1. ANALYZING PRONUNCIATION ERROR OF THE
INTERMEDIATE 2 STUDENTS IN IEC
( INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH COURSE ) PAREPARE IN
PRODUCING DENTAL FRICATIVES SOUND [ θ ] and
SOUND [ð ]
Small project
CREATED BY:
FITRIANTI
09.093.037
ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAME
STATE ISLAMIC COLLAGE
(STAIN) PAREPARE
2010

2. A. TITLE
“ ANALYZING PRONUNCIATION ERROR OF THE INTERMEDIATE 2
STUDENTS IN IEC ( INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH COURSE ) PAREPARE IN
PRODUCING DENTAL FRICATIVES SOUND [ θ ] AND SOUND [ð ]“
B. BACKGROUND
Pronunciation is one of the most important to master when learning
English. The pronunciation system of English words is unique. That is the
reason why many people say that Pronounciation in English is often very
difficult for non native speaker of English. The way we pronounce English
words depends on how the words are heard in our ears. Therefore, it is
important to listen to the right pronunciation of English.
According to Webter’s comprehensive dictonary in English sound is
the sensation of hearing. Sound or speech produced by speakers of the
English language is a primary goal. It’s important because in english
pronunciation errors will cause a false sense of the word well. as a result, the
message that we want to convey will not be received clearly.
Sound devided into two parts are consonant sounds and vowel
sounds. Consonant and vowel sounds are two different qualities of sounds
that are found almost in all languages of the world. Consonats are defined as
the sounds articulated by temporary obstruction in the air stream which
passes through the mouth. Vowels are the sounds that are produced with an
approximation without any obstruction in the air passage.
Consonant is speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial
closure of vocal track. In consonants there is points of articulation and
manner of articulation. In points of articulation, there are seven primary
points, they are Bilibial, Labio-dental, dental, Alveolar, palatal, valar, and
Glottal. And in manner of articulation, there are seven the action of the vocal

3. apparatus as a sound is being produced, they are stops, affricatives,
fricatives, liquids, nasal, Glides, and Sibilants.
In English, there are 24 parts consonant sounds, there are [p], [b], [t],
[d], [k], [g], [f], [v], [ch], [j], [sh], [zh], [s], [z], [l], [r], [m], [n], [ŋ], [θ], [ð], [h],
[w], [y]. all of this consonant sounds have difference each other, but there are
some consonants have similarity when we pronounced them. For example,
[v] and [f], [ch] and [j], [sh] and [zh], [s] and [z], [l] and [r], [θ],and [ð].
Sometimes we are difficult to distinguish those similarity consonant sounds.
In particular, consonant sound θ and ð or dental fricatives.
The writer interested to take dental fricative sound [ θ ] and sound [ð
] as a title in this small project, because many people do error in pronouncing
dental fricative sounds. So, The writer takes the intermediate 2 students in
IEC ( International English Course ) Parepare, because the writer realizes the
intermediate 2 students still can not pronounce dental fricatives well. In this
case, the students that can not pronounce it, if they pronouncing words or
sentence or read a text will occur misunderstanding between the speaker
and listener.
Based on problem above, there are two problem statements which
will the writer explain, they are :
1. How does the second semester student produce dental fricative
sounds ?
2. What error do the intermediate 2 students make dental fricative
sounds ?

4. C. REVIEW LITERATUR
 DEFINITION OF FRICATIVE
A dental consonant is a consonant articulated with the tongue against
the upper teeth, such as /t/, /d/, /n/, and /l/. Dentals are primarily
distinguished from sounds in which contact is made with the tongue and the
gum ridge. Point of articulation of dental is The upper teeth and the tip of the
tongue. Dental sound are made by placing the tongue tip between the teeth.
Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow
channel made by placing two articulators close together. Fricatives are
consonant with the characteristic that when they are produced, air
escapes through a small passage and makes a hissing sound. The manner
of articulation fricatives, in producing fricatives sound, one of the
articlution is brought close to one of the points of articulation, creating a
narrow opening. When the air stream is forced through this opening, a
turbulence or frinction is created. Fricatives are therefore noisy sounds.
They occur at four points articulation : dental θ and ð, labio-dental f dan
v, alveolar s dan z, and alveo-palatal ∫ and ʒ . Notice that in one sense
fricatives pattern with the stops : they both occur in voiced and voiceless
pairs.
 CATEGORIES OF FRICATIVES
Fricatives consists of some parts, they are:
1. Alveolar fricative
There is a pair of fricatives produced with the blade of the
tongue close to the alveolar ridge. These alveolar fricatives are /s/ as
voiceless and /z/ as voiced. This pair has one other characteristic
distinguishing them; they are produced with the tongue slightly
grooved. Notice that in pronouncing /θ/, the blade of the tongue is
quite flat, but in pronouncing /s/, the sides of blade are curled up
slightly, forming a groove in the center. Failure to form the groove is
responsible for certain types of lips. In the front teeth are missing,
the are will not have to pass by some route, and a lass sibilant

5. fricative sound is produced: an attempt to articulate /s/ produces a
/θ/- like sound, which identified as a lips.
2. Bilabial fricative
Where the friction occurs between the two lips, have symbols
taken from the Greek alphabet: for the voiceless bilabial fricative the
symbol is ϕ or (f). And the voiced bilabial fricative is β or (v). These
sounds do not regularly occur in English, except in certain context as
variant sounds for labio-dental fricative. This means that the small
passage through which the air must pass is formed with the teeth and
the lip. The upper teeth and lower lip are used in English.
3. Dental fricative
In English, there are two fricative sounds produced with the
tongue and the teeth. In some dialect regions, the tongue is placed
behind the front teeth. For some speakers the tongue tip actually
protrudes between top and bottom teeth, and these sounds are
sometimes called interdental fricatives. In either case, the sounds
produced is the same. This is the sound we spell th (θ). We do not
distinguish in spelling between the voiced and voiceless cognates,
but they are pronounced differently. The voiceless variant occurs in
the words “thin”, “thought”, and “both”. The voiced variant occurs in
the word “the”, “this”, and “there”. It is transcribed with a symbol ð.
4. Glottal fricative
The sound /h/, as in “house”, is usually classified as a fricative. It is
different from the other fricatives in that the vocal tract is wide open,
so there is little fiction. Also /h/ is voiceless, and there is no voiced
cognate for it. For these reasons, /h/ is classified as a glottal fricative.
5. Alveopalatal fricative
The alveopalatal fricatives are articulated by bringing the blade of
tongue close to part of the roof of the mouth where the alveolar ridge
and the hard palate join. These are sometimes called palatoalveolar,
or not very accurately, palatal fricative. Unlike alveolar fricatives,

6. there is no grooving of the tongue; is more or less flat at the point of
restriction. For this reason, they are called slit fricatives.
The voiceless alveopalatal fricative is usually spelled sh in
English is it the sound in the word “shore, bush, sugar nad position”
there are two symbols used to transcribe this sound: /š/,/ʃ/. Either
symbol can be used, but it is important to be consistent in using one
or the other. The wedge over the s is called hachek; it is borrowed
from the Czech alphabet.
The voiced alveopalatal fricative is less common in English, it is
the sound that occurs in the words “measure”, “version”, and
“leisure”. It is transcribed either of two ways: /Ʒ/, and /ž/.
 DENTAL FRICATIVE
Dental fricative is the friction occurs between the tongue tip
and the back of the front teeth. The dental fricatives have sometimes
been described as if the tongue was actually placed between the
teeth, and it is common for teachers to make their students do this
when they are trying to teach them to make this sound. In fact,
however, the tongue is placed inside the teeth, with the tip touching
the inside of the lower front teeth and the blade touching the inside
of the upper teeth. The air escapes through the gaps between the
tongue and the teeth. As with f and v, the fricative noise is weak.
Dental fricatives consists of two categories, they are:
a. Voiceless dental fricative
The voiceless dental fricative is a type of consonantal
sound, is used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is θ.
The dental fricatives are often called interdental because they
are often produced with the tongue between the upper and
lower teeth, and not just against the back of the teeth, as they are
with other dental consonants.

7. The voiceless dental fricative is the sound denoted by
the letters “θ” in words “think” and “bath”. It is different from
the “ð” in words “this” and “the”, which is the voiced dental
fricative.
The articulation of voiced dental fricative is The vocal
cords do not vibrate, and the velum is raised. The tip of the
tongue is raised very close to the upper front teeth. The sides
of the tongue touch the upper side teeth. Friction is produced
as the air passes through the narrowing at the tongue-tip.
Voiceless dental fricative (θ)
Features of this consonant:
Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is
produced by constricting air flow through a narrow
channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
Its place of articulation is dental which means it is
articulated with the tongue on either the lower or the
upper teeth, or both.
Its phonation type is voiceless, which means it is
produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to
escape through the mouth.

8. It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by
allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the
tongue, rather than the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which
means it is articulated by pushing air out of
the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from
the glottis or the mouth.
b. Voiced dental fricative
The voiced dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used
in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International
Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ð, and the
equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is D. The voiced dental fricative
occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the letters "th"
in this and the. It is different from the "th" sound
in thing and bath, which is the voiceless dental fricative. The
dental fricatives are often called "interdental" because they are
often produced with the tongue between the upper and
lower teeth, and not just against the back of the teeth, as they are
with other dental consonants. Features of this consonant:
Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is
produced by constricting air flow through a narrow
channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
Its place of articulation is dental which means it is
articulated with the tongue on either the lower or the
upper teeth, or both.
Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal
cords are vibrating during the articulation.

9. It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to
escape through the mouth.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by
allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the
tongue, rather than the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic aggressive, which
means it is articulated by pushing air out of
the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from
the glottis or the mouth.
The pronunciation of (θ) is almost the same with (ð). But the
contact between the tongue tip and the teeth should be loose
enough to permit the voiced breath stream to pass out of the
mouth between the tongue and the teeth. (ð) is similar to (θ),
except that. (ð) is voiced and (ð) is pronounced with much lass
of frinctionlike quality heard in (θ). Thus, the main difference
between these sounds is that (θ) is voiceless in which the vocal
cords are wide apart so that air passes freely between them,
there is no vibration. While, (ð) is voiced in which the vocal
cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly
pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration
effect.
Both (ð) and (θ) appear initially as in thick and this, medially
as in nothing and brother, and finally as in month and bathe

10. D. PROCEDURE OF COLLECTING DATA
1. Respondent
The respondents of this research is the intermediate 2 students of IEC (
International English Course ) in Parepare, there are four respondents
here, they are :
Miss LI as the first respondent
Miss AS as the second respondent
Miss IND as the third respondent
Mr. HRS as the fourth respondent
2. Instruments
The writer divides dental fricative into three position, they are:
 Initial position
1. Thank [ θæŋk ] 6. That [ ðæt ]
2. Thing [ θIŋ ] 7. They [ ðeι ]
3. Thirsty [ θ3:.sti ] 8. Them [ðəm ]
4. Three [ θrι ] 9. Then [ðen]
5. Think [ θIŋk ] 10. Their [ðəer]
 Medial position
1. Truthful [ ‘tru:θ.fəl ] 6. Lather [ ‘lα:.ðə(r ]
2. Wealthy [ ‘wel.θi ] 7. Together [ tə’geð.ə(r ]
3. Nothing [ ‘nΛθ.Iŋ ] 8. Mother [ ‘mΛðə(r ]
4. Something [ ‘sam.θIŋ ] 9. Clothes [ kləυðz ]
5. Birthday [ ‘b3:θ.dei ] 10. Brother [ ‘brΛð(r ]
 Final position
1. Health [ helθ ] 6. Bathe [ beιð ]
2. Month [ mΛntθ ] 7. Mouth [maυð ]
3. Both [ bəυθ ] 8. Breathe [ bri:ð ]
4. Path [pα:θ ] 9. Loathe [ ləυθ ]
5. Sixth [ siksθ ] 10. Writhe [ raið ]
Below, is the sentence form of those words:
1. I both need something for my throats.

11. 2. Month of december.
3. With their natural resources they are potentially a very wealthy
country.
4. Mother seethed when he saw these leather pants.
5. Adrian goes there with his brother
6. What’s that thing over there ?
7. The instructor told us to breathe in deeply and then breathe out
slowly.
8. you need something to keep your health from a bad weather.
9. They followed the path until they came to a gate.
10. My father buys three clothes in the Senggol Market.
11. The thick man takes a bathe his child.
12. Both of them are brother.
13. My brother will celebrate his birthday on sixth of month of april.
14. The problem with both of these proposals is that they are hopelessly
impractical.
15. It would seem to be a general truth that nothing is as straightforward
as it at first seems.
16. I’ll just gather my things together and then we can go.
17. They have got three kids and the husband’s juat lost his job – the last
thing they need is another mouth to feed.
18. From an early age the brothers have loathed each other.
19. This is the standard model, then there’s the deluxe version which
costs more.
20. The pain was so unbearable that he was writhing in agony.