In which word are all sounds voiced: Puppy was afraid of cats and strangers? - briefly
In the sentence "Puppy was afraid of cats and strangers," the word "strangers" is the only one where all sounds are voiced. This is because "strangers" consists entirely of voiced consonants and vowels, with no voiceless sounds present. To clarify, voiced sounds are produced with vibration of the vocal cords, whereas voiceless sounds are produced without this vibration. Here is a breakdown:
- Voiced Sounds in "Strangers":
- /s/ (initial 's' is voiceless, but the rest are voiced)
- /t/ (voiceless)
- /r/ (voiced)
- /a/ (voiced)
- /n/ (voiced)
- /g/ (voiced)
- /e/ (voiced)
- /r/ (voiced)
- /s/ (final 's' is voiceless)
In English, voiced sounds include vowels and some consonants like /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /l/, /r/, and /ʒ/. Voiceless sounds include consonants like /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /h/, and /tʃ/. The word "strangers" uniquely stands out as it avoids all voiceless consonants, making it the only word in the sentence where all sounds are voiced.
In which word are all sounds voiced: Puppy was afraid of cats and strangers? - in detail
To determine the word in the sentence "Puppy was afraid of cats and strangers" where all sounds are voiced, it is essential to understand the distinction between voiced and voiceless sounds in English phonetics. Voiced sounds are produced with vibration of the vocal cords, while voiceless sounds are produced without this vibration.
First, let us break down the sentence into individual words and analyze the sounds in each:
- Puppy: This word contains the sounds /p/, /ʊ/, and /p/. The sounds /p/ are voiceless.
- Was: This word contains the sounds /w/, /a/, and /s/. The sound /s/ is voiceless.
- Afraid: This word contains the sounds /ə/, /f/, /r/, /e/, and /d/. The sound /f/ is voiceless.
- Of: This word contains the sounds /ɒ/ and /f/. The sound /f/ is voiceless.
- Cats: This word contains the sounds /k/, /a/, /t/, and /s/. The sounds /k/ and /t/ are voiceless, and /s/ is voiceless.
- And: This word contains the sounds /æ/, /n/, and /d/. All these sounds are voiced.
- Strangers: This word contains the sounds /str/, /æ/, /n/, /d/, /ʒ/, and /ər/. The sounds /s/ and /t/ are voiceless, and /r/ can be voiced or voiceless depending on the dialect.
Upon examining each word, it becomes clear that the word "and" is the only word in the sentence where all sounds are voiced. The sounds /æ/, /n/, and /d/ in "and" are all produced with vocal cord vibration, making it the word where all sounds are voiced.