As a linguistics expert with a focus on phonetics and phonology, I can provide a detailed explanation of voiced consonants. It's important to understand that in the context of speech sounds, "voiced" refers to the vibration of the vocal cords during the production of a sound. When we speak, we can produce sounds with or without vocal cord vibration, which gives us two categories of consonants: voiced and unvoiced.

Step 1: English Explanation

To begin with, let's clarify the concept of voiced and unvoiced consonants.
Unvoiced consonants are produced without vocal cord vibration. They are made by the flow of air through the vocal tract, which is formed into specific sounds by the position and movement of the lips, tongue, and other articulatory organs. Examples of unvoiced consonants include /h/ as in 'hat', /f/ as in 'fan', /s/ as in 'sun', and /p/ as in 'pat'.

On the other hand, voiced consonants involve the vibration of the vocal cords. This vibration occurs simultaneously with the airflow through the vocal tract. Voiced consonants are often perceived as being 'fuller' or 'richer' in sound compared to their unvoiced counterparts. Examples of voiced consonants are /b/ as in 'bat', /d/ as in 'dog', /g/ as in 'go', /v/ as in 'van', /z/ as in 'zoo', and /m/ as in 'man'.

It's also worth noting that there are pairs of consonants that are known as minimal pairs, where the only difference is the voicing. For instance, the pairs /b/ and /p/, /d/ and /t/, /g/ and /k/ are minimal pairs where the first consonant in each pair is voiced, and the second is unvoiced.

Now, let's address the misconception in the provided information. The consonant /zh/ is not a standard symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and seems to be a misrepresentation. The correct symbol for the voiced postalveolar fricative is /ʒ/, as in the word 'measure'. The unvoiced counterpart of /ʒ/ is /ʃ/, as in 'shoe'. The pairs /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are an example of minimal pairs.

Additionally, the provided examples of unvoiced consonants, "hh, sh, tt, pp," are not accurate. The correct symbols for these sounds are /h/, /ʃ/, and the repetition of consonants like /t/ does not occur in standard IPA notation. The /p/ sound is unvoiced and is correctly represented.

To summarize, the key to distinguishing between voiced and unvoiced consonants lies in the presence or absence of vocal cord vibration. Voiced consonants are produced with vocal cord vibration, while unvoiced consonants are not. This distinction is crucial for understanding the phonetic structure of spoken languages and is a fundamental aspect of speech production and perception.

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Unvoiced consonants are made just with air, no, uhh, sound from the vocal cords. For example, hh, sh, tt, pp. Voiced consonants do have voice in them, uhh, like: mm, bb, zh. There are lots of consonant pairs where the mouth position is the same, and one is voiced, the other is unvoiced, for example, CH / JJ.read more >>