Presentation designed to help Native Spanish Speakers to pronounce voiced stops in final position.

1. Production of Final Voiced Stops in English
(Native Spanish Speakers)
Fernando J. Gonzalez L.

2. What is a Voiced Stop?
A stop consonant involves a complete closure of the articulators and thus
total blockage of airflow. The stops found in English are /p, b, t, d, k, g/.
When the vocal cords, located in the larynx, are brought together, the air
passing through create vibration, and the resulting sounds are ‘voiced’.
The stop sounds find in the English language are /b, d, k/

3. /b/
/d/
/g/
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset-ad3.html
You can Access this address, where the picture were taken from and see
the animations. It might be helpfull to watch them.

4. Why is this a problem?
Spanish Language does not have a single word with a voiced
consonant at the end of it. Our brain is trained to not recognize
these sound because it does not exist in our native language.
English Word
Meaning
Pronunciation Devoiced P.
Meaning
cab
A taxi
[khæb]
[khæp]
A had
bad
Not good
[bæd]
[bæt]
A bat
bag
A Bag
[bæg]
[bæk]
Back

5. What can we do?
The easiest solution to this problem is to be aware when we are
speaking. Every time a consonant is located at the end of a word,
the vowel that is previous to the voiced sound it tend to be a little bit
longer, in order for us to be able to vibrate our vocal cords. From
now on, remember to make the vowel sound a little bit longer and in
that way, confusion may be avoid.

6. Let’s Practice
/b/
/d/
/g/
Ab
Cab
Cob
Crab
Blab
Gab
Kebab
Ad
Bad
Had
Dad
Glad
Dead
Lead
Bag
Nag
Hag
Jag
Rag
Flag
Drag

7. References
Yavas, Mehmet. "First Chapter." Applied English Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.
Print.
"Phonetics: The Sounds of English and Spanish." The University of Iowa. Web. 04 May
2011. <http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/>.