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Text by Ana Matilla and audio by Inma Sánchez
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Saludos, Inma and disculpame,
pero, I notice that there are a lot of "p" popping sounds in the audio of "Ropa de Invierno" and remembered hearing that the Spanish alphabet should be able to be pronounced in front of a candle without blowing it out. How are the lips and tongue placed to pronounce "p" , "t" and "s" to achieve that goal, please?
Garry
Hi Garry,
The lip and tongue positions are not relevant, it's the vocal cords which make the difference. "P" and "T" are so-called "voiceless" consonants, so the vocal cords don't vibrate. In some English words this leads to the start of the following vowel also being unvoiced which creates the popping sound. It happens with the word "pie", but not with "spy", so comparing them might help you. There's a fuller explanation here:
https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/3-5-aspirated-stops-in-english/
Hola Garry,
I listened to the audio to check this (the voice in the audio is me) and I really can't hear any "p" pronounced in any way stronger than the usual sound of "p" in Spanish. Here is a video from Youtube that you may find useful and you can see in slow motion.
Saludos
Inma
Saludos, Inma and disculpame,
pero, I notice that there are a lot of "p" popping sounds in the audio of "Ropa de Invierno" and remembered hearing that the Spanish alphabet should be able to be pronounced in front of a candle without blowing it out. How are the lips and tongue placed to pronounce "p" , "t" and "s" to achieve that goal, please?
Garry
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