prevoicing

Prevoicing is a phonetic phenomenon in which the vocal folds begin vibrating before the release of a stop or similar oral constriction. It is typically described in terms of voice onset time (VOT), with voicing starting prior to the release resulting in negative or near-zero VOT values. Prevoicing is one possible realization among the broader range of voicing onset patterns, which also includes postvoicing (voicing begins after the release) and fully aspirated or unaspirated voiceless stops.

In production, prevoicing occurs when the laryngeal system activates voicing during the closure or just before the plosive release. The release burst may occur while voicing continues, so the audible onset of voicing precedes the audible release. Acoustically, this can produce a brief voicing bar during the closure and a negative or very small VOT at release. The phenomenon is often studied with spectrograms and VOT measurements to distinguish it from other timing patterns.

Prevoicing is reported in various languages and is not tied to a single phonological status. In some languages it may be a phonemic feature of certain stops, contributing to contrastive timing values, while in others it may be an allophonic realization conditioned by phonetic context, rate of speech, or surrounding vowels. Its perceptual cue is primarily timing of voicing relative to the release, rather than changes in place or manner of articulation.

Overall, prevoicing highlights the continuum of voicing onset in stops and its role in how languages encode voicing contrasts through timing.