Minimal pair · Standard Southern British
British English /θ/ vs /s/TH /θ/ and S /s/
Five linked pairs contrast dental and alveolar frication without changing another phoneme. A Southern British reference bank, not a description of every UK accent. These are editorial word pools supported by pronunciation references, not recovered experimental stimulus lists.
Explore listening lessonsThe unvoiced th sound
The opening noise is softer and more diffuse than the sharper hiss of /s/.
An unvoiced hiss
Listen for the narrow, hissing sound in the target consonant.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Five linked pairs contrast dental and alveolar frication without changing another phoneme. A Southern British reference bank, not a description of every UK accent. These are editorial word pools supported by pronunciation references, not recovered experimental stimulus lists.
Sound examples
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