Editing Aspirated consonant (section)

==Phonology==
Aspiration has varying significance in different languages. It is either allophonic or phonemic, and may be analyzed as an [[underlying representation|underlying]] consonant cluster.

===Allophonic===
{{listen
| type         = speech
| header       = Aspiration and voicing of stops in American English
| filename     = En-us-pin spin bin nip nib.ogg
| title        = Labial stops
| description  = ''pin'' with aspirated ''p'',<br>''spin'' with unaspirated ''p'',<br>''bin'' with partially voiced ''b'',<br>''nip'' with unaspirated ''p'',<br>''nib'' with partially voiced ''b'':<br>{{IPA|[pʰɪˑn spɪˑn bɪˑn nɪp nɪˑb]}}
| filename2    = En-us-distend distaste.ogg
| title2       = Aspiration alternation in single-stem and compound word
| description2 = ''distend'' with unaspirated ''t'',<br>''distaste'' (''dis-taste'') with aspirated ''t'':<br>{{IPA|[dɨˈstɛnd dɨsˈtʰeɪst]}} }}
In some languages, stops are distinguished primarily by [[voice (phonetics)|voicing]],{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} and voiceless stops are sometimes aspirated, while voiced stops are usually unaspirated.

[[English language|English]] [[voiceless]] [[stop consonant|stops]] are aspirated for most native speakers when they are word-initial or begin a [[stressed syllable]]. Pronouncing them as unaspirated in these positions, as is done by many [[Indian English]] speakers, may make them get confused with the corresponding voiced stop by other English-speakers.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} Conversely, this confusion does not happen with the native speakers of languages which have aspirated and unaspirated but not voiced stops, such as [[Mandarin Chinese]].

S+consonant clusters can vary between aspirated and unaspirated forms depending on whether the cluster crosses a morpheme boundary. For example, distend features an unaspirated [t] because it is not analyzed as comprising two morphemes. In contrast, distaste includes an aspirated middle [tʰ] since it is analyzed as dis- + taste, and the word taste begins with an aspirated [t].


Word-final voiceless stops are sometimes aspirated.

Voiceless stops in [[Pashto]] are slightly aspirated prevocalically in a stressed syllable.

===Phonemic===
In many languages, such as [[Hindi language|Hindi]], tenuis and aspirated consonants are [[phoneme|phonemic]]. Unaspirated consonants like {{IPA|[p˭ s˭]}} and aspirated consonants like {{IPA|[pʰ ʰp sʰ]}} are separate phonemes, and words [[distinctive feature|are distinguished]] by whether they have one or the other.

====Consonant cluster====
[[Alemannic German|Alemannic German dialects]] have unaspirated {{IPA|[p˭ t˭ k˭]}} as well as aspirated {{IPA|[pʰ tʰ kʰ]}}; the latter series are usually viewed as [[consonant cluster]]s.

===Absence===
[[French language|French]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Tranel|first=Bernard|url=https://archive.org/details/soundsoffrenchin0000tran|title=The sounds of French: an introduction|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1987|isbn=0-521-31510-7|edition=3rd|location=Cambridge, New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/soundsoffrenchin0000tran/page/129 129]–130|url-access=registration}}
</ref> [[Dutch language|Standard Dutch]],<ref>Frans Hinskens, Johan Taeldeman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=t8jmBQAAQBAJ&dq=frisian%20substrate%20dutch&pg=PA66 Language and space: Dutch]'', Walter de Gruyter 2014. 3110261332, 9783110261332, p.66</ref> [[Afrikaans]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]] and [[Greek language|Modern Greek]] are languages that do not have phonetic aspirated consonants.