibilants :
| | | IPA symbol | meaning |
| place of articulation | passive (mouth) | ⟨z̪⟩ | dental |
| place of articulation | passive (mouth) | ⟨z̟⟩ | advanced (denti-alveolar) |
| place of articulation | passive (mouth) | ⟨z͇⟩ | alveolar |
| place of articulation | passive (mouth) | ⟨z̠⟩ | retracted (postalveolar) |
| place of articulation | active (tongue) | ⟨z̺⟩ | apical |
| place of articulation | active (tongue) | ⟨z̻⟩ | laminal |
| place of articulation | active (tongue) | ⟨ʐ⟩ | retroflex |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨zʲ⟩ | palatalized coronal |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨ʑ⟩ | alveolo-palatal |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨ʒ⟩ | palato-alveolar |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨zʷ⟩ | labialized coronal |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨zˠ⟩ | velarized coronal |
| place of articulation | secondary | ⟨zˤ⟩ | pharyngealized coronal |
| voice-onset time | voice-onset time | ⟨zʱ⟩ | breathy coronal |

## Voiced alveolar sibilant

The voiced alveolar sibilant is common across European languages, but is relatively uncommon cross-linguistically compared to the voiceless variant. Only about 28% of the world's languages contain a voiced dental or alveolar sibilant. Moreover, 85% of the languages with some form of [z] are languages of Europe, Africa, or Western Asia.

### Features

* Its manner of articulation is sibilant fricative, which means it is generally produced by channeling air flow along a groove in the back of the tongue up to the place of articulation, at which point it is focused against the sharp edge of the nearly clenched teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.
* There are at least three specific variants of [z]:
** Dentalized laminal alveolar (commonly called "dental"), which means it is articulated with the tongue blade very close to the upper front teeth, with the tongue tip resting behind lower front teeth. The hissing effect in this variety of [z] is very strong.
** Non-retracted alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal. According to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) about half of English speakers use a non-retracted apical articulation.
** Retracted alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue slightly behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal. Acoustically, it is close to [ʒ] or laminal [ʐ].
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence
#### Dentalized laminal alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Armenian | Eastern | զարդ/zart | | 'decoration' | |
| Azerbaijani | Azerbaijani | zoğ | [z̪ɔʁ] | 'sprout' | |
| Belarusian | Belarusian | база/baza | [ˈbäz̪ä] | 'base' | Contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | езеро/ezero | [ˈɛz̪ɛro] | 'lake' | Contrasts with palatalized form. |
| Czech | Czech | zima | [ˈz̪ɪmä] | 'winter' | See Czech phonology |
| English | Multicultural London | zoo | [z̪ʏˑy̯] | 'zoo' | See English phonology |
| French | French | zèbre | [z̪ɛbʁ] | 'zebra' | See French phonology |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | zálog | [ˈz̪äːl̪oɡ] | 'pledge' | See Hungarian phonology |
| Kashubian | Kashubian | | | | |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | заң/zań | [z̪ɑŋ] | 'law' | |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz | заң/zań | [z̪ɑŋ] | 'law' | |
| Latvian | Latvian | zars | [z̪ärs̪] | 'branch' | See Latvian phonology |
| Macedonian | Macedonian | зошто/zošto | [ˈz̪ɔʃt̪ɔ] | 'why' | See Macedonian phonology |
| Mirandese | Mirandese | daprendizaige | [d̪əpɾẽd̪iˈz̪ajʒ(ɯ̽)] | 'learning' | Contrasts seven sibilants altogether, preserving medieval Ibero-Romance contrasts. |
| Polish | Polish | zero | | 'zero' | See Polish phonology |
| Portuguese(Brazilian ) | Most speakers | Estados Unidos | [isˈt̪ad̪uz̪‿ʉˈnid͡zᶶ(ˢ)] | 'United States' | See Portuguese phonology |
| Romanian | Romanian | zar | [z̪är] | 'dice' | See Romanian phonology |
| Russian | Russian | заезжать / zaězžať | | 'to pick up' | Contrasts with palatalized form. See Russian phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | зајам / zajam | [z̪ǎːjäm] | 'loan' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Slovak | Slovak | zima | [ˈz̪imä] | 'winter' | |
| Slovene | Slovene | zima | [ˈz̪ìːmá] | 'winter' | |
| Turkish | Turkish | göz | [ɟø̞̈z̪] | 'eye' | See Turkish phonology |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | зуб/zub | [z̪ub] | 'tooth' | Contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology |
| Upper Sorbian | Upper Sorbian | koza | [ˈkɔz̪ä] | 'goat' | |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | zafar | [z̪äˈfäɾ] | 'victory' | |
| Vietnamese | Hanoi | da | [z̪äː] | 'skin' | See Vietnamese phonology |

#### Non-retracted alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | зы | | 'one' | |
| Albanian | Albanian | zjarr | [zjar] | 'fire' | |
| Arabic | Standard | زائِر | [ˈzaːʔir] | 'visitor' | See Arabic phonology |
| Assamese | Assamese | জলকীয়া | [zɔlɔkija] | 'chili' | |
| Assyrian | Assyrian | ܙܢ̱ܓܐ zìga | [ziɡa] | 'bell' | |
| Bengali | Bengali | নামাজ | [namaz] | 'Salah' | Mostly in loanwords and often replaced by [dʒ]. See Bengali phonology |
| Breton | Breton | iliz | [iliz] | 'church' | |
| Chechen | Chechen | зурма / zurma | [zuɾma] | 'music' | |
| Dutch | Dutch | zaad | [z̻aːt̻] | 'seed' | Laminal; may have only mid-to-low pitched friction in the Netherlands. See Dutch phonology |
| Emilian | Bolognese | raṡån | [raːz̺ʌŋ] | 'reason' | Palatalized apical; may be [ʐ] or [ʒ] instead. |
| English | English | zoo | | 'zoo' | Absent from some Scottish and Asian dialects. See English phonology |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | kuzo | [ˈkuzo] | 'cousin' | See Esperanto phonology |
| Georgian | Georgian | ზარი | [ˈzɑɾi] | 'bell' | |
| Greek | Athens dialect | ζάλη / záli | [ˈz̻ali] | 'dizziness' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | זאב | [zeˈʔev] | 'wolf' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hindustani | Hindi | ज़मीन | [zəmiːn] | 'land' | May be replaced in Hindi by [dʒ]. See Hindustani phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | زمین | [zəmiːn] | 'land' | May be replaced in Hindi by [dʒ]. See Hindustani phonology |
| Japanese | Japanese | 全部 / zenbu | [zembɯ] | 'everything' | Might be replaced with [dz]. See Japanese phonology |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | зы | | 'one' | |
| Kalaw Lagaw Ya | Kalaw Lagaw Ya | zilamiz | [zilʌmiz] | 'go' | |
| Kashmiri | Kashmiri | ज़ानुन / زانُن | [zaːnun] | 'to know' | |
| Khmer | Khmer | បែលហ្ស៊ិក / bêlhsĭk | [ɓaelzɨk] | noun: 'Belgium', 'Belgian(s)' adjective: 'Belgian' | See Khmer phonology |
| Konda | Konda | sunz | [sunz] | 'to sleep' | |
| Malay | Malay | beza | [bezə] | 'difference' | |
| Maltese | Maltese | żelu | [zelu] | 'zeal' | |
| Marathi | Marathi | जर | [zər] | 'if' | See Marathi phonology. |
| Nepali | Nepali | हजार | [ɦʌzäɾ] | 'thousand' | Coda and intervocalic allophone of /d͡z/ and /d͡zʱ/. |
| Nepali | Nepali | काग​ज | [käɣʌz] | 'paper' | Coda and intervocalic allophone of /d͡z/ and /d͡zʱ/. |
| Nepali | Nepali | बुझाउनु | [buzäu̯nu] | 'to explain' | Coda and intervocalic allophone of /d͡z/ and /d͡zʱ/. |
| Nepali | Nepali | माझ | [mäz] | 'middle' | Coda and intervocalic allophone of /d͡z/ and /d͡zʱ/. |
| Occitan | Limousin | jòune | [ˈzɒwne] | 'young' | See Occitan phonology |
| Persian | Persian | روز | [ɾuːz] | 'day' | |
| Portuguese | Portuguese | casa | [ˈkazɐ] | 'house' | See Portuguese phonology |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਹਜ਼ਾਰ | [həˈzaːr] | 'thousand' | May be replaced by [dʒ] in Gurmukhi (Indian) varieties. |
| Punjabi | Shahmukhi | ہزار | [həˈzaːr] | 'thousand' | May be replaced by [dʒ] in Gurmukhi (Indian) varieties. |
| Spanish | Andalusian | comunismo | [ko̞muˈnizmo̞] | 'Communism' | Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants, when it is not debuccalized to [h ~ ɦ]. Present in dialects which realize /s/ as a non-retracted alveolar fricative. Before /d/ it is dental [z̪]. |
| Spanish | Latin American | comunismo | [ko̞muˈnizmo̞] | 'Communism' | Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants, when it is not debuccalized to [h ~ ɦ]. Present in dialects which realize /s/ as a non-retracted alveolar fricative. Before /d/ it is dental [z̪]. |
| Spanish | Filipino | comunismo | [ko̞muˈnizmo̞] | 'Communism' | Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants, when it is not debuccalized to [h ~ ɦ]. Present in dialects which realize /s/ as a non-retracted alveolar fricative. Before /d/ it is dental [z̪]. |
| Swahili | Swahili | lazima | [lɑzimɑ] | 'must' | |
| Tamil | Jaffna Tamil | கடுதாசி | [kɐɖuðaːzi] | 'letter' | Was only reported for 1 speaker in the sample but he pronounced it regularly. |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | sizze | [ˈsɪzə] | 'to say' | It never occurs in word-initial positions. See West Frisian phonology |
| Yi | Yi | ꍂ / ssy | [zɹ̩˧] | 'generation' | |
| Yiddish | Yiddish | זון / zien | [zin] | 'son' | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | guanaz | [ɡʷanaz] | 'went to grab' | |

#### Retracted alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Catalan | Catalan | zel | [ˈz̺ɛɫ] | 'zeal' | Apical. See Catalan phonology |
| Galician | Galician | mesmo | [ˈme̞z̺mo̞] | 'same' | Apical. Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants. Before /d/ it is pronounced dentally [z̪]. |
| Greek | Greek | μάζα / máza | [ˈmɐz̠ɐ] | 'mass' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Italian | Central Italy | caso | [ˈkäːz̠o] | 'case' | Present in Lazio north of Cape Linaro, most of Umbria (save Perugia and the extreme south) and Le Marche south of the Potenza. |
| Italian | Northern Italy | caso | [ˈkäːz̠o] | 'case' | Apical. Present in many areas north of the La Spezia–Rimini Line. See Italian phonology |
| Italian | Sicily | caso | [ˈkäːz̠o] | 'case' | Present south and west of a line drawn from Syracuse to Cefalù. |
| Low German | Low German | | | | |
| Maldivian | Maldivian | zaraafaa | [z̺aˈraːfaː] | 'giraffe' | |
| Mirandese | Mirandese | eisistir | [e̞jz̺is̺ˈtiɾ] | 'to exist' | Apical. Mirandese and neighboring Portuguese dialects were the only surviving oral tradition to preserve all seven mediaeval Ibero-Romance sibilants: ⟨ch⟩ /tʃ/, ⟨x⟩ /ʃ/, ⟨g⟩/⟨j⟩ /ʒ/, ⟨c⟩/⟨ç⟩ /s̪/, ⟨z⟩ /z̪/, ⟨s⟩/-⟨ss⟩- /s̺/, -⟨s⟩- /z̺/ |
| Occitan | Gascon | casèrna | [kaz̺ɛrno] | 'barracks' | See Occitan phonology |
| Occitan | Languedocien | véser | [bez̺e] | 'to see' | See Occitan phonology |
| Piedmontese | Piedmontese | amis | [aˈmiz̠] | 'friend' | Apical. See Piemontese phonology |
| Portuguese | Coastal Northern European | | | | Merges with non-retracted /z/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Inland Northern European | | | | Apical. Contrasts with non-retracted /z/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Spanish | Andean | mismo | [ˈmiz̺mo̞] | 'same' | Apical. Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants. Before /d/ it is pronounced dentally [z̪]. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Castilian | mismo | [ˈmiz̺mo̞] | 'same' | Apical. Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants. Before /d/ it is pronounced dentally [z̪]. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Paisa Region | mismo | [ˈmiz̺mo̞] | 'same' | Apical. Allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants. Before /d/ it is pronounced dentally [z̪]. See Spanish phonology |

#### Variable

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| German | Standard | sauber | [ˈzäʊ̯bɐ] | 'clean' | Varies between dentalized laminal, non-retracted laminal and non-retracted apical. See Standard German phonology |
| Italian | Standard | caso | [ˈkäːzo] | 'case' | Varies between dentalized laminal and non-retracted apical. See Italian phonology |
| Italian | Ticino | caso | [ˈkäːzo] | 'case' | Varies between dentalized laminal and non-retracted apical. Both variants may be labiodentalized. See Italian phonology |

## Voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative

The voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative is a consonantal sound. As the International Phonetic Alphabet does not have separate symbols for the alveolar consonants (the same symbol is used for all coronal places of articulation that are not palatalized), it can represent the sound as in a number of ways including ⟨ð̠⟩ or ⟨ð͇⟩ (retracted or alveolarized [ð], respectively), ⟨ɹ̝⟩ (constricted [ɹ]), or ⟨d̞⟩ (lowered [d]).
Few languages also have the voiced alveolar tapped fricative, which is simply a very brief apical alveolar non-sibilant fricative, with the tongue making the gesture for a tapped stop but not making full contact. It can be indicated in the IPA with the lowering diacritic to show that full occlusion does not occur. Flapped fricatives are theoretically possible but are not attested.

### Features

* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. However, it does not have the grooved tongue and directed airflow, or the high frequencies, of a sibilant.
* Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Aragonese | Chistabino | aire | [ˈäi̯ɾ̞e̞] | 'air' | Tapped; common realization of /ɾ/. |
| Czech | Czech | čtyři | [ˈt͡ʃtɪɹ̝ɪ] | 'four' | May be a fricative trill or a tap fricative instead. It contrasts with /r/ and /ʒ/. See Czech phonology |
| Dahalo | Dahalo | [káð̠i] | [káð̠i] | 'work' | Apical; only weakly fricated. It is a common intervocalic allophone of /d̠/, and may be an approximant [ð̠˕] or simply a plosive [d] instead. |
| Dutch | Dutch | voor | [vöːɹ̝] | 'for' | One of many possible realizations of /r/; distribution unclear. See Dutch phonology |
| Emilian | Bolognese | chèṡ | [ˈkɛːð̠] | 'case' | Laminal |
| English | Scouse | maid | [meɪð̠] | 'maid' | Allophone of /d/. See English phonology |
| English | South African | round | [ɹ̝æʊ̯nd] | 'round' | Apical, present in some urban dialects. See South African English phonology |
| Icelandic | Icelandic | bróðir | [ˈpro͡uːð̠ɪr] | 'brother' | Usually apical, may be closer to an approximant. See Icelandic phonology |
| Italian | Sicily | terra | [ˈt̪ɛɹ̝ä] | 'earth' | Apical; corresponds to /rr/ in standard Italian. See Italian phonology |
| Manx | Manx | mooar | [muːɹ̝] | 'big' | Pre-consonantal and word-final realization of /r/, in free variation with other allophones. |
| Spanish | Aragonese | aire | [ˈäi̯ɾ̞e̞] | 'air' | Tapped; possible realization of /ɾ/. See Spanish phonology |
| Swedish | Central Standard | vandrare | [²vän̪ːd̪ɹ̝äɹɛ] | 'wanderer' | Allophone of /r/ around the Stockholm area. See Swedish phonology |
| Tacana | Tacana | | | | Tapped. |
| Turkish | Turkish | rüya | [ˈɾ̞yːjɑ] | 'dream' | Tapped; word-initial allophone of /ɾ/. See Turkish phonology |

## Voiced lateral-median fricative

The voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative (also known as a "lisp" fricative) is a consonantal sound. Consonants is pronounced with simultaneous lateral and central airflow.

### Features

* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. However, it does not have the grooved tongue and directed airflow, or the high frequencies, of a sibilant.
* Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Arabic | Rijal Almaʽa | ضبع | [ðˡˤabʕ] | 'hyena' | Classical Arabic *ɮˁ and Modern Standard Arabic [dˤ] |
| Mehri | Mehri | ذوفر | [ðˡˤoːfar] | 'plait' | |