One question about pronunciation

[japanjapan]

Dear teachers,
Please look at the word : dispense
dis'pense, since the syllable is accentuated, so /p/ is pronunced as /b/.
I think we all agree about it.

now look at another word: dispensation
dispen'sation, the syllable /sei/ is accentuated, so, what should I pronunce the letter "p" here?

Is it should be read as /p/ or still /b/ just as it is in the word dispense?

Thanks

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by japanjapan

Dear teachers,
Please look at the word : dispense
dis'pense, since the syllable is accentuated, so /p/ is pronunced as /b/.
I think we all agree about it.

now look at another word: dispensation
dispen'sation, the syllable /sei/ is accentuated, so, what should I pronunce the letter "p" here?

Is it should be read as /p/ or still /b/ just as it is in the word dispense?

Thanks

Ooh. Hold on. :D dispense has two pronunciations,

1. di'spense, with a [p]. :D
2. dis'spense, with a [p]. :D

The [p] sound has unreleased aspiration after [s]. That is, the puff of air we usually hear with [p], as in pet, is not fully released or not released at all. That [p] often sounds like a [b], especially to speakers whose first language does not have unaspirated sounds.

There's no [b] in dispense. :D