Voiced & Voiceless 

Voiced and Voiceless Sounds in English

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, but there are 39 sounds (15 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds). In this lesson, we are going to identify which ones are voiced and which ones are not.

What Are Voiced & Voiceless?

If vocal cords vibrate in the throat, uttering a sound, we have a voiced sound, and if vocal cords do not, the sound is unvoiced. All the vowels produced in English are voiced, while consonants are either voiced or voiceless.

Why Should We Know Voiced/Voiceless Sounds?

Learning how to differentiate voiced from voiceless sounds is helpful because
1. It helps us label a consonant as voiced or unvoiced sound.
2. It also helps determine whether “s” at the end of a word makes the /s/ sound or the /z/ sound.

How to Determine Voiced/Voiceless Sounds?

If you put your hand on your larynx while pronouncing a sound, you notice that your vocal cords vibrate for voiced sounds and they do not vibrate in unvoiced sounds.

Types

1. Voiced Vowels

Vowels in English are A, E, I, O, U. All of them have voiced sounds because their pronouncing requires the flowing air in the larynx.

2. Voiced Consonants

These consonants produce voiced sounds: B, D, G, J, L, M, N, R, V, W, Y, and Z.

3. Voiceless Consonants

These consonants produce voiceless sounds: P, T, K, CH, and F.

Here is the table of voiced/voiceless consonant sounds:

Voiced

Unvoiced

/b/

/p/

/d/

/t/

/g/

/k/

/j/

/ch/

/v/

/f/

/z/

/s/ (voiced and unvoiced sound)

/m/

-

/n/

-

/r/

-

/l/

-

4. Voiceless and Voiced Consonant

There is only one consonant that can be either voiced or unvoiced and that is the ending ‘s.’
Depending on what consonant precedes it, it can be voiced or unvoiced.

a. If it follows a voiced consonant/vowel, it becomes voiced and sounds /z/:

Example

bugs /bʌɡz/

'g' is a voiced consonant and 's' is pronounced /z/.

fences /fensɪz/

'e' is a voiced vowel.

pairs /peərz/

'r' is a voiced vowel.

b. If the ending 's' follows an unvoiced consonant, it becomes unvoiced and sounds /s/:

Example

hats /hæts/

't' is an unvoiced sound.

puffs /pʌfs/

'f' is an unvoiced sound.

Digraphs

Digraphs are sounds that are made up of a combination of two letters, one is always voiced and the other is unvoiced. But, the digraph 'th' is made up of two unvoiced sounds: 't' and 'h'.
The interesting point is that 'th' can produce either voiced or unvoiced sound. If it produced /ð/ sound, it is voiced, and if it produces /θ/ sound, it is unvoiced.

Example

then /ðen/

voiced

bath /bɑːθ/

unvoiced

Comments

(9)
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Oct 2024
Pronounce the following voice and voiceless consonant sound words
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Ibrahim Refat Ibrahim
Sep 2024
Really excellent
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Jul 2024
Excellent!
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Sipi
Jul 2024
I m not good at english but pratice makes perfect and Thanks for the knowledge shared...
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AjiboyeJohnson Ayomide
Oct 2023
Thank you for our support and knowledge
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Eugene
Oct 2023
Thanks for the knowledge shared
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Sedibolaflorence
Oct 2023
I love the sound
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Apr 2023
It is really a very fruitthful lesson !!!
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Josephine Okine
Apr 2023
Nice
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