Stops

Here we have information about stops. We will define what a stop is, show you some examples of words that contain a stop, and even provide audio recordings so that you can listen to these examples, solidifying your overall understanding of stops.

When a sound is classified as a stop, it means that there is a complete block of air when the sound is produced, so no air can escape. You may also hear stops called a plosives or occlusives. “Stop” is a straightforward term that directly describes what is happening with the airflow.

Two sounds that are classified as stops include p and b, which are both notated on the IPA chart of American English consonants.

A couple of examples of words that contain these sounds are “Pin” and “Ball.” Below you can see their IPA transcriptions with the stop indicated by a color.

We have also recorded these words for your convenience. For each example, you will first hear the pronunciation of the stop, followed by the word.

Pin = [pɪn]

Ball = [bal]

More Information

American English IPA Consonants
Go here to view all of the American English IPA consonants in their sound classification chart.

Fricatives
Go here to learn about the next type of obstruction on our list.