GalacticCactus Forum

Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: Jonathon on May 22, 2007, 11:42:05 AM

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Jonathon on May 22, 2007, 11:42:05 AM

The zee/zed thread on Hatrack made me curious. How many people pronounce these words with a glottal stop or unreleased /t/? If you pronounce it with a fully released /t/, you should feel a little puff of air after it. If you do a glottal stop, your tongue shouldn't even touch the ridge behind your teeth until you make the /n/.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Tante Shvester on May 22, 2007, 01:32:33 PM

My kittens and mittens have a very soft "t".  It's almost like a "d".

And where I grew up, "button" was pronounced "buh'in", no "t" sound at all.  When I got teased for that, I changed it, so that the "t" in "button" is pronounced the same way I pronounce it in "mitten" and "kitten".

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Jonathon on May 22, 2007, 01:37:13 PM

Quote

My kittens and mittens have a very soft "t".  It's almost like a "d".

I have no idea what this means.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Tante Shvester on May 22, 2007, 02:32:53 PM

I don't pronounce it with a nice, crisp "t", a la Sidney Poitier or James Earl Jones.  My "mitten" sounds like it rhymes with "hidden".

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Jonathon on May 22, 2007, 02:37:14 PM

How is that almost a "d"? It just sounds like a "d" to me.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Tante Shvester on May 22, 2007, 02:58:40 PM

I can discern, but not describe the difference.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Porter on May 22, 2007, 03:02:54 PM

I've found that with me, there are sounds which to me feel and sound different when I say them (which vs. witch, for example), but nobody else can hear a difference between how I say them.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Jonathon on May 22, 2007, 03:15:18 PM

It is possible to think you're making different sounds when you're really not. Usually, though, it's just that people don't know what they're listening for. If you pronounce "which" and "witch" differently, it's presumably because you're putting an /h/ before "which."

Tante: This is one great drawback to online communication. In real life, I could hear the difference and tell you what you're doing. You'll just have to post sound clips, I guess. ;)  

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Tante Shvester on May 22, 2007, 03:19:27 PM

No microphone.  Unlike Porter, who has one, but for some reason, refuses to give me another dose of his banjo pickin'.

Not like I'm being a noodge, or anything.

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: Porter on May 22, 2007, 03:21:02 PM

:D

 

Title: The kitten's mittens
Post by: rivka on May 22, 2007, 03:23:09 PM

Quote

If you pronounce it with a fully released /t/, you should feel a little puff of air after it. If you do a glottal stop, your tongue shouldn't even touch the ridge behind your teeth until you make the /n/.

Ah! Ok, then I really do say a released t. At least, I do when I'm paying attention to whether I am.