Which phonological process is shown when an affricate becomes a fricative?

• A. Labialization
• B. Backing
• C. Assimilation
• D. Deaffrication

Answer: (D)

Affricates are sounds that start with a stop closure and release into a fricative. Deaffrication is the process of dropping that initial stop portion, turning the affricate into a plain fricative. So an affricate like /t͡ʃ/ (as in “chair”) becoming /ʃ/ (the “sh” sound) is exactly deaffrication. A practical example you might hear is /t͡ʃɪp/ becoming /ʃɪp/ in rapid or casual speech, effectively turning “chip” into something like “ship.” The same idea applies to /d͡ʒ/ becoming /ʒ/. The other options describe different kinds of changes (lip rounding, moving the place of articulation, or influence from surrounding sounds) and don’t specify removing the stop part of an affricate to leave just a fricative.