Lesson
The American T
The American T is influenced very strongly by intonation and its position in a word or phrase. It can be a little tricky if you try to base your pronunciation on spelling alone.
There are, however, 4 basic rules: [T is T], [T is D] , [T is Silent], [T is Held].
1 The beginning of the word [T is T]
If the T is at the beginning of a word it is a strong, clear T sound.
- In the beginning of a word: table, take, tomorrow, teach, ten, turn Thomas tried two times.
- With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT and sometimes NT combinations: They control the contents.
- In the past tense, D sounds like T, after an unvoiced consonant sound — f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th (but not T).
picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wächt], washed [wäsht]
It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.
2 Middle of the word [T is D]
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If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation changes the sound to a soft D.
Letter sounds like [ledder].
Water, daughter, bought a, caught a, lot of, got a, later, meeting, better
Practice these sentences:
What a good idea. | [w'd' güdäi deey'] |
Put it in a bottle. | [pü di di n' bäd'l] |
Get a better water heater. | [gedda bedder wäder heeder] |
Put all the data in the computer. | [püdall the dayd' in the k'mpyuder] |
Patty ought to write a better letter. | [pædy äd' ride a bedder ledder] |
3 [T is Silent]
T and N are so close in the mouth that the [t] can disappear.
- interview [innerview]
- international [innernational]
- advantage [ædvæn'j]
- percentage [percen'j]
If the T is at the end of a word, you almost don't hear it at all.
- put, what, lot, set, hot, sit, shot, brought.
- That's quite right, isn't it?
4 End of the word [T is Held]
With -tain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held. The "held T" is, strictly speaking, not really a T at all. Remember, [t] and [n] are very close in the mouth. If you have [n] immediately after [t], you don't pop the [t]—the tongue is in the [t] position, but your release the air for the [n] not the [t]. An important point to remember is that you need a sharp upward sliding intonation up to the "held T," then a quick drop for the N.
Written, certain, forgotten, sentence:
- He's forgotten the carton of satin mittens.
- She's certain that he has written it.
- Martin has gotten a kitten.
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Related Lessons:
LEARNING LANGUAGES: MYTHS AND TRUTH
How Intonation Changes Meaning
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