Definition & Bedeutung von "aspirate"

What is an "aspirate"?

An aspirate is a sound produced with a strong burst of breath, often found in various languages. In phonetics, it refers specifically to sounds like "p," "t," and "k" that are pronounced with a noticeable puff of air following them. For example, in English, the "p" in "pat" is aspirated, while the "p" in "spat" is not. Aspirated sounds can affect the meaning of words in some languages. This feature helps distinguish between different consonant sounds, making pronunciation clearer and more precise in speech.