Developmental pattern
Prevocalic Voicing
A voiceless consonant at the start of a word turns on its voice.
- Resolves
- By 3;0
- Sounds affected
- p, t, k, f, s, sh, ch, th
- Word pairs
- 14
- Picture pairs
- 12
What it sounds like
- "pig" becomes "big"
- "tea" becomes "dee"
- "cup" becomes "gup"
- "sun" becomes "zun"
Also called: Initial consonant voicing
What is going on
Every consonant pair in English has a quiet twin and a buzzy twin - /p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/, /k/ and /g/. The mouth does exactly the same thing for both; the only difference is whether the voice box is running. At the beginning of a word, right before a vowel, the voice often starts a fraction too early and the quiet twin comes out buzzy.
Prevocalic voicing creates real-word confusions - "pea" and "bee," "coat" and "goat," "pig" and "big" - which makes it frustrating for a child who knows exactly what they meant. It usually resolves on its own by 3, and it responds very well to minimal pairs when it does not.
Try this at home
When to refer
Minimal pairs
12 picture pairsThese pairs have two distinct picture subjects. Put both pictures on the table and take turns asking for one. If the two words sound alike, slow down and compare the sounds together. The printable word list has additional listening contrasts. Tap any pair to open it full screen and score each turn with Yes! or Not quite.