What term describes a sound produced with a burst of air from the mouth?

What term describes a sound produced with a burst of air from the mouth?

• A. Aspiration
• B. Elision
• C. Assimilation
• D. Intonation

Answer: (A)

Aspiration is the audible burst of air released when you pronounce certain consonants. In English, voiceless stops like p, t, and k often have a small puff of air right after the release, which you can hear in careful speech—as in the clear pronunciation of “pat” or “top.” The other terms refer to different speech processes: elision is when a sound is omitted, assimilation is when a sound changes to become more like a neighboring sound, and intonation is the rise and fall of pitch across a sentence. Because the question focuses on that visible puff of air after a consonant, the correct term is aspiration.

Aspiration is the audible burst of air released when you pronounce certain consonants. In English, voiceless stops like p, t, and k often have a small puff of air right after the release, which you can hear in careful speech—as in the clear pronunciation of “pat” or “top.” The other terms refer to different speech processes: elision is when a sound is omitted, assimilation is when a sound changes to become more like a neighboring sound, and intonation is the rise and fall of pitch across a sentence. Because the question focuses on that visible puff of air after a consonant, the correct term is aspiration.