Shake that /k/ookie /p/api, or how to pronounce the rest of the voiceless plosives properly

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do with this blog. My main concern is: should I explain a basic vocabulary which will be used constantly throughout every post (what I do when I teach), or should I try to keep the terminology as simple as possible, so that anyone entering the site for the first time will understand what I’m talking about right away? I’ll choose option number two, for now, even though I know some explanations will be painfully wordy if I don’t to use the correct terminology.

That being said, let’s talk about the rest of the voiceless plosives. See how easier it is to classify sounds into categories which share the same features? There are six plosives (that sound produced with an explosion), three of them voiceless (because the vocal folds do not vibrate): /t/ /p/ and /k/.

I’ve already talked about the /t/, and to tell you the truth, pretty much the same happens with the /p/ and the /k/. With these sounds, the point of articulation is the same as in English, but there are two main differences:

1 No aspiration

Just like the /t/; when saying /k/ and /p/ try not to expel all that air! I’ve said the difference is that, in English, the air expelled comes from the lungs, while in Spanish the throat is closed and the only air expelled is what had remained inside the mouth. This is exactly what Antonio Quilis, a Spanish phonetician, says about the subject, but... This doesn’t mean that you have to consciously close your throat every time you say /t/ /k/ or /p/, that could actually be a bit dangerous for your throat and vocal folds. Try not to think about your throat, but do apply more muscular energy when articulating those sounds, mostly around your lower jaw and tongue. This is one of the points I mentioned when I wrote about the Spanish Base of articulation. The aspiration is one devise the English speakers have to be able to tell /p/ and /b/ apart, as well as /t/ /d/ and /k/ /g/. I’ll write about that in the next posts, in the meantime, think about how you say bin and pin, and what would happen if you didn’t make any aspiration for the /p/.

2 No affrication

Again, affrication is that extra sound we hear when /k/ is in stressed syllables, like in come. If said slowly, we would hear /ks/. And again, avoid this please! Keep those plosives short and clean! I don’t want to hear no extra sounds, nor extra air!


For more info on this, see also:

Shake that gringo accent off, 3 /t/ tips

Base of articulation reloaded - Nacho Libre