Voiced and Un-Voiced Consonants
(A Comparison)
ou probably already know that the letters of The English Alphabet are divided into to different types: The Vowels & The Consonants. But when it comes to Pronunciation — The Consonants are also divided into two different types as well: The Voiced and Un-Voiced Consonants.
What Are Voiced and Un-Voiced Consonants?
A Voiced Consonant — Is ANY Consonant that is pronounced With The Tone Of Your Voice.
Meaning: You make the sound of the Consonant by pushing air out of the lungs, WITH the addition of your “Voice” — (The sound you would make if you just said “uhhhhh”)
The Sound Of Your Voice 😆
An Un-Voiced Consonant — Is any Consonant that is pronounced WITHOUT The Tone Of Your Voice.
Meaning: You only make the sound with the use of the air and however you move your mouth.
Well, Not Quite Like That… But Close 😉
ou can think of the sound of The Tone Of Your Voice as being a “Soft” sound. All Vowels are “Soft” sounds. However — many Consonants have what you can think of as “Hard” sounds. They are the “pops” & “clicks” that we make with our lips and tongue when we make certain sounds.
For Example:
he “hard” sound of both the Consonants “G” & “K” are exactly the same. The ONLY difference in pronunciation between them is the addition of the “Voice” with the letter “G” (the hard letter “G”).
he same is true with the difference between the letters “T” & “D”. The “D” is voiced — the “T” is not. If you take the voice away from the letter “D” — you would simply be making the sound of the letter “T”… try it! 😉
It’s Amazing What Is Hidden Right Before Our Eyes. You Only Need To See It In A Different Way
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o now that you have the philosophy — it is time to learn some technique. The video below gives a description & comparison of all the Voiced and Un-Voiced Consonants in The English Language.
However! — There are two rather big mistakes in the video which are explained below. See if you can spot them while you are watching the video, and then check to see if you were correct with the explanation below. 😉
Enjoy The Video!
trangely — when she was making the different sounds — she did not do them in alphabetical order. Not did she bother to mention which letters the sounds correspond to. I am not sure what her philosophy is for this practice, because she does it in all or almost all of her videos. But here are the letters of the sounds in the order that she said them:
The Examples Used In The Video
he examples that she gave for the difference between the Voiced and Un-Voiced Consonants — before she actually gave the list of the different sounds were:
- Un-Voiced = The CH Combination
- Voiced = The Letter J (or The Soft Letter “G”… it is exactly the same sound)
Voiced vs. Un-Voiced
(With A Pair)
Un-Voiced
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- T – /t/
. - F – /f/
- P – /p/
- K – /k/
- Th – /θ/ — (as in “Thanks”)
- S – /s/
- Sh – /ʃ/
- Ch – /tʃ/
- T – /t/
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Voiced
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- T – /t/ — (This is NOT correct. The Voiced Pair to The Letter “T” is: D – /d/) ♠
- V – /v /
- B – /b/
- G – /g/
- Th – /ð/ — (as in “That”)
- Z – /z/
- Zh – /ʒ/ — (as in “Azure”) ♣
- J – /dʒ/ — (or The Soft Letter “G”)
- T – /t/ — (This is NOT correct. The Voiced Pair to The Letter “T” is: D – /d/) ♠
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♠ THERE IS NO SUCH THING — as a “Voiced” Letter “T“. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to make a “Voiced” Letter “T”. Perhaps this is what she learned from her professors when she was earning her degree — rather than actually listening to the sounds that are coming out of her mouth. But it is wrong.
When The Letter “T” comes at the beginning or the middle of the word — and then is immediately followed by a vowel which IS in fact voiced (as all vowels are) — then it may SEEM like it is “Voiced”; but it is NOT. When The Letter “T” comes at the end of the word — it is clear that it is NOT a Voiced Consonant… Ever. THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a “Voiced” Letter “T” — and there never will be.
What she demonstrated was a “T”, followed by a schwa sound – /ə/. The “Voice” Pair to The Letter “T” is: The Letter “D”
♣ Notice! — The “Zh” combination is only a phonetic spelling, which is used to represent a sound. THERE IS NO SUCH SPELLING in any word in English… At least not in The Common Tongue of the English Language. The “Zh” spelling is only used to phonetically represent the sound of The Letter “Z” in the word: “Azure” — or the “si” combination in the word: “Persuasion”.
Voiced vs. Un-Voiced
(Without A Pair)
Un-Voiced
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- H – /h/
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Voiced
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- M – /m/
- N – /n/
- Ng – /ŋ/
- L – /l/
- R – /ɹ/
- Y – /j/ — (Pronounced Incorrectly In The Video) ♥
- W- /w/
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♥ Notice! — What she demonstrated here is NOT the consonant sound of The Letter “Y”. What she demonstrated was The Long Letter “E” — which is the Vowel Sound of The Letter “Y”. The Consonant sound of the letter “Y” is pronounced like: “Yuh”, “Yeh”, “Yoh”, or “”Yoo” etc. — (depending on what vowel comes after it). This can be heard in ANY word that begins with The Letter “Y”: Young, Yellow, Yo!, You, etc.. It is CLEARLY not the same as The Long “E” Sound. This is the same sound as The Letter “U” in words like: “University” or “Unity”.
I Hope That My Description Was More Helpful Than Simply Watching The Video Alone
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Have An Excellent Day!
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