Page 21 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Advanced Communication Skills

Notes
[ ] ... 'z' as in 'zip' & [ ] ... 's' as in 'sip'

The S and Z consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same
mouth position. Ss is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth, and zz is voiced,
meaning you make a sound with the vocal cords. To make the sound, the lips part and the
corners pull back while the teeth themselves lightly touch, ss, zz. The tip of the tongue is down,
lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth, ss, ss, while further back, the top of the tongue
raises and actually touches the roof of the mouth, ss, zz, about here. The tongue touches on
either side of the roof of the mouth, but down the middle there's a passage where it's not
touching. This is where the air comes, ss, zz.

[ ] ... 'sh' as in 'ship' & [ ] ... 'dj' as in 'measure'

The SH and DJ consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the
same mouth position. Sh is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth. And dj is
voiced, meaning you make sound with your vocal cords. To make this sound, the teeth come
together, the corners of the lips come in, and the rest of the lips flare. Sh, dj. The tongue raises
a bit in the middle. It doesn't touch the roof of the mouth, but it does press against the inside
corner of the top teeth. Sh, dj. The front part of the tongue comes down, but it's far enough back
that it's not touching anything in the mouth. Sh, dj.

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