In English, every voiced fricative corresponds to a voiceless one. For the pairs of English stops, however, the distinction is better specified as voice onset time rather than simply voice: In initial position, /b d g/ are only partially voiced (voicing begins during the hold of the consonant), and /p t k/ are aspirated (voicing begins only well after its release). Certain English morphemes have voiced and voiceless allomorphs, such as: the plural, verbal, and possessive endings spelled -s (voiced in kids but voiceless in kits ), and the past-tense ending spelled -ed (voiced in buzzed but voiceless in fished ). A few European languages, such as Finnish, have no phonemically voiced obstruents but pairs of long and short consonants instead. Outside Europe, the lack of voicing distinctions is common; indeed, in Australian languages it is nearly universal. In languages without the distinction between voiceless and voiced obstruents, they are realized as voiced in voiced environments, such as between vowels, and voiceless elsewhere. Vocal registers Phonology In phonology, a register is a combination of tone and vowel phonation into a single phonological parameter. For example, among its vowels, Burmese combines modal voice with low tone, breathy voice with falling tone, creaky voice with high tone, and glottal closure with high tone. These four registers contrast with each other, but no other combination of phonation (modal, breath, creak, closed) and tone (high, low, falling) is found. Pedagogy and speech pathology Among vocal pedagogues and speech pathologists, a vocal register also refers to a particular phonation limited to a particular range of pitch, which possesses a characteristic sound quality. The term "register" may be used for several distinct aspects of the human voice: A particular part of the vocal range, such as the upper, middle, or lower registers, which may be bounded by vocal breaks A particular phonation A resonance area such as chest voice or head voice A certain vocal timbre Four combinations of these elements are identified in speech pathology: the vocal fry register, the modal register, the falsetto register, and the whistle register. See also Ballistic syllables Breathy voice Creaky voice Faucalized voice Harsh voice List of language disorders List of phonetics topics Modal voice Slack voice Stiff voice Strident vowel Vocal resonation Voice onset time Voice organ References External links States of the Glottis (Esling & Harris, University of Victoria) Universität Stuttgart Speech production A video showing phonation