ArticlesReader.com Menu

Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup

Search the articles

Articles Main Categories

Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing

Subscribe

Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Syndicate

Related Products

Home::Reference & Education

The American English Accent:: The Voiced And Unvoiced

Author : Frank Gerace -

The voiced and unvoiced consonants

In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants.

If you want to master English pronunciation you have to able to distinguish between these two types of consonants. This is necessary for you to learn the proper pronunciation when you learn new vocabulary. And more importantly you need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants to be able to pronounce the words of English correctly. What makes one consonant be voiced and another not?

A consonant is voiced when it makes the vocal cords vibrate. It is voiceless when it is pronounced without vibrating the vocal cords.

The sound of the letters "p" and "b"

For example, the sounds indicated by the letters "b" and "p" differ only in their vocalization (voicing). The are both "bilabials", that is, they are produced by closing both lips. But the "b" is voiced and the "p" is unvoiced. In this article, we will follow common practice and indicate the letters of the alphabet with quotes (b and p) and the sounds with slashes (/b/ and /p/)

You can appreciate the difference by lightly touching with the tips of your fingers your "Adam's Apple" (the voice box that you can see in the front of your throat) as you pronounce the word bowl . You can feel the vibration with the tips of our fingers. Concentrate on the first sound, the consonant /b/ before passing to the vowel represented by the "o". Notice that you can lengthen the sound (something is heard!) without the "o". This is because /b/ is a voiced consonant.

Now pronounce the word pole. Do you feel the vibration in the vocal cords? No. The reason is that /p/ is an unvoiced consonant. Notice that you you can't lengthen the sound or hear anything.

When you pronounce these sounds, don't forget the advice we already gave you in other articles: exaggerate the value of the vowel "o" with a strong English accent!

Listen to the following exercise until you can distinguish betwen the two sounds and produce them yourself.

You should be able to telll the difference between the /p/ and the /b/ in the sentence The doctor said: "Bill, take your pill!

Try it now!

The sounds of the English letters /k/ (sometimes "c") and /g/

It is not only the sounds /p/ and /b/ that are voiced or unvoiced. The same distinction holds for the sounds represented by the letters "k" y "g" in the International Phonetic Alphabet. By the way, do you see that it will not be hard for you to learn the symbols of the IPA? Many of the symbols, like the k and the g are already familiar to you. They are the normal letters of the alphabet.

The IPA symbol k interests us now. It is the "hard" sound of the letter "c", the sound that the letter "c" usually takes before the letters "a", "o", and "u", for example in the words car, coat, cube.

Now can you see how the IPA system makes it easy for you to learn the pronunciation of new words? Now, we don't have to worry that sometimes the letter "c" has the sound of the IPA symbol k (as in the word cold) or that sometimes the same letter "c" of the English alphabet is pronounced as the IPA s (as in the words cell ).

!

Now try to feel in your voice box the vibration in the word coal! You can't because it is the unvoiced partner in the pair. If you touch your voice box while you pronounce the word goal, you do feel the vibration because the sound g is voiced.

Practice the two words coal and goal. But keep on pronouncing the the English vowel with its lengthening. Exaggerate the English language character of the vowel. Don't pronounce it as if it were col or gol in your language. And also remember the explosive nature of the consonant represented by the "c" in English when it is pronounced as the IPA k. Blow out the candle when you say coal.

Pero ¡Qué no suene como si hablaras de repollo (la col en el Perú) o del fútbol (el gol)!

¡Cuidado con tu acento hispano!

Did you notice that we review various important things about the English sounds as we move along in this book. From now on, in your listening and in your practice, you must remember the explosive consonants, the special English vowels, and the voiced or unvoiced consonants.

Listen and practice all these essential elements of English pronunciation.

The sound of the letters "t" and "d"

Consider the pair of words tear and dear. Do the same with these words as you did above with the pairs of words coal and goal, and pole and bowl. Can you distinguish which of the initial sounds is voiced and which is unvoiced? Both are pronounced in almost the same place in the mouth but the initial sound of these two words is different in that the letter "t" is usually voiceless and the "d" is usually voiced. However, do NOT think that the letter "d" in English is always voiced. You will see that sometimes this letter "d" represents a voiceless sound. This is a VERY important lesson in the pronunciation of English and when you learn how and when the "d" is unvoiced it will be a valuable tool for you in your mastery of English.

This difference between the letters "d" and "t" in English is very important in the matter of the past tense of verbs. We will treat this elsewhere.

Also there is another pair of voiced and unvoiced consonants, the sounds represented in English by the letters "s" and "z". We will study them in their most important contexts, that of the third person singular of the present of verbs, and that of the plural of nouns.

But for now, concentrate on the consonants we just looked at.

Now listen and practice! Listen wherever you can (or listen in our book) to the different pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants. Then make them yourself.

P and B

K and G

T and D

This lesson is taken from the book, Word Power which contains sound files that let you hear the vowels and consonants and practice their pronunciation.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Frank Gerace Ph.D has worked in Latin America in UN and national Educational and Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian and Peruvian Universities. He currently teaches English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He provides resources on accent reduction and the proper American English accent at www.GoodAccent.com.

Spam emails More free articles

More related feeds

learning the american english accent-unvoiced sounds
learning the american english accent-unvoiced soundsan unvoiced sound is a sound that is made by pushing air out of your mouth in different ways, depending on how you move your lips and tongue. to demonstrate what an unvoiced sound ...

american english: the different sounds of the letter “s” at the ...
the difference between the sounds is not the result of the whim of some ancestor of the english; it is the result of how the human mouth works. there are “rules” that describe the relation between the voiced and the unvoiced consonants ...

learning the american english accent-understanding voicing
sounds formed when our vocal cords remain still are called “unvoiced” sounds. it is important to be able to turn your voice on and off to form sounds correctly. something to remember when learning the american accent.=)

The American English Accent:: The Voiced And Unvoiced
The American English Accent:: The Voiced And Unvoiced. By:Frank Gerace. The voiced and unvoiced consonants. In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants. ...

the american english accent : the voiced and unvoiced
also there is another pair of voiced and unvoiced consonants, the sounds represented in english by the letters "s" and "z". we will study them in their most important contexts, that of the third person singular of the present of verbs, ...

Pharyngula: The secret meaning of “Coffee & Cigarettes”
As a random linguist with an interest in nitpicking,I didn't even notice this before; but 'squid' and 'quit' both have unvoiced [k], not voiced [g]. Sorry, Abby. Phonological rules of English won't allow initial [sg-]. ...

Keeping in mind the important points about venetian mirror, we ...
The American English Accent:: The Voiced And Unvoiced. The voiced and unvoiced consonants. In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants. If you want to master English ...

guitarwave.com - Lesson 1a - “TH” - English Pronunciation
This is American english, but the TH sound is the same for both British and American. By EnglishCoachMoscow. October 26th, 2008 at 5:30 pm. All CONSONANT … All CONSONANT sounds are exactly the same in ALL English dialects. Some accents ...

Speak like a Star!: Speech Training: Does Your Accent Matter?
I am a strong supporter of the idea that your accent doesn't matter; it's the clarity of your speech and your message that's important. But looking at the news lately, it seems that I am in the minority. Every headline has something to ...

reading & writing english: words ending in “d”
although many verbs have “ed” in their past, it is just a strange note of english spelling. you often only pronounce one syllable with the past indicated by a voiced “d” or an unvoiced “t” according to which sound preceded the ending. ...

The American English Accent:: The Voiced And Unvoiced

Related articles