Phonetic Analysis: Identifying Sound Differences and Similarities in Word Pairs

bath—bathe /θ/ - /ð/ The 'th' in bath is voiceless dental fricative. The 'th' in bathe is voiced dental fricative. Both are interdental fricatives.

reduce—reduction /s/ - /ʃ/ The 'c' in reduce is voiceless alveolar fricative. The 'c' in reduction is voiceless postalveolar fricative. Both are sibilant fricatives.

cool—cold /uː/ - /oʊ/ The 'oo' in cool is high back rounded vowel. The 'o' in cold is mid back rounded vowel. Both are rounded vowels.

wife—wives /f/ - /v/ The 'f' in wife is voiceless labiodental fricative. The 'v' in wives is voiced labiodental fricative. Both are labiodental fricatives.

cats—dogs /s/ - /z/ The 's' in cats is voiceless alveolar fricative. The 's' in dogs is voiced alveolar fricative. Both are alveolar fricatives.

impolite—indecent /m/ - /n/ The 'm' in impolite is voiced bilabial nasal. The 'n' in indecent is voiced alveolar nasal. Both are nasal consonants.