Voicing refers to the vibration of the vocal cords during the production of speech sounds. In linguistics, sounds can be classified as either voiced or voiceless. Voiced sounds, like the English consonants /b/, /d/, and /g/, occur when the vocal cords vibrate, while voiceless sounds, such as /p/, /t/, and /k/, are produced without this vibration. In addition to consonants, voicing also affects vowels. All vowels in English are typically voiced, meaning they involve vocal cord vibration. Understanding voicing is essential for language learners, as it can change the meaning of words and influence pronunciation.