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Consonant

J Sound

The J sound is a voiced post-alveolar affricate. It starts like a D sound (/d/) with the tongue tip at the alveolar ridge, but then quickly releases into a ZH sound (/ʒ/) as the tongue pulls back slightly. It's the voiced counterpart to the CH sound /tʃ/.

j
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):j

Watch the Sound

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Example Words

Main Example

job
Phonetic: /dʒɑb/

Common Words

job/dʒɑb/
jump/dʒʌmp/
judge/dʒʌdʒ/
age/eɪdʒ/
large/lɑrdʒ/
energy/ˈɛnərdʒi/
general/ˈdʒɛnərəl/
soldier/ˈsoʊldʒər/
graduate/ˈgrædʒuət/
bridge/brɪdʒ/

Minimal Pairs

Listen and compare similar sounds

j
job
/dʒɑb/
Compare with
J
chop
/tʃɑp/
j
Jess
/dʒɛs/
Compare with
J
yes
/jɛs/
j
age
/eɪdʒ/
Compare with
A
ash
/æʃ/
j
ridge
/rɪdʒ/
Compare with
R
rich
/rɪtʃ/

Tongue Twister

Jim jumps joyfully juggling juicy jellybeans.

Try it yourself

Practice saying this tongue twister

Technical Details

  • CategoryConsonant
  • VoicingVoiced
  • Place of ArticulationPost-alveolar
  • Manner of ArticulationAffricate
  • Mouth PositionStart by placing the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper teeth (like for D). Quickly pull the tongue back slightly and release air through the narrowing while vibrating your vocal cords, creating the ZH part of the sound. It's a quick d+zh combination.