Speech is really SBEECH!
Why English Language & Usage Stack Exchange recommends it
English Stack Exchange answerers point people to it when explaining why p, t and k after s sound like b, d and g, for example in 'mistook' and 'speech'.
Recommended by 3 people across 4 different months, 2022 to 2024.
What it is
Phonetician Dr Geoff Lindsey explains why English /p t k/ lose their aspiration after /s/, so that words like 'speech', 'stop' and 'skill' sound closer to 'sbeech', 'sdop' and 'sgill'. He uses audio demonstrations, clipped recordings and listening quizzes to show that English speakers hear these unaspirated sounds as /b d g/.
What people said
Strong rec Daniel Cheung · 2022-09 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “Pronunciation of "-st-". When is it "sd" and when "st"?”
This is meant as a supplementary answer to my own question. I know this has been many years after I have asked the original question, but something about distinguishing /t/ and /d/ being voiced and unvoiced in this specific scenario hadn't quite convinced me. (As some users on this page has already mentioned telling apart d and t might not be as important in this situation by whether it is voiced or not.) I didn't quite believe anyone, whether native or not, could tell the difference at whether the consonant was really voiced or unvoiced in the scenario anyway. I just stumbled upon this video by Dr Geoff Lindsey (co-edited CUBE dictionary): [this video] In one example, he showed: English does not
Recommends Graham H. · 2022-12 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “Are /t, p, k/ aspirated when they are at the start of a syllable after another syllable that ends in /s/?”
I think Dr. Geoff Lindsey's video on the subject will be of use: [this video] Essentially, the answer to your question depends whether a person is treating the two syllables as separate morphemes, and if the second syllable is stressed. If the answers to both questions are yes, the plosive may be aspirated. However, in the majority of situations, the plosives written orthographically as ⟨p⟩, ⟨t⟩, and ⟨k⟩ are realized identically to the phonemes /b/, /d/, and /g/ when following /s/. We should be willing to revise the transcription system to be more accurate. I will be transcribing for a General American accent below, since it's my accent and the one I know best. Thus: skill - /sgɪl/ star - /sdɒɹ/
Recommends alphabet · 2023-05 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “The t, p, k sounds in stop, spit, skip when we whisper”
Even when not whispering, /p, t, k/ generally become /b, d, g/ after an /s/, as Geoff Lindsey explains here. [this video]
Recommends alphabet · 2024-03 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “Is the T in ‘mistook’ pronounced the same as the T in ‘mistake’ is?”
@Lambie I'll let this video explain it. [this video] If you take a recording of (say) the word "store" and remove the initial "s," it clearly sounds like "door," not "tore."
Recommends alphabet · 2024-03 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “Is the T in ‘mistook’ pronounced the same as the T in ‘mistake’ is?”
It is indeed, quite often, "misdook." Basically. I took the liberty of downloading (American English) pronunciations of "mistook" from six online dictionaries, then removing everything up until the initial period of silence, i.e. the "mis." These pronunciations are from Collins, Merriam-Webster, OxfordLD, The Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, and Longman. You can hear the results here. [LINK] As you can hear, the first four sound quite clearly like "dook." Only the last two sound like "took." (The one from OxfordLD might be somewhere in the middle, but to me it certainly seems closer to "dook.") Wait, what? Geoff Lindsey explains what's going on here. [this video] English does not contrast /t/ and /d/
Cites alphabet · 2023-04 · English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · on “B vs P pronunciation?”
@Araucaria-Nothereanymore. Not in words like "speech," as Geoff Lindsey states. [this video] John Lawler says above that "with spin, stop, staple, for instance, you can use either [p] or [b]."