English
English does not have phonological final-obstruent devoicing of the type that neutralizes phonemic contrasts; thus pairs like bad and bat are distinct in all major accents of English. Nevertheless voiced obstruents are devoiced to some extent in final position in English, especially when phrase-final or when followed by a voiceless consonant (for example, bad cat ).
Read more about this topic: Final-obstruent Devoicing
Famous quotes containing the word english:
“Here tulips bloom as they are told;
Unkempt about those hedges blows
An English unofficial rose;”
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)
“An English family consists of a few persons, who, from youth to age, are found revolving within a few feet of each other, as if tied by some invisible ligature, tense as that cartilage which we have seen attaching the two Siamese.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“From alle wymmen mi love is lent
And lyht on Alysoun.”
—Unknown. Alison. . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250–1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939)