Compare and contrast sounds.

/θ/ /ð/

The first difference between these sounds is that the sound “/ð/” is a voiced consonant sound
and the “/θ/” sound is a voiceless consonant sound. Moreover, voiced fricatives such as “/ð/”
involve vibrating the vocal cords, while voiceless fricatives do not. Furthermore, at the end of
a word, the vowel before “/θ/” will be shorter than the vowel before “/ð/”.

Despite their differences, both are fricatives, because there is friction in the creation of these
phonemes, since they are associated with the passing of the air through a narrow building of
our mouths, that causes the air to flow turbulently, and that creates such friction.

The “/θ/” phoneme place of articulation: Interdental, meaning the constriction occurs
between the tip of the tongue and the upper front teeth. The tip of the tongue is positioned
against the upper front teeth or just behind them, creating a narrow gap or constriction.
Again, our vocal cords do not vibrate during the production of this sound, making it a
voiceless sound.

The “/ð/” phoneme place of articulation (Voiced Interdental Fricative): it is similar to /θ/, this
sound is also interdental, with the constriction between the tip of the tongue and the upper
front teeth. The key difference is that for /ð/, the vocal cords vibrate. So, while maintaining
the same tongue placement as /θ/, the voicing is turned on. This creates a voiced sound with
the same tongue and dental articulation as /θ/.

Some examples of the usage of these sounds are:

/ð/
Leather: /ˈlɛðər/
Weather: /ˈwɛðər/
Mother: /ˈmʌðər/
This: /ðɪs/

/θ/
Three: /θri/
Things: /θɪŋz/
Thanks: /θæŋks/
Through: /θru/