Editing Affricate (section)

==Phonological representation==
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In phonology, affricates tend to behave similarly to stops, taking part in phonological patterns that fricatives do not. {{Harvp|Kehrein|2002}} analyzes phonetic affricates as phonological stops.{{sfnp|Kehrein|2002|p=1}} A sibilant or lateral (and presumably trilled) stop can be realized phonetically only as an affricate and so might be analyzed phonemically as a sibilant or lateral stop. In that analysis, affricates other than sibilants and laterals are a phonetic mechanism for distinguishing stops at similar places of articulation (like more than one labial, coronal, or dorsal place). For example, [[Chipewyan language|Chipewyan]] has laminal dental {{IPA|[t̪͡θ]}} vs. apical alveolar {{IPA|[t]}}; other languages may contrast velar {{IPA|[k]}} with palatal {{IPA|[c͡ç]}} and uvular {{IPA|[q͡χ]}}.
Affricates may also be a strategy to increase the phonetic contrast between aspirated or ejective and tenuis consonants.

According to {{Harvp|Kehrein|2002}}, no language contrasts a non-sibilant, non-lateral affricate with a stop at the same place of articulation and with the same phonation and airstream mechanism, such as {{IPA|/t̪/}} and {{IPA|/t̪θ/}} or {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/kx/}}.

In [[distinctive feature|feature-based phonology]], affricates are distinguished from stops by the feature [+delayed release].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=Bruce|year=2009|title=Introductory Phonology|publisher=Blackwell|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductoryphon00haye/page/79 79–80]|isbn=978-1-4051-8411-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/introductoryphon00haye/page/79}}</ref>