Prof.

Francisco Zabala - 2016 1

Aspiration
Aspiration is a associated with the voiceless English plosives .o+ s+ j. when they occur initially in the
stressed syllable of a word. Aspiration, which is felt as an extra puff of air, really consists of the DELAYED
VOICE ONSET TIME of the following vowel i.e. .o+ s+ j+ sR. may be followed by a brief period of
voicelessness, which makes the voicing of the vowel start later than it does in Spanish. This salient English
feature constitutes the most decisive clue for the native English ear to distinguish the voiceless plosives
.o+ s+ j. from their voiced counterparts .a+ c+ f.. Communication is indeed impaired if aspiration is
lacking. For example, if the learner does not aspirate the initial .o. in pet, a native English listener would
certainly understand bet.

Pet Zods\ Bet Zads\

Ten Zsdm\ Den Zcdm\
Came ZjdHl\ Game ZfdHl\

The following graphic shows the full aspiration of the word car. Voiceless plosives are aspirated if
they are both stressed and initial in the syllable.

The following graphic shows the lack of aspiration produced by the presence of .r. before the
voiceless plosive in the word scar. The voiceless plosive is no longer syllable-initial. Notice that
whenever .r. is followed by a voiceless plosive, the syllable begins right before .r.. E.g.: respect
.qH!rodjs., mistake .lH!rsdHj., discuss .cH!rjUr..

Activity 1:

Decide whether the following words are strongly aspirated or not.

1 tear 2 gas 3 occurring 4 gape 5 marker

KEY:
1. Yes. .s. is in stressed syllable initial position and is followed by a vowel.
2. No. Only the voiceless plosives .o+ s+ j. can be aspirated. Voiced plosives, such as .f., cant.
3. Yes. The double <cc> stands for a pre-vocalic .j. in stressed syllable initial position. Stressed
syllables need not be at the beginning of the word!!!
4. No. This .o. is in syllable-final position.
5. No. This .j. is in syllable final position, and its followed by an unstressed vowel.
 Prof. Francisco Zabala - 2016 2

Degrees of aspiration:

(1) STRONG OR FULL ASPIRATION Z\

RULE EXAMPLES
Syllable-initial Z!o\ Pen Z!odm\ Oppose Z?!o?Ty\ Appeal Z?!oh9k\
& Z!s\ + Vowel Talk Z!sN9j\ Attend Z?!sdmc\ Intense ZHm!sdmrd\
Stressed Z!j\ Celt Z!jdks\ Accord Z?!jN9c\ Achilles Z?!jHkh9y\
(2) WEAK OR PARTIAL ASPIRATION
RULE EXAMPLES
ZoG\ Leopard Z!kdo?c\ Wrap it Z!qzo Hs\
Syllable-final
ZsG\ + Vowel Outer Z!`Ts ?\ Eat it Z!h9s Hs\
or Unstressed
ZjG\ Working Z!v29jHM\ Work out Z!v29j !`Ts\
(3) LACK OF ASPIRATION Z = \
RULE EXAMPLES
Spear Z!ro=H?\
.ro. = Zro=\
Crispy Z!jqHro=h\
Stay Z!rs=dH\
.rs. = Zrs=\ + Vowel
Misty Z!lHrs=h\
Ski Z!rj=h9\
.rj.=Zrj=\
Husky Z!gUrj=h\

Activity 2:
Transcribe the following sentences phonemically. Use the diacritical mark Z\ to indicate those instances
where the voiceless plosives are fully aspirated. (Zo+ s\ and Zj\). Use the diacritical mark Z=\ to indicate
those instances where the voiceless plosives are unaspirated. (Zro=+ rs=\ and Zrj=\). Colour the diacritical
marks you use.

1. Thomas Stone speaks perfect Polish.

2. Rebecca Skinner could come to town if she wanted to.
3. The misty mountains are located in a remote area of Canada.
4. Isnt it a bit controversial to cheat at exams, Kevin?
5. The mysterious tale of the Scottish kingdom.
6. What a stale piece of bread! Cant we get any butter to put on top?
7. The next station is Tottenham Court Road, right Ann?
8. Winston took a cab from St Pauls to the Houses of Parliament.
9. Mister Parker couldnt call the Portuguese teacher today.
10. Tonight youll have the possibility to get two expensive opera tickets for free.

KEY:
1. Z!sPl?r !rs=?Tm { !ro=h9jr !o29eHjs !o?TkHR\
2. ZqH!adj? !rj=Hm? { jTc !jUl s? !s`Tm { He Rh !vPmsHc st9\
3. ZC? !lHrs=h !l`TmsHmy { ? k?!jdHsHc Hm ? qH!l?Ts !d?qh? ?u !jzm?c?\
4. Z!Hyms Hs ? !aHs $jPmsq?!u29Rk { s? !sRh9s ?s Hf!yzly !jduHm\
5. ZC? lH!rs=H?qh?r !rs=N9qh { ?u C? !rj=PsHR !jHMc?l\
6. Z!vPs ? !rs=dHk !oh9r ?u !aqdc {{ !j@9ms vh !fds !dmh !aUs? s? !oTs Pm !sPo\
7. ZC? !mdjrs !rs=dHRm { Hy !sPsm?l !jN9s !q?Tc { !q`Hs !zm\
8. Z!vHmrs=?m !sTj ? !jza { eq?l rm !oN9ky { s? C? !g`TyHy ?u !o@9k?l?ms\
9. Z!lHrs=? !o@9j? { !jTcms !jN9k C? $oN9sR?!fh9y !sh9sR? s?!cdH\
10. Zs?!m`Hs { itk !gzu C? $oPr?!aHk?sh { s? !fds !st9 Hj!ro=dmrHu !Po?q? !sHjHsr e? !eqh9\

 Prof. Francisco Zabala - 2016 3


Activity 3:

Transcribe the following text phonemically. Use the diacritical mark Z\ to indicate those instances where
the voiceless plosives are fully aspirated. (Zo+ s\ and Zj\). Use the diacritical mark Z=\ to indicate those
instances where the voiceless plosives are unaspirated. (Zro=+ rs=\ and Zrj=\). Colour the diacritical marks
you use.

Notice: Focus on the past tense. Study the irregular cases and focus on the pronunciation of the regular <-
ed> form.

Caged in a lift

An English teacher almost died after she wasted 10 hours trapped in a tiny lift. Pamela
Thompson, aged 52, wanted to get to her college lecture on time so she took the lift to the tenth
floor. The doors closed and she moved up. There was a terrible metallic noise. The lift stopped
but she couldnt leave. She pushed the alarm button, but it was damaged. When she attempted
to use her mobile phone the signal failed. It couldnt be fixed. She cried, screamed, banged the
doors, tapped and stomped on the floor, but nothing happened. She was so exhausted that she
eventually passed out. Catherine Spark, reporting from Johnstone - Scotland, KPT News.

KEY:

Z!jdHcYc Hm ? !kHes {{

?m !HMfkHR !sh9sR?q !N9kl?Trs !c`Hc { !@9es? Rh !vdHrs=Hc !sdm !`T?y { !sqzos Hm ? !s`Hmh !kHes {{ !ozl?k? !sPlor?m
{ !dHcYc !eHesh !st9 { !vPmsHc s? !fds { s? g? !jPkHcY !kdjsR?q Pm !s`Hl { r?T Rh !sTj C? !kHes { s? C? !sdmS !ekN9 {{
C? !cN9y !jk?Tyc { ?m Rh !lt9uc !Uo {{ C? v?y ? !sdq?ak l?!szkHj !mNHy {{ C? !kHes !rs=Pos { a?s Rh !jTcms !kh9u {{
Rh !oTRs Ch ?!k@9l !aUsm { a?s Hs v?y !czlHcYc {{ vdm Rh ?!sdlosHc s? !it9y g? !l?Ta`Hk !e?Tm { C? !rHfmk !edHkc
{{ Hs !jTcms ah !eHjrs {{ Rh !jq`Hc { !rjqh9lc { !azMc C? !cN9y { !szos ?m !rs=Plos Pm C? !ekN9 { a?s !mUSHM !gzo?mc
{{ Rh v?y !r?T Hf!yN9rs=Hc { C?s Rh H!udmsRt?kh !o@9rs !`Ts {{ !jzSqHm !ro=@9j { qH!oN9sHM eq?l !cYPmrs=?Tm {
!rj=Psk?mc {{ !jdH !oh9 !sh9 !mit9y\