Editing Aspirated consonant (section)

===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.