P phoneme /p/

/p/ is a consonant phoneme that occurs in English as one of the standard English phonemes.

Naming

Like other phonemes, deciding on a name for this is difficult. It could be called P phoneme after its letter /piː/. Alternatively, it can be called puh, after its sound when initial. It occurs twice in several words like pap, parp, perp, pip, pop, pup, etc.

Classification

This can be classified as Consonant phoneme > Plosive phoneme > Bilabial plosive phoneme.

Representation

In phonemic notation using the International Phonetic Alphabet, the P phoneme is represented by lowercase P, ⟨p⟩ as its IPA symbol. This has the IPA number 101. In SAMPA and X-SAMPA, p is also used. In IPA Braille, ⠏ (1234) is used, which is also used for letter P in standard Braille.

Phonotactics

/p/ may be initial or final as a single consonant. Initial single consonant /p/ and final single consonant /p/.

/p/ forms part of consonant clusters. Initial consonant clusters include initial consonant cluster /pl/, initial consonant cluster /pr/, initial consonant cluster /sp/, initial consonant cluster /spl/ and initial consonant cluster /spr/. Final consonant clusters include:

• Final consonant cluster /mp/
• Final consonant cluster /mps/
• Final consonant cluster /mpt/
• Final consonant cluster /mpts/
• Final consonant cluster /ps/
• Final consonant cluster /pt/
• Final consonant cluster /pts/
• Final consonant cluster /pθ/
• Final consonant cluster /pθs/
• Final consonant cluster /sp/
• Final consonant cluster /sps/
• Final consonant cluster /spt/

Pronunciation

The standard pronunciation of this phoneme is as a voiceless bilabial plosive [p].

When initial, this is aspirated, to [pʰ]. When consonant final, it’s not aspirated.

After /s/ it assimilates to a voiced bilabial plosive [sb], due to assimilation by /s/, but is still perceived by English speakers to be “p sound.” A similar thing happens after /ʃ/, i.e. [ʃb], though initial consonant cluster /ʃp/ is rare.

Non-native pronunciation

Non-native pronunciations of this tend to be fairly close, but:

• French speakers tend to pronounce this phoneme as an unaspirated voiceless bilabial plosive [p], which is understandable, but contributes to their accent.
• Spanish speakers have some issues as well with b/v.

Spelling

Spelling is ⟨p⟩, ⟨pp⟩, very rarely ⟨ppe⟩.

Phonogram	Example words	Notes
⟨p⟩	pap, pip, pop, pup, etc.
⟨pp⟩	slippery, nipple, etc.
⟨ppe⟩	steppe