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Are there some English consonant sounds that never occur in the initial position if so which ones?

You are correct! There are some consonant sounds in English that never occur at the beginning of a word. Here's a breakdown:

Consonants that NEVER occur in initial position:

* ŋ (ng): This sound is always found at the end of words or syllables, like in "sing" or "finger".

* ʒ (s in vision): This sound is also always found within words, typically between vowels, like in "pleasure" or "vision".

* ð (th in the): This sound is typically found in the middle or at the end of words, like in "this" or "father".

* θ (th in think): This sound is also typically found in the middle or at the end of words, like in "think" or "mouth".

Important Note:

While these sounds don't occur at the beginning of *words*, there are exceptions to this rule:

* ŋ (ng) can appear at the beginning of some loanwords, like "Ngugi" or "Nguyen".

* ʒ (s in vision) can occur at the beginning of some names, like "Zagreb".

The reason why these consonants don't typically occur at the beginning of words is related to how they are produced in the mouth. They involve a combination of tongue position and airflow that is more easily achieved in the middle or at the end of words.

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