Editing Allophone (section)

=== English ===
{{Main|English phonology#Allophones of consonants|English phonology#Allophones of vowels}}
 
There are many allophonic processes in English: lack of plosion, nasal plosion, partial devoicing of sonorants, complete devoicing of sonorants, partial devoicing of obstruents, lengthening and shortening vowels, and retraction.

* [[Aspirated consonant|Aspiration]]: In English, a voiceless plosive {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} is aspirated (has a strong explosion of breath) if it is at the beginning of the first or a stressed syllable in a word. For example, {{IPA|[pʰ]}} as in ''pin'' and {{IPA|[p]}} as in ''spin'' are allophones for the phoneme {{IPA|/p/}} because they cannot be used to distinguish words (in fact, they occur in [[complementary distribution]]). English-speakers treat them as the same sound, but they are different: the first is aspirated and the second is [[unaspirated]] (plain). Many languages [[Aspirated consonant#Usage patterns|treat the two phones differently]].
* Nasal plosion: In English, a plosive ({{IPA|/p, t, k, b, d, ɡ/}}) has nasal plosion if it is followed by a nasal, whether within a word or across a word boundary.
* Partial devoicing of [[sonorant]]s: In English, sonorants ({{IPA|/j, w, l, r, m, n/}}) are partially devoiced after a voiceless sound in the same syllable.
* Complete devoicing of sonorants: In English, a sonorant is completely devoiced after an aspirated plosive ({{IPA|/p, t, k/}}).
* Partial devoicing of [[obstruent]]s: In English, a voiced obstruent is partially devoiced next to a pause or next to a voiceless sound within a word or across a word boundary.
* Retraction: In English, {{IPA|/t, d, n, l/}} are [[Retracted (phonetics)|retracted]] before {{IPA|/r/}}.

Because the choice among allophones is seldom under conscious control, few people realize their existence. English-speakers may be unaware of differences between a number of (dialect-dependent) [[allophones]] of the phoneme {{IPA|/t/}}:

* post-aspirated {{IPA|[tʰ]}} as in ''top'', 
* unaspirated {{IPA|[t]}} as in ''stop''. 
* glottalized (or rather substituted by the [[glottal stop]]) {{IPA|[ʔ]}} as in ''button'', but many speakers preserve at least an unreleased [[coronal stop]] {{IPA|[ t̚]}}.

In addition, the following allophones of /t/ are found in (at least) some dialects of American(ised) English;
* flapped {{IPA|[ɾ]}} as in [[American English]] ''water'', 
* nasal(ized) flapped {{IPA|[ɾ&#771;]}} as in [[American English]] ''winter''. 
* unreleased {{IPA|[ t̚]}} as in [[American English]] ''cat'', but other dialects preserve the released {{IPA|[t]}}, or substitute the glottal stop {{IPA|[ʔ]}}.

However, speakers may become aware of the differences if{{snd}}for example{{snd}}they contrast the pronunciations of the following words:

*''Night rate'': unreleased {{IPA|[ˈnʌɪt̚.ɹʷeɪt̚]}} (without a [[word space]] between {{IPA|[ . ]}} and {{IPA|[ɹ]}})
*''Nitrate'': aspirated {{IPA|[ˈnaɪ.tʰɹ̥eɪt̚]}} or retracted {{IPA|[ˈnaɪ.t̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷeɪt̚]}}

A flame that is held in front of the lips while those words are spoken flickers more for the aspirated ''nitrate'' than for the unaspirated ''night rate.'' The difference can also be felt by holding the hand in front of the lips. For a [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]-speaker, for whom {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/tʰ/}} are separate phonemes, the English distinction is much more obvious than for an English-speaker, who has learned since childhood to ignore the distinction.

One may notice the (dialect-dependent) allophones of English {{IPA|/l/}} such as the (palatal) alveolar "light" {{IPA|[l]}} of ''leaf'' {{IPA|[ˈliːf]}} as opposed to the [[Velar consonant|velar]] alveolar "dark" {{IPA|[ɫ]}} in ''feel'' {{IPA|[ˈfiːɫ]}} found in the U.S. and Southern England. The difference is much more obvious to a [[Turkish language|Turkish]]-speaker, for whom {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/ɫ/}} are separate phonemes, than to an English speaker, for whom they are allophones of a single phoneme.

These descriptions are more sequentially broken down in the next section.

==== Rules for English consonant allophones ====

[[Peter Ladefoged]], a renowned [[phonetics|phonetician]], clearly explains the [[consonant]] [[allophones]] of [[language|English]] in a precise list of statements to illustrate the language behavior. Some of these rules apply to all the consonants of English; the first item on the list deals with consonant length, items 2 through 18 apply to only selected groups of consonants, and the last item deals with the quality of a consonant. 
These descriptive rules are as follows:<ref>Ladefoged, Peter (2001). A Course in Phonetics (4th ed.). Orlando: Harcourt. {{ISBN|0-15-507319-2}}. p. 56-60.</ref>
# Consonants are longer when they come at the end of a phrase. This can be easily tested by recording a speaker saying a sound like "bib", then comparing the forward and backward playback of the recording. One will find that the backward playback does not sound like the forward playback because the production of what is expected to be the same sound is not identical.
# [[Voicelessness|Voiceless]] [[stop consonant|stops]] {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} are [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] when they come at the beginning of a syllable, such as in words like "pip, test, kick" {{IPA|[pʰɪp, tʰɛst, kʰɪk]}}. We can compare this with voiceless stops that are not [[syllable]] initial like "stop" [stɑp]. The {{IPA|/t/}} voiceless stop follows the {{IPA|/s/}} (fricative) here.
# [[voice (phonetics)|Voiced]] [[obstruents]], which include stops and [[fricative consonant|fricatives]], such as {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ/}}, that come at the end of an utterance like {{IPA|/v/}} in "improve" or before a voiceless sound like {{IPA|/d/}} in "add two") are only briefly voiced during the articulation.
# Voiced stops and [[Affricate consonant|affricates]] {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, dʒ/}} in fact occur as partially devoiced at the beginning of a syllable unless immediately preceded by a voiced sound, in which the voiced sound carries over.
# [[Approximant consonant|Approximants]] (in English, these include {{IPA|/w, r, j, l/}}) are partially devoiced when they occur after syllable-initial {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} like in "play, twin, cue" {{IPA|[pʰl̥eɪ, tʰw̥ɪn, kʰj̥u]}}.
# Voiceless stops {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} are not aspirated when following after a syllable initial fricative, such as in the words "spew, stew, skew."
# Voiceless stops and affricates {{IPA|/p, t, k, tʃ/}} are longer than their voiced counterparts {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, dʒ/}} when situated at the end of a syllable. Try comparing "cap" to "cab" or "back" to "bag".
# When a stop comes before another stop, the explosion of air only follows after the second stop, illustrated in words like "apt" {{IPA|[æp̚t]}} and "rubbed" {{IPA|[rʌb̚d]}}.
# Many English accents produce a [[glottal stop]] in syllables that end with voiceless stops. Some examples include pronunciations of "tip, pit, kick" {{IPA|[tʰɪʔp, pʰɪʔt, kʰɪʔk]}}.
# Some accents of English use a glottal stop in place of a {{IPA|/t/}} when it comes before an alveolar nasal in the same word (as opposed to in the next word), such as in the word "beaten" {{IPA|[ˈbiːʔn̩]}}.
# Nasals become syllabic, or their own syllable, only when immediately following an obstruent (as opposed to just any consonant), such as in the words "leaden, chasm" {{IPA|[ˈlɛdn̩, ˈkæzm̩]}}. Take in comparison "kiln, film"; in most accents of English, the nasals are not syllabic.
# The lateral {{IPA|/l/}}, however, is syllabic at the end of the word when immediately following any consonant, like in "paddle, whistle" {{IPA|[ˈpʰædl̩, ˈwɪsl̩]}}.
## When considering {{IPA|/r, l/}} as [[Liquid consonant|liquids]], {{IPA|/r/}} is included in this rule as well as present in the words "sabre, razor, hammer, tailor" {{IPA|[ˈseɪbɹ̩, ˈreɪzɹ̩, ˈhæmɹ̩, ˈtʰeɪlɹ̩]}}.
# [[voiceless dental and alveolar stops|Alveolar stops]] become [[Dental and alveolar taps and flaps|voiced taps]] when they occur between two vowels, as long as the second vowel is [[Stress (linguistics)|unstressed]]. Take for instance mainly American English pronunciations like "fatty, data, daddy, many" {{IPA|[ˈfæɾi, ˈdeɪɾə, ˈdæɾi, ˈmɛɾ̃i]}}.
## When an [[Dental, alveolar and postalveolar nasals|alveolar nasal]] is followed by a stop, the {{IPA|/t/}} is lost and a nasal tap occurs, causing "winter" to sound just like "winner" or "panting" to sound just like "panning". In this case, both alveolar stops and alveolar nasal plus stop sequences become voiced taps after two vowels when the second vowel is unstressed. This can vary among speakers, where the rule does not apply to certain words or when speaking at a slower pace.
# All alveolar consonants assimilate to [[Dental consonant|dentals]] when occurring before a dental. Take the words "eighth, tenth, wealth". This also applies across word boundaries, for example "at this" {{IPA|[ˈæt̪ ðɪs]}}.
# Alveolar stops are reduced or omitted when between two consonants. Some examples include "most people" (can be written either as {{IPA|[ˈmoʊs ˈpʰipl̩]}} or {{IPA|[ˈmoʊst ˈpʰipl̩]}} with the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], where the {{IPA|[t]}} is inaudible, and "sand paper, grand master", where the {{IPA|[d]}} is inaudible.
# A consonant is shortened when it is before an identical consonant, such as in "big game" or "top post".
# A [[Homorganic consonant|homorganic]] voiceless stop may be inserted after a [[Nasal consonant|nasal]] before a voiceless fricative followed by an unstressed vowel in the same word. For example, a [[Bilabial consonant|bilabial]] voiceless plosive {{IPA|/p/}} can be detected in the word "something" {{IPA|[ˈsʌmpθɪŋ]}} even though it is orthographically not indicated. This is known as [[epenthesis]]. However, the following vowel must be unstressed.
# Velar stops {{IPA|/k, ɡ/}} become more [[Front and back|front]] when the following vowel sound in the same syllable becomes more front. Compare for instance "cap" {{IPA|[kʰæp]}} vs. "key" {{IPA|[kʲi]}} and "gap" {{IPA|[ɡæp]}} vs. "geese" {{IPA|[ɡʲiːs]}}.
# The lateral {{IPA|/l/}} is [[Velarization|velarized]] at the end of a word when it comes after a vowel as well as before a consonant. Compare for example "life" {{IPA|[laɪf]}} vs. "file" {{IPA|[faɪɫ]}} or "feeling" {{IPA|[fiːlɪŋ]}} vs. "feel" {{IPA|[fiːɫ]}}.<ref>Poppy Blake, ''[https://slideplayer.com/slide/4555609/ a Course in Phonetics Ladefoged & Johnson Chapter 3]''</ref>