Aspiration. Degrees of Aspiration.

The English plosives [p, t, k] followed by a stressed vowel are accompanied by aspiration, i.e. strongly expelled breath that bridges the release of the plosive and the onset of the following vowel: pin [p^hin], tin [t^hin], kin [k^hin].

The aspiration is relatively weak in other positions, i.e. when [p, t, k] occur finally or precede a vowel in an unstressed syllable: po`lite, lip.

When [s] precedes or follows [p, t, k], there is practically no aspiration, cf. “kin” [k^hin] and “skin” [skin], “neck” [nek^h] and “necks” [neks].^*

! To pronounce the unaspirated variant of a plosive correctly make [s] fortis and prolong it: kill – skill [k^hil – sskil], leak – leaks [li:k – li:kss].

Note: Learners of English are advised to pay particular attention to the aspiration of [p, t, k] when these phonemes occur initially in a stressed syllable. If a word such as “pin” is pronounced [pin], instead of [p^hin], there is the danger that the English listener may understand “bin”, since he interprets lack of aspiration as a mark of the lenis [b].