LoginHow to Pronounce the /dʒ/ Sound
This lesson will explore the /dʒ/ sound, its articulation, and its role in English phonology. Understanding this sound enhances your pronunciation skills.
In this lesson, we are going to learn about the production of the /dʒ/ sound using the appropriate articulatory organs.
What Type of Sound Is /dʒ/?
/dʒ/ is a consonant in the English language.
How to Produce /dʒ/?
Mouth and Vocal Tract Configuration for /d3/
As you can see in picture (b), the tongue plays a major part in the production of the /dʒ/ sound. The tongue is raised a bit and its tip touches the roof of the mouth, just behind the upper teeth. The back part of the tongue remains in its place. Note that the uvula blocks the air from moving through the nose. So, the air is blocked behind the tongue and when we lower it down, the air is released forcefully from the mouth. If you pay attention to the circle of the vocal cords in the throat, you can see that it is red, indicating that we must vibrate our vocal cords. So, it is voiced.
In picture (a), the lips are parted and the teeth slightly touch. Note that when you are practicing, it is better to move the corners of your mouth a bit down, just like in the picture.
In picture (c), you can clearly see which part of the roof of the mouth, the tongue tip makes contact with during the sound production. It is marked red.
Which Letters are Pronounced as /dʒ/?
The sound /dʒ/ is represented by the following letters:
Pie Chart of the Letters that Make the /dʒ/ Sound
- g:
ca
grud
- j:
- dg:
ba
knowle
- d:
e
sche
- gg:
exa
ve
- jj:
ha
/dʒ/ Sound in the Most Common World Languages
As you can see, the /dʒ/ sound can be found in some languages like Hindi and French, whereas, it cannot be found in others like Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Swedish, and Greek. However, with all the information provided above, and a little practice, you can easily learn to produce this sound. Look:
| Existence | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | x | - |
| Spanish | x | - |
| Hindi | ✔ | जाना |
| Bengali | ✔ | জল |
| Portuguese¹ | ✔ | digo |
| Russian | x | - |
| Japanese² | ✔ | ジョジョ |
| Vietnamese | x | - |
| Turkish | ✔ | acı |
| French | x | - |
| German² | ✔ | Dschungel |
| Italian | ✔ | gemma |
| Persian | ✔ | کجا |
| Standard Arabic | ✔ | جَرَس |
| Korean² | ✔ | 아버지 |
| Indonesian | ✔ | jarak |
| Filipino | ✔ | diyan |
| Hungarian | ✔ | lándzsa |
| Dutch | ✔ | jeans |
| Polish² | ✔ | liczba |
| Romanian | ✔ | ger |
| Swedish | x | - |
| Czech | ✔ | džbán |
| Greek | x | - |
| Ukrainian | ✔ | джерело |
| Urdu | ✔ | جانا |
¹ The sound exists in Brazilian Portuguese.
² The sound is similar, but it is not identical.
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