What phonetic sound does "dʒ" correspond to?

The phonetic sound "dʒ" corresponds to the sound made at the beginning of the word "jam." In phonetics, this sound is classified as a voiced postalveolar affricate. It is produced by first obstructing the airflow in the vocal tract (similar to the "d" sound) and then releasing it in a way that creates a fricative sound (similar to the "zh" in "measure"). This characteristic is clearly demonstrated when pronouncing "jam," where the initial sound combines both a stop and an audible fricative component.

In contrast, the other options do not embody the same phonetic characteristics as "dʒ." The "ch" sound found in "chip" is represented phonetically as "tʃ," the "nh" in "thing" is a nasal sound represented as "ŋ," and the "s" sound in "sun" is represented simply as "s." Each of these sounds has distinct articulatory properties and voicing that do not align with the representation for "dʒ." Thus, the choice of "jam" best matches the phonetic sound "dʒ."