TransWikia.com

B vs P pronunciation?

English Language & Usage Asked by Mahmoud on May 4, 2021

I’m a native Arabic speaker -Egyptian- we don’t have the V & P sounds natively, I’m fully capable of pronouncing the V sound & telling the difference between it & the F sound perfectly, but I struggle with P, I don’t know if I’m pronouncing it as B or not & I struggle with telling the difference between the two even though I know it, both are a bobbing sound caused by the release of air build up, with the difference being that the B one is voiced, this is the exact difference between F & V with the V being voiced, but they both feel so short and exactly the same, for example Pat vs Bat, isn’t the a kind of voiced, all I hear is the bob sound followed by a voiced a then the T sound, I feel that the bob is stronger in P, is this the only difference or am I missing something?

Is there any words in which the difference is more prominent, & is there a way to pronounce P correctly even if I can’t tell the difference?

by the way I can in most cases guess correctly if a word -even if it’s the first time hearing it- is written with P or B but I can’t pinpoint the difference in hearing

One Answer

I can feel for you and your difficulties. It is the ventriloquist with his alphabet of frozen lipped vocabulary that substitutes 'D' and 'T' for both 'P' and 'B'. It is only the context and words used that trick the ear into hearing the expected consonant. The only cure will be to expose yourself to the brunt of the language you wish to adapt to. For this I can recommend Python, Monty at length; http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Series_3/45.htm This routine is about an Englishman who adapts to his own difficulties.

Answered by Elliot on May 4, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP