What is Voicing

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Vibration of the vocal cords determines whether a sound is voiced or unvoiced. If the vocal cords are apart, then air can escape without hindrance. Sounds produced in this way are said to be voiceless. Try whispering! When you whisper, your glottis (the space betwen the vocal cords) is wide open and, therefore, all the sounds produced are voiceless. However, if the vocal cords are very close together, the air will blow them apart as it forces its way through. This makes the cords vibrate, producing a voiced sound. Compare whispering and humming!

Voicing is important in a language like English because the meaning of a sound often depends on whether that sound is voiced or not. For example, 'big' carries a very different meaning from 'pig'. (See also the eyes - ice list for final voiced and voiceless /z/ and /s/ ).

English has eight pairs of consonant sounds. Each pair is produced in the same place and manner. The only difference is that one set is voiceless and the other voiced.

Add the equivalent voiced phoneme on the chart below to complete the pairs.

Other consonants:

Voiceless

Voiced

Note

1. Voicing is only a feature of consonants. (By definition, all vowel sounds are voiced.)

2. When a final consonant is voiced the preceding vowel or diphthong sounds longer. Compare: ‘bag‘ - ‘back‘ ‘bad‘ - ‘bat‘ ‘live‘ - ‘life‘ ‘buzz‘ - ‘bus‘ (‘eyes‘ – ‘ice‘ etc)

3.There is progressive assimilation of voice with ‘s‘plurals. Endings are /s/ after voiceless, and/z/ after voiced consonants. However, if the singular ends in / s /, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/,/ʧ/or /ʤ/, the plural ends in /Iz/I Compare the final ‘s‘ in cakes, plums, oranges. Which plural /s/, /z/ or /Iz/ in lions, antelopes, gorillas, ostriches, zebras, rats, giraffes?

4.Assimilation of voice is also important in past tenses. The final letter ‘d‘ can be /t/, d/and /Id/. Compare baked, played wanted. Which ending /t/, d/or /Id/ in started, cooked, rained, raised, wanted, stopped, washed, lived, managed, snowed, tested?

5.The Czech ‘h‘ sound is voiced. It is represented by the symbol /ɦ/ in the IPA. Compare this sound with the English /h/, which is voiceless. Compare these Czech and English words: Havaj- Hawaii, herink – herring, Hongkong -Hong Kong, Jan Hus - John Huss.

Look at the list of Czech voiced and voiceless consonants below. You will notice there are many similarities with the English consonant phonemes.

However, there are some differences.

1.Which voiced and voiceless consonants exist in English but not in Czech?

2. Which voiced and voiceless consonants exists in Czech but not in English?

Here is a list of phonemes. Say them out loud to yourself. Write down which of them are voiced and which are voiceless.

1. /b/

2. /ʧ/

3. /d/

4. /ʤ/

5. /z/

6. /g/

7. /ð/

8. /m/

9. /n/

10. /θ/

Without looking at the first page, write the symbols for all the voiced and voiceless consonants in the correct bubbles.