consonant’pairs’ - pelican talk pairs.pdf ·...
TRANSCRIPT
CONSONANT PAIRS
THE SPEECH SOUND SET © Copyright 2013 Lucia Smith, Pelican Talk Speech Therapy Resources. www.pelicantalk.com
Many consonant sounds come in “pairs”. Both sounds in a pair are articulated in the same way only one is a “voice on” sound and the other is a “voice off” sound. That is, they differ in whether or not the vocal cords vibrate during their production. To tell the difference, you can place your hands on your “Adam’s Apple” and alternate between saying each sound in a pair. Your articulators should keep doing exactly the same thing for each sound but vibration should be felt when the “voice on” sound is made. (If you feel vibration during a “voice off” sound, you are
not saying the sound correctly. Be careful that you are not following the sound with a quick vowel sound. For example, “puh”).
In the pictures above, the top Sound Buddy makes the “voice off” sound and the Sound Buddy directly beneath it makes its “voice on” pair.
If a pair exists for a sound, it is shown at the top right corner on the corresponding Sound Story page (see SOUND STORIES).
Why learn about pairs?
* When a child has difficulty saying a sound, they will often have trouble with the sound’s pair also. For this reason, you can work easily on the two sounds in speech therapy.
* Children can confuse sounds within a pair because the articulation is the same. This can affect spelling. For example, a child may write: ROT for ROD and RIJ for RICH. If you have explored sound pairs in early sound sessions, then a student can be alerted as to why they are making such errors. Extra work on listening for “voice on” vs “voice off” sounds using minimal pairs may be warranted.
Discovering pairs is a fun part of playing with sounds.