Glossary entry

español term or phrase:

una consonante sorda

inglés translation:

unvoiced consonant

Added to glossary by Robert Forstag
Mar 4, 2011 12:37
13 yrs ago
6 viewers *
español term

una consonante sorda

español al inglés Ciencias sociales Historia Essay written by Julio Caro Baroja
Los vascos de la zona central pronuncian “bagu-a” y los de la zona occidental “pagu-a”, introduciendo una consonante sorda, la p inicial que ya Schuchardt demostró era de origen alienígena.

Silent letter? Mute consonant? What is confusing to me here is that the verb "pronunciar" is used, but "a silent letter" would not have been pronounced. Or perhaps it would have....

Thank you.
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Jim Tucker (X)

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Discussion

Lorraine Bathurst Mar 4, 2011:
to clarify... A plosive sound is where you purse your lips and then release the air (explosively). If you tighten your vocal chords you make a voiced sound = B - if you relax your vocal chords you make an unvoiced sound = P. I have hours of fun with this and my English students!

Proposed translations

+12
2 minutos
Selected

unvoiced consonant

No sound comes through the vocal chords - b vs p
Peer comment(s):

agree DLyons : That's more standard than "voiceless"
3 minutos
thank you
agree Ryan Armbrust Diaz (X)
7 minutos
thank you
agree David Ronder
8 minutos
thank you
agree Simon Bruni : yep, p, f, s, k etc
21 minutos
agree James A. Walsh
32 minutos
agree Kate Major Patience
58 minutos
agree Bubo Coroman (X)
1 hora
agree Evans (X)
1 hora
agree Jim Tucker (X)
1 hora
agree Charles Davis : "unvoiced" is certainly more commonly used than "voiceless", though that doesn't mean it's right. I think it's 50/50. But though I barely remember my linguistics lectures, I think they said "unvoiced".
3 horas
agree Eric Schwartz
1 día 36 minutos
agree Christine Walsh
1 día 13 horas
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Lori!"
+8
3 minutos

a voiceless consonant

Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
Peer comment(s):

agree Alistair Ian Spearing Ortiz : Great.
7 minutos
Thanks Alistair
agree David Hal : I disagree that "unvoiced" is more standard. I have read "voiced" and "voiceless" in lots of books specialised in Linguistics.
7 minutos
Thanks Rafael
agree Marina Soldati : That´s the way these consonants are called in my Phonetics books.
33 minutos
Thanks Marina
agree elena ry
1 hora
Thanks Elena
agree Jim Tucker (X)
1 hora
Thanks Jim.
agree Kelly Harrison : When I studied Linguistics, we always said voiced and voiceless.
2 horas
Thanks Kelly
agree Muriel Vasconcellos : Like Kelly, I learned 'voiceless'. In fact, in more than 30 courses in linguistics I never heard 'unvoiced' - but I see that 'unvoiced' is now more common.
6 horas
Thanks Muriel. Both are common but I think "unvoiced" somewhat more so.
agree Christine Walsh : Also correct
1 día 13 horas
Thanks Christine
Something went wrong...
+1
11 minutos

voiceless consonant

In phonetics, the term "voiceless" is used to mean a sound made without vibrating the vocal chords. In this case, you're talking about a voiced consonant, "B", as opposed to a voiceless one "P". You can feel the difference if you make the sound yourself.
Peer comment(s):

agree elena ry
56 minutos
Something went wrong...
-1
11 horas

silent consonant

not pronounced
Peer comment(s):

disagree Jim Tucker (X) : When is "p" not pronounced? The "b/p" distinction is between voiced and unvoiced.
2 días 10 horas
Something went wrong...
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