Pronouncing P's

Question

Hello, can someone tell me which is the right way of pronouncing 'P' in some words, say..

Complain

Perplex

Clarity probably isn't that good as I'm using an old microphone. I hope it's enough though.
The difference is that in one recording I "puff" the P, I didn't on the second one(this is common here, we don't usually puff our P's)

p.s When I say "Perplex" it seems as if I'm using sll the air in my lungs

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

I can only see the "complain" examples. Anyway, the first sounds better to me. Whenever /p/, /t/, or /k/ are at the beginning of a stressed syllable, they are aspirated (which means you make little the "puff" of air). The only exceptions are probably in clusters with /s/ or /f/... So, these are aspirated (= puff of air): pass, cat, tip. And these are not (or less aspirated anyway): spin, scan, still.

CalifJim · Answer

Your first pronunciation of "complain" is closer to native speech than the second, but the aspiration is a bit too exaggerated. If you could aspirate just a little less, giving a result somewhere between the two, and you would have something very authentic. The second does not sound correct at all to my ear.

CJ

Tipton · Answer

Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the late response, I've just been really busy lately. I'll work on the aspirations.

Aren't there websites where I can hear audio samples of these? THat would really help a lot.

Yankee · Answer

Many of the online dictionaries also have audio recordings for each word:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complain
In the Merriam-Webster entry for 'complain', just click on the little red speaker icon, and you'll get this:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio-medlineplus.pl?compla04=complain

I've recorded a few Ps in a sentence for you:

(People in Portsmith have been complaining about a perplexing problem.)

Pronouncing P's

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