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T - voicing in American English. A comparison of initial d and voiced t. What is t - voicing?. striking characteristic of American pronunciation occurs in words like water , better, waiting, 49ers quarterback
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T - voicingin American English A comparisonof initial d and voiced t
What is t - voicing? • striking characteristic of American pronunciation • occurs in words like water , better, waiting, 49ers quarterback • to non-American and English people it sounds like a /d/ rather than a /t/ • phonetically it is not a plosive • Two different manners of articulation • alveolar tap (e.g. water, better) • retroflex flap (e.g. dirty, party)
Alveolar tap Occurs: • inter-vocalically in a word (pretty, water) • word-finally before a vowel (put it, light up ) • foot-internally after the nasal as a nasalized tap (winter , twenty ) • other realizations in AmEng: • total extinction • “British style”
retroflex flap • is used before a vowel when the preceding consonant is the approximant /r/ • party • forty
female speakers from Illinois and Iowa Northern accents 21 and 24 years old reading coherent text cassette tape computer cut out single words just “Iowa file” for presentation The Recordings
A tap/flap has a different acoustic quality than a , therefore it is an oversimplification to call it . What are the differences in quality? analysis in praat Used words: dinner pottery simplicity 49ers quarterback
Initial - dinner • release is marked by high intensity of higher formants • fifth formant at 4500-4900 Hz has highest intensity • the lower formants are comparatively weak
Voiced tap - pottery • in all frequency ranges relatively low intensity • highest intensity in first formant • voice bar at ~ 440 HZ • higher formants hardly visible
Voiced tap - simplicity • voice bar at ~ 330 HZ • 4th and 5th formant clearly visible, as intense as 1st formant • release • tap quality is similar to quality of initial • similar contexts?
Voiced retroflex flap - forty • voice bar at ~ 550 Hz • higher formants are less intense (no release) • very intense 2nd and 3rd formant • influence of preceding /r/ ? • difference between tap and flap