In  the production of fricatives, air passes out through a narrow passage formed by a constriction in the vocal tract which produces the friction. In Kashmiri, there are four fricatives. Three of these s,  , and h, are voiceless; the fourth, z is voiced. These sounds are similar to those in the following Hindi-Urdu words: sa:th 'with',  'evening', ha:th 'hand', and za:lim 'cruel'. The initial sounds in the English words son, shock, hand and zebra are also similar to Kashmiri s,   , h and z respectively. 

The fricative sounds occur at the following places of articulation: (alveolar) s and z, (palato-alveolar) , and (glottal) h.