WHAT?!
What on Earth are 'voiced' and 'voiceless' sounds?
It's actually so simple! Trust Alex...hehe.
I've been studying linguistics for a few weeks now, and the subject has opened so many doors I had half-entered but which existence I hadn't even realized was there.
'Voiced' sounds
These are the sounds in languages that use the glottis. Wait, what's the glottis? It's a part of the larynx (your little voice-box :3) that helps make sounds O.o.
'Voiced' sounds are made by activating the glottis, therefore sounds like 'th' in 'these' and 'the', 'g' in 'great', 'zh' in 'casual', 'b' in 'break' and many others. But how do you make them? You let air out by vibrating. Say 'the' and touch your Adam's apple at the same time. Feel any vibration? Of course you do! Now, say 'through', and touch your Adam's apple. Notice how there's no vibration?
With the vibration, you produce 'voiced' sounds simply because you're adding voice to them.
'Voiceless' sounds
They are obviously going to be the opposite of 'voiced' sounds, right? You might let air out, but you do not activate the glottis. Sounds like 'f, s, t, p, k etc'. Notice how they're all consonants, these voiced and voiceless sounds.
Exercise:
Write the corresponding 'voiceless' sound to each of the following 'voiced' ones.
Example: (in Lei'ine, 'Saksi')- V is a voiced sound because of the vibration, try saying it without the vibration and you get 'f'!
B-
D-
G-
J-
Z-
Answers (Wanjù):
P
T
K
CH
S
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