4 ms·
That's impossible in English though; 'b' is pronounced as a plosive, blowing through the lips as they open, while 't' is produced by tapping the tongue on the p
by scatters 5y ago
That's impossible in English though; 'b' is pronounced as a plosive, blowing through the lips as they open, while 't' is produced by tapping the tongue on the palate with lips open. So there is an interval between the 'p' and 't' which must be occupied by a vowel, typically a schwa.
'pth' is different because the same stream of air can be used for both consonants, with the tongue contacting the teeth just as the lips open, so any gap between the consonants is not perceived to native listeners.
- Scarblac 5y agoAh, but I'm a non-native speaker, I am not constrained by what is possible for native speakers. I suspect my 'b' is quite close to 'p' (but it's not exactly the same). It'll probably sound like an accent to you, but then there are a thousand different native speaker accents, so that is OK with me.
- tsimionescu 5y agoSo how do you pronounce "kept" then?
- Tagbert 5y agoI think _scatters_ meant “bt” that combination is difficult to produce without introducing an additional vowel. The “pt” is easier.
- tsimionescu 5y agoIt's possible, but strange, since b is simply the voiced form of p - you just need to vibrate your vocal cords for a moment longer when pronouncing "kebt" (since they were already vibrating to pronounce the vowel), compared to pronouncing kept.