p, t, and k are not aspirated??

[EngFan]

Hi All,

When we pronounce "Speak", Stamp", "Sky, can we sound the p, t, and k aspirated after "s" ?

EngFan

[keannu]

Not a teacher, but a fellow learner

I don't understand what you mean by "aspirate", but I surely know that "p", "t", and "k" after "s", change into tense consonants. Those sound different from their normal sounds.

[Raymott]

Hi All,

When we pronounce "Speak", Stamp", "Sky, can we sound the p, t, and k aspirated after "s" ?

EngFan

No, you don't aspirate those unvoiced plosives after an /s/.

[birdeen's call]

Not a teacher, but a fellow learner

I don't understand what you mean by "aspirate", but I surely know that "p", "t", and "k" after "s", change into tense consonants. Those sound different from their normal sounds.

The tenseness of a sound is a very vague notion. It describes different phenomena in different languages. What aspiration is, on the other hand, is quite clear. You can learn what the word means from this page.

[EngFan]

I was wondering if any native speakers would aspirate those unvoiced plosives after an /s/? I hear some non-native speakers sometimes would aspirate those unvoiced plosives after an /s/, as you are native speaker, would you consider this is a wrong way in pronunciation?

[BobK]

I was wondering if any native speakers would aspirate those unvoiced plosives after an /s/? I hear some non-native speakers sometimes would aspirate those unvoiced plosives after an /s/, as you are native speaker, would you consider this is a wrong way in pronunciation?

I doubt if a native speaker could; you learn not to in the course of becoming a native speaker. (I would find it very difficult to do; and while I can hear something odd when others do it, my ability to identify it lasted only a year or two.*)

To see the effect of aspiration (a little puff of air) hold a piece of tissue in front of your mouth and see what happens when you say 'pin' as opposed to what happens when you say 'spin'

b

PS * In another thread I mentioned Audrey Hepburn - who because of her Dutch roots had some sort of strange behaviour about aspirating her voiceless stops. Most people think her voice has a certain je ne sais quoi, but not many would say she had a foreign accent.

[EngFan]

I doubt if a native speaker could; you learn not to in the course of becoming a native speaker. (I would find it very difficult to do; and while I can hear something odd when others do it, my ability to identify it lasted only a year or two.*)

To see the effect of aspiration (a little puff of air) hold a piece of tissue in front of your mouth and see what happens when you say 'pin' as opposed to what happens when you say 'spin'

b

PS * In another thread I mentioned Audrey Hepburn - who because of her Dutch roots had some sort of strange behaviour about aspirating her voiceless stops. Most people think her voice has a certain je ne sais quoi, but not many would say she had a foreign accent.

As you are native speaker, would you consider people say Speak, Spoon, Discover, Straw, Skin are same as to say Sbeak, Sboon, Disgover, Sdraw, Sgin?

[5jj]

If native speakers were to produce the non-words Sbeak, Sboon, Sdraw, Sgin, they would sound like Speak, Spoon, Straw, Skin. Disgover might well be uttered with a /g/ sound, as there might be a marginal break affter 'dis', perceived as a prefix.