Wu Chinese has a three-way distinction in stops and affricates: /p pʰ b/. In addition to aspirated and unaspirated consonants, there is a series of muddy consonants, like /b/. These are pronounced with slack or breathy voice: that is, they are weakly voiced. Muddy consonants as initial cause a syllable to be pronounced with low pitch or light (陽 yáng) tone. COUNT 4
QSN1 What has a three-way distinction in regards to stops and affricates? ANS1 Wu Chinese QSN2 What is the actual distinction for Wu Chinese? ANS2 /p pʰ b/ QSN3 What is /b/ representative of, in addition to aspirated and unaspirated consonants? ANS3 Muddy consonants QSN4 What kind of voice are muddy consonants pronounced with? ANS4 slack or breathy