All About Voicing

Voicing is an important part of producing accurate of speech sounds. So, what is voicing and why do we care? Voicing describes what your vocal cords are doing when you produce speech sounds. If we use the incorrect voicing in speech, we could be saying a completely different word than we intend.

During speech, you will produce a series of voiced and voiceless sounds to create your words and sentences. Voiced speech sounds refer to those sounds in which the vocal folds vibrate. Some people think of these sounds as “noisy.” Some examples of voiced sounds are “b, d, g.” There are also speech sounds that are voiceless. Voiceless sounds are those in which the vocal folds do not vibrate. These are quiet sounds, such as “p, t, k.”

English Language Learners or those who use English as a Second Language may have some errors in voicing when aiming for a true Standard American English accent. If your first language is Arabic, Mandarin, or Hindi, for example, voiceless sounds may be more difficult to produce.

Here are some sounds to practice voiced and voiceless speech sounds. The first word in the pair will be voiceless, and the second will be voiced. Enjoy your practice and please contact me if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment!

  • Face, Vase
  • Path, Bath
  • Pie, Bye
  • Coat, Goat
  • Peas, Bees
  • Coal, Goal
  • Town, Down
  • Pug, Bug
  • Peach, Beach
  • Pin, Bin

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