aspirated

aspirated

1. simple past and past participle of aspirate

aspirated (comparative more aspirated, superlative most aspirated)

1. (phonetics) Pronounced with an audible breath, a brief expulsion of air at the end of the sound.

   Synonym: aspirate

   Antonym: unaspirated

   Coordinate term: preaspirated

   In English, word-initial single voiceless consonants are aspirated, so that pit is pronounced [pʰɪt] but spit is pronounced [spɪt].

   In Cambodian, aspiration is phonemic, so /p/ and /pʰ/ are different phonemes.

2. (French linguistics) In French, describing an initial letter h which, though silent, does not permit liaison or elision with the preceding word.

   The h in haine is aspirated, so one says la haine, not l'haine.

• disparate