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In phonetics, a sibilant consonant is a consonant produced by "hissing" (from the Latin
verb sibilare, "to whistle"). It is a kind of linguistic catchall, but useful because sibilant sounds tend to migrate
between sibilant classes when languages evolve, and not really to other classes: the Proto-Germanic verb meaning to swim has split into the English swim, with
the sibilant s, and the German schwimmen, with the English sibilant sh.
Examples of sibilants in English include the sounds represented by s in stick and
sh in shark. English contrasts two types of sibilants; some dialects of Inuktitut use just one; the Caucasian language Ubykh makes contrast between four types of sibilant; and Rotokas, an Austronesian language, lacks sibilants altogether.
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