IPA reference · consonant
d͡ʒ — voiced postalveolar affricate
The voiced counterpart of /tʃ/.
Also called: j sound, dzh
How to make the voiced postalveolar affricate
The j of "judge", as one unit.
English reference points: judge, gem. If you speak English natively you already produce this sound — the work is recognising it and placing it where the target language wants it.
Languages that use it
| Language | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | giorno | day |
| Turkish | cam | glass |
| Portuguese | dia | day (Brazilian) |
Sounds it gets confused with
Most pronunciation errors are not random — they are a substitution of the nearest sound the speaker already owns. These are the usual substitutions for d͡ʒ, and each one is a minimal-pair drill waiting to happen.
French has only the fricative; English speakers add the stop onset and say "dzhe" for *je*.
What this means for learners
Turkish c is this sound, which surprises learners who expect /k/ or /s/ from the letter.
Teaching this sound
Describing a sound in words gets a student roughly half the way there. The other half is hearing it produced correctly, immediately after producing it incorrectly, with both versions available to replay. That is the argument for recording during the lesson rather than after it: the student leaves with your model of d͡ʒ attached to the actual words they got wrong, not to an abstract chart.
Frequently asked questions
What sound does the IPA symbol d͡ʒ make?
d͡ʒ is the voiced postalveolar affricate. The voiced counterpart of /tʃ/. In English you can hear it in: judge, gem.
How do you pronounce d͡ʒ?
The j of "judge", as one unit.
Which languages have the voiced postalveolar affricate?
Among the languages covered here: Italian (giorno, “day”); Turkish (cam, “glass”); Portuguese (dia, “day (Brazilian)”).
What is the difference between d͡ʒ and ʒ?
French has only the fricative; English speakers add the stop onset and say "dzhe" for *je*.