Pronuncian Lessons
Consonant Fricatives: voiced th /ð/ and unvoiced th /θ/
Listen:
unvoiced th sound
voiced th sound
Practice sentence: Think about this thing, that thing, and those things.
The voiced th and unvoiced th sounds are a voiced/unvoiced pair. English has many voiced/unvoiced pairs (d sound/t sound, zh sound/sh sound, j sound/ch sound etc.). In voiced/unvoiced pairs, the major difference is that the vocal cords vibrate during the production of voiced sounds and do not vibrate during unvoiced sounds. This difference can be felt by placing the a couple of fingertips agains the front of the throat while creating the sound. The vibration of voiced sounds can be felt during the articulation of voiced sounds, and is lacking during unvoiced sounds.
The voiced th and unvoiced th sounds are the only pair that share a single, common spelling. For that reason, they are presented together in this ESL/ELL pronunciation lesson.
How to pronounce the th sounds
With the exception of voicing or not (as explained above), the voiced th and unvoiced th are nearly identical.
To create either of the th sounds, the tip of the tongue is placed behind the top front teeth. The friction (which makes these fricative sounds) occurs between the top of the front of the tongue and the tooth ridge and between the tip of the tongue and the top front teeth.*
The lips are kept relaxed during the production of these sounds.
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voiced th/unvoiced th illustration
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These sounds are considered continuous consonants, meaning that they should be capable of being held for a few seconds with even and smooth pronunciation for the entire duration. Because the sounds are fricatives, the majority of the sound comes from the friction of the air traveling through a small opening in the vocal tract.
*An alternative method of producing the th sounds is by placing the tip of the tongue between the top and bottom front teeth. While this method will produce the correct sound, it often creates difficulties transitioning to and from other sounds. This is because the tongue needs to be so much further forward when between the front teeth as compared to behind the top front teeth.
Common th sounds spellings
Since the voiced th and unvoiced th sounds share the exact same spelling pattern, ESL/ELL students must memorize the pronunciation of new vocabulary words as they are learned. In general, the voiced th sound occurs in far fewer words than the unvoiced th. However, the voiced th sound is more common in function words (such as articles, pronouns, and demonstratives). For example, the function words the, that, them, these, they, their (and more), are pronounced with a voiced th.
The th sounds in suffixes
Non-phonetic th sounds