When I was a teenager, I loved hanging out with one of my friends after school. Once when we were in her room discussing movies, actors, life, and other things teenagers talk about, she told me that she really liked Brad Pitt. At the time he was just becoming famous and I still didn’t know who he was. Now, I have to tell you that in my native Bulgarian, we tend to devoice final consonants, and the way my friend pronounced Brad sounded more like Brat. I know this word has another meaning in English, but in Bulgarian brat means brother. However, it has a second meaning – a monk.
So, I was very confused when my friend told me that she liked brother Pitt. I thought she was talking about a monk and didn’t understand when and where she’d met this person. I asked her who Brat (brother) Pitt was, but because I was pronouncing his name the same way she had – with a devoiced final consonant (t instead of d), she didn’t realize that I’d totally misunderstood her. She pointed to one of the posters on her wall and said: “That’s Brat (brother) Pitt.” I turned to the poster to see a young, good looking guy and told her that he absolutely didn’t look like a monk. “What are you talking about? He’s not a monk; he’s an actor,” she replied.
Devoicing consonants at the end of words is common for other languages as well. Some of these languages are German, Polish, Russian, Dutch, etc. While this rarely causes confusion when speakers of these languages speak their native tongue, English has many minimal pairs (pairs of words that differ in only one sound) that, if mispronounced, change meaning.
What are minimal pairs
Minimal pairs are words or phrases that differ in only one sound. They can be particularly tricky because if the sound that is supposed to differentiate the two words is unclear, the listener might be confused. Sometimes, depending on the speaker’s native language, even two sounds (the vowel and one of the consonants could be mispronounced. For example, English is famous (or notorious 😅) for its number of vowels, which often leads to mispronunciations because nonnative speakers tend to transfer the sound they don’t have in their native language to the closest one they are familiar with. If we add to this a devoiced consonant, the final result could sound quite confusing.
What is devoicing
In phonology, devoicing is a sound change where a voiced sound becomes voiceless due to its phonological environment. The vocal cords are located inside the vocal box (larynx) and are responsible for the voice production. Air coming from the lungs passes through the vocal cords, causing them to vibrate and produce sound. If the vocal cords are too far apart, the air coming from the lungs passes freely and doesn’t vibrate. This results in a voiceless sound. But when the vocal cords come close together, they vibrate and produce voiced sounds.
How to differentiate the two words
The truth is that even native speakers don’t use a lot of voice when they pronounce certain consonants. For example, when the voiced stop consonant /d/ appears at the end of the word, it’s often held. That is, the speaker touches the tongue to the alveolar ridge (the bony part above the upper teeth), but doesn’t release the air. And if the air is not released, you can’t clearly hear the voice. So how do you differentiate between words like bad and bat? A useful tip is to elongate the vowel before a voiced consonant (in this case “bad”) a little more than one that comes before a voiceless consonant. This way, even if you don’t release the final consonant or devoice it, the listener will still understand which word you mean.
Minimal pairs for your practice
Below are some minimal pairs that cause confusion if the final consonant is devoiced and the vowel is mispronounced or cut short. The words are grouped by pairs of the final consonants: voiced and voiceless. The first column lists the words with the voiced consonant at the end. The second column shows their pronunciations in the IPA notation. The last two columns contain the corresponding words and their pronunciations with the voiceless consonants at the end.
/d/ ➜ /t/
| d | /d/ | t | /t/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| said | /sɛd/ | set | /sɛt/ |
| hard | /hɑɹd/ | heart | /hɑɹt/ |
| add | /æd/ | at | /æt/ |
| god | /gɑd/ | got | /gɑt/ |
| spend | /spɛnd/ | spent | /spɛnt/ |
| led | /lɛd/ | let | /lɛt/ |
| bed | /bɛd/ | bet | /bɛt/ |
| ride | /ɹaɪd/ | right | /ɹaɪt/ |
| road | /ɹoʊd/ | wrote | /ɹoʊt/ |
| made | /meɪd/ | mate | /meɪt/ |
| grade | /gɹeɪd/ | great | /gɹeɪt/ |
| wide | /waɪd/ | white | /waɪt/ |
| feed | /fid/ | feet | /fit/ |
| sad | /sæd/ | sat | /sæt/ |
| planned | /plænd/ | plant | /plænt/ |
| laid | /leɪd/ | late | /leɪt/ |
| played | /pleɪd/ | plate | /pleɪt/ |
| bid | /bɪd/ | bit | /bɪt/ |
| wed | /wɛd/ | wet | /wɛt/ |
| heard | /hɝd/ | hurt | /hɝt/ |
| broad | /bɹɔd/ | brought | /bɹɔt/ |
| side | /saɪd/ | sight | /saɪt/ |
| lied | /laɪd/ | light | /laɪt/ |
| send | /sɛnd/ | cent | /sɛnt/ |
| code | /koʊd/ | coat | /koʊt/ |
| bad | /bæd/ | bat | /bæt/ |
| hide | /haɪd/ | height | /haɪt/ |
| seed | /sid/ | seat | /sit/ |
| slide | /slaɪd/ | slight | /slaɪt/ |
| kid | /kɪd/ | kit | /kɪt/ |
| weed | /wid/ | wheat | /wit/ |
| thread | /θɹɛd/ | threat | /θɹɛt/ |
| Brad | /bræd/ | brat | /bræt/ |
/g/ ➜ /k/
| g | /g/ | k | /k/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| bag | /bæg/ | back | /bæk/ |
| lag | /læg/ | lack | /læk/ |
| pig | /pɪg/ | pick | /pɪk/ |
| league | /lig/ | leak | /lik/ |
| slag | /slæg/ | slack | /slæk/ |
| bug | /bʌg/ | buck | /bʌk/ |
| dog | /dɔg/ | doc | /dɔk/ |
| hug | /hʌg/ | huck | /hʌk/ |
/z/ ➜ /s/
| z | /z/ | s | /s/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| ones | /wʌnz/ | once | /wʌns/ |
| raise | /ɹeɪz/ | race | /ɹeɪs/ |
| laws | /lɔz/ | loss | /lɔs/ |
| falls | /fɔlz/ | false | /fɔls/ |
| plays | /pleɪz/ | place | /pleɪs/ |
| eyes | /aɪz/ | ice | /aɪs/ |
| Jews | /dʒuz/ | juice | /dʒus/ |
| prize | /pɹaɪz/ | price | /pɹaɪs/ |
| phase | /feɪz/ | face | /feɪs/ |
| pays | /peɪz/ | pace | /peɪs/ |
| knees | /niz/ | niece | /nis/ |
| grows | /gɹoʊz/ | gross | /gɹoʊs/ |
| rays | /ɹeɪz/ | race | /ɹeɪs/ |
| lays | /leɪz/ | lace | /leɪs/ |
| rise | /ɹaɪz/ | rice | /ɹaɪs/ |
| dies | /daɪz/ | dice | /daɪs/ |
| lies | /laɪz/ | lice | /laɪs/ |
| buzz | /bʌz/ | bus | /bʌs/ |
/b/ ➜ /p/
| b | /b/ | p | /p/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| tab | /tæb/ | tap | /tæp/ |
| cab | /kæb/ | cap | /kæp/ |
| crab | /kɹæb/ | crap | /kɹæp/ |
| mob | /mɑb/ | mop | /mɑp/ |
| lab | /læb/ | lap | /læp/ |
| slab | /slæb/ | slap | /slæp/ |
| robe | /ɹoʊb/ | rope | /ɹoʊp/ |
| rib | /ɹɪb/ | rip | /ɹɪp/ |
/v/ ➜ /f/
| v | /v/ | f | /f/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| have | /hæv/ | half | /hæf/ |
| save | /seɪv/ | safe | /seɪf/ |
| live | /laɪv/ | life | /laɪf/ |
| prove | /pɹuv/ | proof | /pɹuf/ |
| believe | /bɪliv/ | belief | /bɪlif/ |
| serve | /sɝv/ | surf | /sɝf/ |
| leave | /liv/ | leaf | /lif/ |
/dʒ/ ➜ /tʃ/
| dzh | /dʒ/ | ch | /tʃ/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | /eɪdʒ/ | H | /eɪtʃ/ |
| surge | /sɝdʒ/ | search | /sɝtʃ/ |
| badge | /bædʒ/ | batch | /bætʃ/ |
| ridge | /ɹɪdʒ/ | rich | /ɹɪtʃ/ |
★
Do you find yourself devoicing the final consonants? Which sounds and which minimal pairs are particularly difficult? Let me know in the comment section below.
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Thank you so much. It’s helpful. I’m gonna use it to practice with my friends 😉.