英语中的辅音共有29个，最难分辨的两个就是/Ʒ/和/ʤ/了，它们的发音是不一样的：
/ʒ/ 发音时，舌面向硬腭抬起，舌面前部靠近上齿龈和前硬腭形成缝隙，气流从这个缝隙中摩擦而出，形成此音，声带振动，和维吾尔语字母ژ的发音近似。
/ʤ/ 发音时，舌面向硬腭抬起，舌面前部抵住上齿龈和前硬腭形成阻碍，气流冲破阻碍后摩擦而出，形成此音。声带振动。和维吾尔语字母ج的发音近似。
这两个音，一个叫做摩擦音，一个叫做破擦音，前者的发音长度比后者的要长一些。下面是美国外教对这两个发音的英文解释。
Two episodes ago, I talked about the sh sound, then in our last episode I told you how the sh sound relates to the zh sound. Today I'm going to continue down this line of related sounds by moving on to the j sound. The j sound is pronounced (j sound) and is the beginning sound of the word jump.
Just like the sh sound and zh sound, the j sound is the same in an American accent or British accent.
I hope you remember that the sh sound and zh sound were fricatives. That means they are created by causing friction in the vocal tract. Also, they're continuous sounds that can be held for a long time. I also explained that the sh sound is unvoiced, meaning the vocal cords don't vibrate during the sound, and the zh sound is voiced, meaning that the vocal cords do vibrate during the sound.
Let's review the zh sound. The zh sound is created with the front of the tongue somewhat flat toward the back of the tooth ridge. The air passes in a flat stream between the front of the tongue and the back of the tooth ridge. It sounds like (zh sound). Say that sound after me: (zh sound). Since the zh sound is a continuous consonant, I can hold it for a long time (held zh sound).
The j sound is similar to the zh sound except that, at the beginning of the sound, my tongue presses against my tooth ridge, completely blocking the air for a short amount of time. Then, when the tongue is released, or is let go from the tooth ridge, the front of the tongue stays really close to the tooth ridge. This causes friction just like the the zh sound. Listen to the j sound (j sound): jump, joy, judge.
When I'm working with students, there are three different problems I hear with people trying to produce a j sound in an American accent.
The error I hear most frequently when producing a j sound is not stopping the air completely at the beginning of the sound. So if we have the word jump, I hear (zh)ump instead. Can you hear the difference: jump, (zh)ump? Again, that was jump, (zh)ump.
For some people, the j sound is easier to pronounce when it's spelled d-g-e, as in the word judge. This is because they see the letter d, which also stops the air, causing a very nice j sound. The part that can be a little confusing is that there is not actually a d sound in the d-g-e spelling; it's only a j sound.
The second problem I hear with the j sound is adding a vowel sound to the end of a word that ends in a j sound. So the word judge gets pronounced judge-y. Sorry native Korean speakers, I'm talking about you. Be especially careful with the j sound at the end of a word.
And finally, the third problem I hear is unvoicing the j sound. Remember how the sh sound and zh sound are an unvoiced/voiced pair? Well, we also have an unvoiced version of the j sound: the ch sound.
Listen to the difference between the j sound, which is voiced, and the ch sound, which is not voiced (j sound, ch sound; j sound ch sound).
Here are a few j sound/ch sound minimal pairs to help you practice the difference. I'll say the pair and leave time for you to practice by repeating after me.
badge, batch
junk, chunk
edge, etch
ridge, rich
lunge, lunch
And, before I end today, here are a few words that are pronounced with the j sound. Again, I'll leave time for you to repeat.
jump
juice
bridge
giant
age
logic
eject
agenda
希望我能帮助你解疑释惑。
