Bag or Back? Why Endings Lose Their Voice

Say 'bag' and 'back'. In Russian, a word-final г would naturally devoice toward a k-like sound, and that habit can quietly carry over into English, turning 'bag' into 'back' or 'said' into 'set'. English keeps the voicing distinction all the way to the end of the word, even though the buzz is faint. Try this: say 'baaag' and stretch the vowel slightly longer before the g, letting your throat keep buzzing right up to the very end. Compare it to 'back', where the vowel is shorter and the ending is crisp and voiceless. Practice pairs like 'bag/back', 'said/set', and 'buzz/bus' this way for two minutes, exaggerating the vowel length difference before voiced endings. This single habit — a slightly longer vowel before voiced consonants — carries a lot of the signal, even when the final buzz itself is subtle.