Aspirated Consonant Words Examples In English

In phonetics, Aspiration is the burst of air accompanied by the release or, in the case of a longing, closure of some distractions. The inspired consonant is not always followed by vowels or another audible sound, the desire contradicts exactly the end of words, such as a pillow, darts. The word “aspiration” and the wish mark are occasionally used with pronounced stops. However, such “voiced inspiration” is also known as the voice of sighing or groaning.

What are Aspirated Consonants?

Aspirated consonant are consonants pronounced with aspiration as its final component for example in English, the \p\ of “pit” is an aspirate and the sound “h” in “hat” is an aspirate.

Consonant sounds such as the English voiceless stops p, t, and k at the beginning of words (e.g., “pat,” “top,” “keel”) are also aspirated because they are pronounced with an accompanying forceful expulsion of air. Such sounds are not aspirated at the end of words or in combination with certain consonants (e.g., in “spot,” “stop”). The voiced stops b and d in Sanskrit and Hindi also have aspirated forms that are usually transliterated as bh and dh.

Rule for English Aspiration

In English Voiceless stops are aspirated when they occur as the only thing in the onset of a stressed syllable. In other words: Voiceless stops like ([p], [t], and [k]) are aspirated ([p^h], [t^h], and [k^h]) when they occur immediately before (no sound in between) a stressed vowel, and there is no [s] in front of the voiceless stop.

So, they are not aspirated after [s], if they occur before an unstressed vowel, or if there is a liquid or glide between the stop and the vowel (and then the liquid/glide is considered voiceless = [r])

Examples of Aspirated Consonant Words