Voicing
Try this experiment:
Put your index and middle fingers on your throat and say just the k- sound of the word “kiss.”
Now say the just the g- sound of the word “guess.”
Feel the vibration of your vocal cords with the g-? That vibration that you felt is called voicing. We say that k is an unvoiced consonant (no vibration) and g is a voiced consonant (buzzzz).
The Greek letter θ is unvoiced, like the th in thick.
The Greek letter δ is voiced, like the th in these.
In English and in Greek, consonants come in voiced/unvoiced pairs. Here are some of those pairs; use the “fingers on throat” test to see that this table is correct.
| Unvoiced | Voiced |
|---|---|
| Greek | |
| φ | β |
| θ | δ |
| σ | ζ |
| English | |
| p | b |
| k | g |
| t | d |
| Thank You |