The Pronuncian website explains that:
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With the exception of being voiced or unvoiced, the voiced "th" and unvoiced "th" [sounds] are nearly identical; the tip of the tongue is placed behind the top front teeth. The friction occurs between the tip of the tongue and the top front teeth. Subtle friction may also occur between the top of the front of the tongue and the tooth ridge. The lips are kept relaxed during the production of these sounds. An alternative method of producing the th sounds is to place the tip of the tongue between the top and bottom front teeth. While this method will produce the correct sound, it often creates difficulties transitioning to and from other sounds. This is because the tongue needs to be so much further forward when between the front teeth as compared to behind the top front teeth. These sounds are continuous consonants, meaning that they should be capable of being held for a few seconds with even and smooth pronunciation for the entire duration. Because the sounds are fricatives, the majority of the sound comes from the friction of the air traveling through a small opening in the vocal tract. |
The following list of curated websites explains how to produce and practice the (un)voiced "th" sound.
| Website & Topic Name | Comments |
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Howcast: How to Pronounce the "Th" Sound in English ★★★★★ |
This website explains how to pronounce the various types of "th" sounds with a video. The speaker does a very good job of showing how to do this. |
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Pronuncian: Sounds of American English ★★★★★ |
This is another excellent website. It's a bit more technical than the one suggested above. Learners will specifically want to check out:
Now, to get to these lessons from the hyperlink provided, you must first click on the green "Consonants" tab in the upper left-hand corner of the table, and then make one of the three choices I've listed above by looking for the "fricative sounds" row on the table. |
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