Topic: Sounds of Consonants (/P/, /b/, / t/, /d/) - JSS2 English language Lesson Note

Sounds of Consonants (/P/, /b/, / t/, /d/)

/p/: This is an unvoiced bilabial plosive sound. You can hear it in words like: pot, pig, pie, pup, pest, pass, pan, pool, pure, ape, popper, pepper, pill, pool, post, and so on.

Note: /p/ is not pronounced in words like psychology, receipt, pneumonic, cupboard, etc.

Also, when “p” and “h” are together in a word like phantom, phase, photo, etc, it is pronounced as

/ f/

/b/: This sound is a voiced bilabial plosive sound. Here are some words with this sound:

/b/ boot, bid, boat, breeze, breed, brood, buy, buoy, bank, bark, bush, bread, etc.

Note: The /b/ is silent in words like: thumb, comb, tomb, womb, limb, and the last "b" in bomb. The silent sound should not be pronounced.

Comparison of Sounds /p/ and / b/

            /p/                                      / b/

            pat                                      bat

          part                                       bart

          pet                                        bet

         push                                     bush

         pay                                        bay

        map                                      mob

        tap                                       tab

       cap                                       cab

/t/: This is a voiceless alveolar plosive sound. You can find this sound in the following words:

/t/   tip, take, tail, top, task, ten, looked, tone, let, tab, test, best, net, next, ant, coat, goat, etc.

Note: When “ed” follows a voiceless sound like /k/ / p/ as in cooked, looked, booked, slapped, developed, tapped, etc. It represents “t”.

/d/: This is a voiced alveolar plosive sound. Here are some words with this sound:

/d/    rod, pad, code, drip, drain, hide, draw, dry, dress, drive, tread, deer, road, build, board, etc.

Note: The sound is silent in handsome, handkerchief.

Comparison of Sounds /t/ and / d/

/t/                                                             /d/

tan                                                           dan

tug                                                           dug

team                                                     deem

try                                                           dry

town                                                     down

rot                                                          rod

pat                                                          pad

coat                                                         code

true                                                       drew

tread                                                     dread