Page 207 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Communication: Spoken English | 195

/υǝ/ as in poor
/eǝ/ as in pair
/ǝυ/ as in no
/aυ/ as in now

Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
Speech sounds are described on the basis of the nature of the air stream, the
state of the vocal cords and the position of the soft palate, the tongue and
the lips.
The air from the lungs has to come out through the windpipe and the
larynx. In the larynx are situated a pair of lip-like structures called the vocal
cords. These are placed horizontally from front to back and attached in front
but can be separated at the back. The opening between the cords is called the
glottis. When the two cords come very close to each other the glottis is shut
completely. This is the position of the vocal cords when we eat or drink to pre-
vent food or water from entering the lungs. When the glottis is wide open the
air stream moves out without vibrating the cords producing voiceless sounds
(p, t, κ, t∫, f, s, ∫, θ, h are voiceless sounds). When the vocal cords are
loosely held together the pressure of the air from the lungs makes them open
and close rapidly. This vibration of the vocal cords produces voiced sounds.
All vowels and the remaining consonants are called voiced sounds.
Now let us look at the correct distribution of /s/ and /z/ sounds in inflex-
ional suffixes (i.e. in the plural and possessive forms of nouns and the pres-
ent simple third person singular forms of verbs).
The inflectional suffix -s or –es is pronounced as /s/ after voiceless con-
sonants except /t∫/, /s/ and /∫/.
admit

appoint
drop
heap
book
brick
remark
week
months
laugh

The inflectional suffix is realized as /z/ after voiced sounds except /dƷ/, /z/
and /Ʒ/.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 09.indd 195 2011-06-23 7:52:56 PM
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