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Technically speaking, when we whisper, do the t, p, k sounds in stop, spit, skip become the same as d, b, g?

FindingNemo
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    Pretty much. Different people's actual pronunciation will vary, of course, but once the aspiration and voicing are eliminated, there is very little left to distinguish these phonemes, at least at normal speech rates. – John Lawler Feb 03 '21 at 17:14
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    Not for me. /t p k/ aren't aspirated after /s/ even when speaking. But there's subtle difference between /p t k/ and /b d g/ when whispered. – Decapitated Soul Feb 03 '21 at 17:39
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    That's a hard comparison to make because /sb/, /sd/,and /sg/ do not exist in the English phonemic repertoire even when voiced. So you're asking native speakers to both sound out something that is already hard (or impossible), and then to add another, rare change on it (whispering). – Mitch Feb 03 '21 at 17:54
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    Related. – tchrist Mar 14 '24 at 15:00

1 Answers1

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Even when not whispering, /p, t, k/ generally become /b, d, g/ after an /s/, as Geoff Lindsey explains here.

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