Developmental pattern

Prevocalic Voicing

A voiceless consonant at the start of a word turns on its voice.

Resolves by: By 3;0
Sounds affected: p, t, k, f, s, sh, ch, th
Minimal pairs: 14

What it sounds like

"pig" becomes "big"
"tea" becomes "dee"
"cup" becomes "gup"
"sun" becomes "zun"

Also called: Initial consonant voicing

What is going on

Every consonant pair in English has a quiet twin and a buzzy twin - /p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/, /k/ and /g/. The mouth does exactly the same thing for both; the only difference is whether the voice box is running. At the beginning of a word, right before a vowel, the voice often starts a fraction too early and the quiet twin comes out buzzy.

Prevocalic voicing creates real-word confusions - "pea" and "bee," "coat" and "goat," "pig" and "big" - which makes it frustrating for a child who knows exactly what they meant. It usually resolves on its own by 3, and it responds very well to minimal pairs when it does not.

Try this at home

Make voicing physical. Put the child's hand on your throat, then on theirs. Say /b/ - buzzy, it tickles. Say /p/ - quiet, nothing. Then hold a strip of tissue in front of the mouth: /p/ makes it move, /b/ does not. Two different senses, same lesson.

When to refer

Still voicing initial consonants after age 3.

Print it

Prevocalic Voicing minimal pairs14 pairs grouped by sound · PDF Prevocalic Voicing picture pair cards12 reviewed two-picture pairs · PDF

Picture-ready minimal pairs

12 pairs

These pairs have two distinct picture subjects. Put both pictures on the table and take turns asking for one. If the two words sound alike, slow down and compare the sounds together. The printable word list has additional listening contrasts.