aspirata
/ˌæspɪˈreɪtə/
noun
- A speech sound pronounced with a burst of breath, such as the 'p' in 'pin' or the 't' in 'top'.
- Linguists study aspirata to understand how different languages use breath in speech.
- In English, the 'p' at the beginning of 'pat' is an aspirata.
- The teacher explained that an aspirata is different from a non-aspirated sound like the 'p' in 'spit'.