Re: /p/ versus devoiced b?

Andrew wrote:

>On Sunday, January 28, 2001, at 12:07 PM, Marcus Smith wrote:
>
> > Voiceless and voiced consonants differ in more than just vocal chord
> > vibration (voicing). One major difference is "voice onset time" (VOT).
> > Voiceless consonants have a longer period of voicelessness before the
> > voicing of the vowel begins than do the voiced consonants: this is the
> > aspiration.
>
>Is this how you can still tell the difference between English B & P even
>when whispering?
After testing myself a bit, this seems likely. But I am not phonetically
educated enough to say with absolute surety.




Marcus Smith

"Sit down before fact as a little child,
be prepared to give up every preconceived notion,
follow humbly wherever and to whatsoever abysses Nature leads,
or you shall learn nothing."
                -- Thomas Huxley