Aspiration facts for kids
Aspiration is when you say a consonant sound and a little puff of air comes out. Imagine holding a piece of paper in front of your mouth. If the paper moves when you say a sound, that sound is aspirated. If it doesn't move, it's unaspirated.
In English, some sounds like 'p', 't', 'k', and 'ch' are often aspirated. This usually happens when they are at the very beginning of a word. For example, try saying "pick" or "tick". You should feel a puff of air.
These sounds are written in the IPA with a small 'ʰ' symbol after them, like /pʰ/, /tʰ/, /kʰ/, and /t͡ʃʰ/. So, "pick" would be /pʰɪk/ in IPA.
However, if these same sounds appear later in a word, they are usually unaspirated. For instance, the 'p' in "spit" or "tip" does not have that strong puff of air.
How Aspiration Works in English
In English, voiceless sounds like 'p', 't', 'k', and 'ch' are aspirated at the start of a word. This means you release a burst of air when you say them.
Here are some examples of words where the 'p' sound is aspirated:
| English word | IPA form |
|---|---|
| pit | /pʰɪt/ |
| place | /pʰleɪs/ |
| prize | /pʰraɪz/ |
But when these sounds come after another sound, like 's', they are not aspirated. They are said without the extra puff of air.
Here are examples where the 'p' sound is unaspirated:
| English word | IPA form |
|---|---|
| spit | /spɪt/ |
| tip | /tʰɪp/ |
| lips | /lɪps/ |
English does not have aspirated voiced sounds (like 'b' or 'd').
Aspiration in Other Languages
Aspiration is used differently in other languages.
Hindi
Hindi has aspirated voiced sounds. This means you can say a 'b' sound, for example, with a puff of air. In writing, these sounds often have an 'h' after the consonant. For instance, in the name Bhattacharya, the 'bh' sound is an aspirated 'b', written as /bʱ/ in IPA.
Mandarin Chinese
In Mandarin Chinese, aspiration is very important for telling words apart. Mandarin does not have voiced stop sounds (like 'b', 'd', 'g'). Instead, sounds are different based on whether they are aspirated or unaspirated.
In Pinyin (a way to write Chinese sounds using the English alphabet), aspirated sounds like /pʰ/, /tʰ/, and /kʰ/ are written as 'p', 't', and 'k'. But unaspirated sounds like /p/, /t/, and /k/ are written as 'b', 'd', and 'g'.
For example, the word "Gaokao" is written in IPA as /kau̯.kʰau̯/. The 'k' sound in "kao" is aspirated.
Another way to write Chinese sounds is Wade-Giles. In Wade-Giles, aspirated sounds often have an apostrophe after the letter. So, "Gaokao" would be written as "Kaok'ao" in Wade-Giles.
