3 ms·
We're talking about allophonic differences here, which are notoriously hard for native speakers to hear. How well do you hear the difference between the /p/ so
by mcswell 2y ago
We're talking about allophonic differences here, which are notoriously hard for native speakers to hear.
How well do you hear the difference between the /p/ sounds in words like pill, pat, punk vs. spill, spat and spunk?
- smeej 2y agoNot very well at all. I barely even think of P as having its own sound at all. It has an air puffing sound, but the vowel is the only difference I actually hear with those words.
- mcswell 2y agoOk, that almost certainly means you can't hear the difference between the aspirated and unaspirated allophones. That's absolutely typical of native speakers: they can't hear the difference between allophones. Now try standing in front of a mirror, and hold a Kleenex (tissue...) in front of your mouth while pronouncing those words. You'll probably see a tiny flutter when pronouncing 'spill', 'spy' etc., but a large movement when pronouncing 'pill', 'pie' etc. The tissue is showing a difference that your ears have a hard time with. Not because the difference is hard to hear--a Thai speaker would have no problem--but because the sounds are allophonic in English (but phonemic in Thai).