1

could somebody tell me how would a native american pronounce the stop-t in the following sentences?

-It would be nice to meet her.
-I've got you.
-Right now.

I learned that we should bring our tounge into the t sound's position and instead of letting the air out we should jus stop there and utter the following consonant. But it sounds to me as if they stop the air flow with the following consonant's mouth position or without the t sound's toung position (for instance in "it would" with the W).

Thank you in advance and sorry if wasn't clear enough.

Improve this question
4
  • 2
    I assume that by "native american" you mean an American who is a native speaker of English. There are substantial regional variations in pronunciation of medial "t" sounds. A glottal stop is quite prevalent in parts of New England, for example. Elsewhere, a /t/ followed by a /y/ approaches the /ch/ sound: "I've gotchew". Where the /t/ is followed by a vowel (with or without an intervening aspirate) American speakers often turn it into a /d/ sound: "It would be nice to meeder."
    – Rob_Ster
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 17:14
  • 1
    If you mean a glottal stop, reading this article and watching this video may be useful.
    – Yay
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 17:15
  • In the mid-America region, we do move the tongue to the 't' position, so that its movement away will color the following consonant. If you speak slowly enough, the rime 't' will become an onset 't' followed by a brief 'shwa'.
    – AmI
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 22:06
  • I think the glottal-stop /t/ is more common in urban British English.
    – Joe L.
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 5:30

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

There is variation among English speakers. I'll give you my ordinary pronunciations, which are not unusual for a Midwesterner.

It would be nice to meet her.

The "t" of "It" is a glottal stop. The "t" of "meet" is a flap. "meet her" sounds like "meter".

I've got you.

There are two possibilities: the "t" can remain if the "y" is pronounced "sh". Or, the "t" can be a glottal stop if the "y" is unchanged.

Right now.

The "t" is a glottal stop.

For the pronunciations with glottal stop for "t", it is also possible in a slower more deliberate style of speech to use a glottalized "t", which is the same as glottal stop except with the tip of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge (as it would for an ordinary "t"). I think this is what you are describing in your question.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .