Learn to recognize fricative allophones
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| This is the β sound, this is the ð sound, and this is the ɣ sound. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to tell them apart, PLUS you'll be practicing them and on your way to perfect pronunciation! |
| I'm Horacio, and this is Spanish Pronunciation Through Minimal Pairs. |
| The first is β. This is the β sound in hablar "to talk," saber "to know," bebe "he/she drinks," and other words. |
| We have the ð sound in rueda"wheel |
| ," todo "everything," amado "loved," and other words. |
| And lastly, the ɣ sound in amigo "friend," lago "lake," hago "I do," and other words. |
| These sounds are the allophones of voiced stops b, d, g. |
| To make the β sound: bring your upper and lower lips close together, touching lightly but not fully closed, allowing air to pass through with a soft buzzing. Use a gentle voice to create a sound softer than an English V or B. Try to think of it as producing a regular V sound, but instead of using your upper teeth, try to use your upper lip. The upper lip should lightly contact the bottom lip to still allow air to pass through it. It sounds like a buzzing noise. |
| β |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β |
| β |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β |
| To make the ð sound: place the tip of your tongue against your upper front teeth. Let your tongue lightly touch the teeth rather than pressing hard, creating a small gap that allows air to flow through. As you exhale, use your voice to create a soft buzzing sound, similar to the English th in "this." |
| ð |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ð (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ð |
| ð |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ð (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ð |
| To make the ɣ sound: position the back of your tongue close to the soft part of the roof of your mouth as if you're about to say a G. Instead of fully blocking the airflow and releasing it in a burst, keep a small gap between your tongue and the velum. Let the air pass continuously through this narrow space, creating a soft, voiced fricative sound that almost resembles a light gargling. |
| ɣ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ɣ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ɣ |
| ɣ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ɣ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ɣ |
| β, ð, ɣ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β, ð, ɣ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| β, ð, ɣ |
| Try to pronounce these sounds by creating a soft, continuous sound by lightly touching without fully blocking airflow. |
| Read the following sentences out loud, focusing on the words with the β, ð, ɣ sounds. |
| Ella bebe agua todos los días. |
| "She drinks water every day." |
| (1) |
| bebe, bebe |
| Todo está bien. |
| "Everything is fine." |
| (1) |
| todo, todo |
| El lago es muy grande. |
| "The lake is very big." |
| (1) |
| lago, lago |
| By the way, if you watched til the end |
| Here's a special resource just for you… |
| 30+ Spanish PDF Cheat Sheets… |
| …That will improve your Spanish twice as fast — yours FREE. |
| Just click the link in the comments section. |
Comments
Hide