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03-Nov-2009, 05:37
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Country: Hong Kong
Posts: 58
Current Location: Hong Kong First Language: Cantonese Member Type: Student or Learner | | Pronounce - Speak,Space,Mistake,Skate Hi All,
I was wondering how come we pronounce Speak, like Sbeak, Space like Sbace, Mistake like Misdake, Skate like Sgate.......can anyone explain to me?
Thanks
Regards,
William | 
03-Nov-2009, 13:09
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Canada
Posts: 5,548
Current Location: Shanghai, China First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: Pronounce - Speak,Space,Mistake,Skate Quote:
Originally Posted by yiuho Hi All,
I was wondering how come we pronounce Speak, like Sbeak, Space like Sbace, Mistake like Misdake, Skate like Sgate.......can anyone explain to me?
Thanks
Regards,
William | Hello William
It has to do with voice onset timing (VOT): In phonetics, voice onset time, ... , is a feature of the production of stop consonants. It is defined as the length of time that passes between when a stop consonant is released and when voicing, the vibration of the vocal folds, begins . The vocal folds in anticipation of a vowel, say the vowel in skate for example, start to vibrate early, resulting in the preceding voiceless stop /k/ sounding like [g]; but, it's not [g] at all. It's a de-aspirated /k/. In other words, the puff of air, called aspiration, that usually releases with /k/ (e.g., king) is not fully released. The result is a de-aspirated /k/, a sound similar to [g], but not [g].
Hope that helps. | | The Following User Says Thank You to Soup For This Useful Post: | | 
05-Nov-2009, 00:54
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Country: Hong Kong
Posts: 58
Current Location: Hong Kong First Language: Cantonese Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: Pronounce - Speak,Space,Mistake,Skate Quote:
Originally Posted by Soup Hello William
It has to do with voice onset timing (VOT): In phonetics, voice onset time, ... , is a feature of the production of stop consonants. It is defined as the length of time that passes between when a stop consonant is released and when voicing, the vibration of the vocal folds, begins . The vocal folds in anticipation of a vowel, say the vowel in skate for example, start to vibrate early, resulting in the preceding voiceless stop /k/ sounding like [g]; but, it's not [g] at all. It's a de-aspirated /k/. In other words, the puff of air, called aspiration, that usually releases with /k/ (e.g., king) is not fully released. The result is a de-aspirated /k/, a sound similar to [g], but not [g].
Hope that helps. | Hi Soup, thank you very much for your detailed reply. I'd like to know if we pronounce "Mistake", like "Mis dake"...I understand this is not a [d] sound after your explanation....Can I don't change the sound of "Mistake", just say "Mis" "take" without change the sound of [t], is it correct? Hope you understand what I mean. Thanks.
William | 
05-Nov-2009, 10:46
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Canada
Posts: 5,548
Current Location: Shanghai, China First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: Pronounce - Speak,Space,Mistake,Skate Quote:
Originally Posted by yiuho Hi Soup, thank you very much for your detailed reply. I'd like to know if we pronounce "Mistake", like "Misdake"...I understand this is not a [d] sound after your explanation....Can I don't change the sound of "Mistake", just say "Mis" "take" without change the sound of [t], is it correct? Hope you understand what I mean. Thanks.
William | William, I understand your question.
The process by which voiceless stops become de-aspirated after /s/ and before a vowel is a characteristic of English pronunciation. That is, pronounce /t/ in mistake as [t], with aspiration, and your pronunciation wouldn't sound all that native-like. It would be understandable, though. |  | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
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