Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between what our mouth’s do when we make the “ma” and “ba” noises? I tried and I cannot find a single difference. They both seem like just separating the lips while pushing air out. I thought it might be that we just add more pressure to the lips on “ba” but that doesn’t seem like it. It might be a difference in pushing the air out. Idk I’m confused please help.
In: Biology
With m, your nose is allowing air to come out because your nasal cavity (the path through your nose that eventually connects to the back of your mouth) is open BEFORE the release (you may not notice since it’s hard to find and consciously open/close this part of your mouth). With b, your nose is doing the opposite, the nasal cavity in the back of your mouth is being closed and no air can come out. Try making an m sound and a b sound without actually opening your mouth and releasing. The b is just silence or maybe sounds like a tiny man trapped in your mouth screaming.
I’m also assuming you’re a standard English speaker and I will add an additional fact, your TRUE pronunciation of b (maybe it will differ if you focus on it) actually doesn’t use your voice in the part before you release your mouth, which you CAN hear with the m. If you do use your voice before releasing your mouth, your nasal cavity will still be closed and that’s when you hear the little man screaming to be let free. If you use your voice initially and then continue using your voice as you release, you have achieved what some might consider the standard or *actual* b sound; the sound that most languages use (languages like mandarin and English are just weird lol). I don’t usually answer people on this app so I apologise if what I said is hard to follow.
Latest Answers