151: j/ch sounds plus -ed ending
/Practice adding the -ed ending to the j or ch sound.
Transcript
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 151st episode.
Free transcripts for this episode, as well as links to the lessons related to this episode can be found at www.pronuncian.com/podcast. Just click Episode 151.
Some sound combinations are more difficult to master than others. Two difficult combinations are the j sound plus d sound and the ch sound plus t sound. We use these combinations when adding the -ed ending to words whose final sound is the j sound or ch sound. For instance, the past tense of to change is changed, and the past tense of to watch is watched.
Before talking about combining sounds, let's talk about how to pronounce just the j sound and ch sound. The j sound and ch sound are both affricates. Affricates are created by stopping the air, and then releasing the air with friction. In English, the j sound and ch sound are the only affricates we have. Both of these specific sounds are created by briefly pressing the front of the tongue, near the tip, against the bony ridge behind the top front teeth; that is where the air is stopped. When the air is released, the tongue only moves a little, forcing air out through a small opening; that is the "friction" part of the sound. Both the stop and the friction are needed to fully create an affricate.
The difference between the sounds is that j sound is voiced, meaning that the vocal cords vibrate during the sound, and the ch sound is unvoiced, meaning that the vocal cords do not vibrate during the sound.
Listen to the j sound, then the ch sound (j sound, ch sound).
Now let's do a quick review of the -ed ending, just so everyone can understand why the -ed ending is pronounced as a d sound after the j sound and as a t sound after a ch sound. It all relates to voicing. The -ed ending will be pronounced as a d sound when it follows a voiced sound (such as a j sound) and as a t sound when it follows an unvoiced sound (such as a ch sound).
Of course, there is still one more pattern to add to the -ed ending pronunciation. When the -ed ending follows a d sound or a t sound, the -ed ending is pronounced as id, or the short i plus the d sound. When the -ed ending is pronounced as id, a syllable is added to the word. Paint becomes painted and add becomes added. I'll link to the Pronuncian.com lesson about the -ed ending pronunciation from this episode's transcripts so you can review it further if you need. This third pattern is not relevant for this episode, except to say that we do not add id to words that end in the j sound or ch sound. So we will not say watch-ed or change-ed.
Since the j sound is voiced, and an -ed ending added to it will be pronounced as a d sound, it will sound like (j sound+d sound), as in changed. Since the ch sound is unvoiced, an -ed ending added to it will be pronounced as a t sound; it will sound like (ch sound+t sound), as in watched.
Try saying just the j sound+d sound with me:
j sound+d sound
j sound+d sound
j sound+d sound
Now let's practice some words. I'll leave time for you to repeat after me. Be very careful to not add a syllable with the -ed ending.
charged
arranged
damaged
Now let's practice the ch sound plus -ed ending:
watched
itched
switched
Because I like practicing sounds in sentences so much, let's put a few of these words into sentences. I'll leave time for you to repeat after me:
They changed their phone number.
Kelly challenged the judges decision.
We switched daycare providers.
If you want an easy way to keep practicing these words, we've created an exercise with more example words and more sentences to practice. I'll link to that exercise from the -ed ending lesson, the j sound lesson, and the ch sound lesson. Of course, exercises are only available to Pronuncian subscribers. As I have said before, Pronuncian subscriptions and memberships, as well as textbook sales are what allow us to keep publishing these podcasts and the many lessons on Pronuncian for free. So if you've made a recent purchase from Pronuncian, we thank you very much.
That's all for today everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening.
Bye-bye.