English Sounds The Two TH Consonants and
in this American English pronunciation
video we’re going to learn how to make
the two th sounds
these sounds are paired together because
they take the same mouth position is
unvoiced meaning only air passes through
the mouth and is voiced meaning you make
a sound with the vocal cords the very
tip of the tongue comes through the
teeth the air passes around the tongue
the tongue is relaxed there shouldn’t be
any pressure in the mouth or a stop
quality to this sound
just nice and easy the tongue has to
easily vibrate between the teeth so keep
the tongue soft and relaxed the lips
don’t affect this sound so they can be
transitioning to the next sound for
example in the thr cluster the lips will
round a little bit for the AR as you
make the th three-three be careful with
the tongue tip make sure it doesn’t come
too far forward it’s just the very tip
that should come between the teeth to
make the unvoiced th the tongue tip
absolutely has to come through the teeth
but the voiced th can be different when
it’s in an unstressed quick word like
these or the the tongue tip doesn’t have
to come through the teeth it can press
behind the teeth make sure the tongue
isn’t at the roof of the mouth or
pointing down but pressing right in the
middle where the teeth come together if
it’s not in the right position the sound
will be wrong the these
duh this tongue shortcut works in these
words because they’re unstressed so when
you don’t bring your tongue tip through
the teeth it allows you to make these
less important words quickly these duh
let’s look at these sounds up close and
in slow motion notice how it’s just the
very tip that comes out of the teeth the
tongue is relaxed the teeth surround it
but they’re not clamping down on it the
lips and face are relaxed
throw notice how the lips are starting
to flare for the R as the tongue comes
through the teeth for the unvoiced th
birthday keep in mind when you only
stick the very tip of your tongue out
the movement into other sounds isn’t as
hard as you might think watch the tongue
tip come in and flip up for the D
this is a quick move of the tongue that
you can practice over and over to make
it more natural
brother tongue tip through the teeth for
the voiced th lips and tongue are
relaxed
worth ending in the unvoiced th again
the lips and tongue look very relaxed
remember to keep your tongue relaxed and
soft when you practice this sound the
voiced and unvoiced th throw birthday
brother warth example words repeat with
me other other either either though
though Thursday Thursday nothing nothing
south south