Voiceless and Voiced Sounds

VOICED sounds occur when the vocal folds in the larynx (i.e. the GLOTTIS) are close together and vibrating. For example, all the vowels are voiced. Besides, sounds like /b/, /d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/ and /ð/ are also voiced. In order to remember this, it is useful to remember the phrase "la bodega de Manolo" because all the sounds that integrate it are voiced. 

However, VOICELESS sounds occur when the vocal folds are apart and don't vibrate, so there is only air coming out. In other words, voiceless sounds are: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /θ/, /s/, /∫/ and /t∫/.Some of these sounds can be found in words like "petaca".

Check if the grapheme th- corresponds to /θ/ (voiceless) or /ð/ (voiced) in the words below:

• there
• think
• them
• theme
• thigh
• thousand
• this
• that
• thumb
• thimble
• those