Tapped t’s in American English Pronunciation

Author: Ryan Denzer King

Article to help English Speaking and English Pronunciation by PronouncePro American English Pronunciation Writing Staff.

One of the features that distinguish American English pronunciation from some other types of English pronunciation is the use of the so-called “tapped” t or d. This English sound is called an alveolar tap (also alveolar flap) by linguists, and corresponds to an r sound in many languages, such as the non-trilled r in Spanish and Italian, or the standard r sound in Arabic or Finnish. The general rule in American English pronunciation for whether a t or d is tapped says that these sounds should be tapped when they come after a stressed syllable, such as in ‘butter’ or ‘lady’. In both of the words, the first syllable is stressed, and so the t or d becomes tapped. Note that because both of these sounds become the same when tapped, it is not always possible to tell whether something is a t or a d if you don’t already know the word. Thus, in standard American English pronunciation, ‘ladder’ and ‘latter’ sound exactly the same, even though in very careful speech one has a d and one has a t; in everyday speech both of these words have a tapped t in the middle.

In a word like ‘table’, on the other hand, the t is not tapped because it is in the stressed syllable. This general rule within pronunciation, that t’s and d’s are tapped after a stressed syllable, usually only applies if they come before and after a vowel, as in ‘ladder’, ‘latter’, ‘butter’, and ‘lady’. In a word like ‘antler’ or ‘bandage’ they are not tapped, because they are not between two vowels.

Tense vs. Lax "i" in American English Pronunciation

Author: Ryan Denzer King

Article to help English Speaking and English Pronunciation by PronouncePro American English Pronunciation Writing Staff.

American English has more vowel quality distinctions than any other language, so no matter what language you speak, it probably does not have as many distinctions as English. English pronunciation has several pairs of vowels which are pronounced with your lips and tongue in approximately the same position, but where one of the vowels is "tense" and one is "lax". The fact that these vowels are so similar makes them difficult to distinguish for non-native speakers.

The first tense/lax pair is what many people call long e versus short i. The fact that one is called an 'e' sound and one is called an 'i' sound is only because of spelling; more technically, these are both 'i' sounds. If you are familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet, this is the distinction between /i/ (long e) and / i / (short i). Long e is often spelled ee or ea in English spelling (which is why it is called long e). Examples include 'feed', 'seat', 'see', and 'bead'. Short i is usually spelled with a single i and usually comes before two consonants in the middle of a word or before a single word-final consonant. Examples include 'bitter', 'fit', 'tipsy', and 'lip'.

The easier sound to make for most people is the long e sound; almost every language in the world uses this as one of its vowels. In your language, this sound is probably spelled with the letter i. Beginning with this long e sound, relax your tongue without moving your lips. If done properly, this should get you very close to the short i sound. A good practice exercise is to listen to minimal pairs - words that differ only in one sound. Pairs which differ only in tense versus lax i are: feet/fit, seat/sit, bead/bid, leap/lip.

American English Pronunciation: T or D?

Author: Mary Gillespie

Article to help English Speaking and English Pronunciation by PronouncePro American English Pronunciation Writing Staff.

Non-English speakers are often puzzled by the American English pronunciation of the letter ’t’. Sometimes it sounds clearly like a /t/ in the word determine), but other times it sounds almost like a /d/.

There are a lot of technical descriptions of this phenomenon, and linguists, phoneticians and language teachers can have lively conversations and debates about how best to describe it. For most learners, however, it helps to know a few simple facts about what happens to the /t/ sound in American English pronunciation.

Let's take a look at two words which sound almost alike when spoken by an American speaker of English.

ladder                      latter

Ladder is an object used for climbing, and latter is used to refer to the second of two previously mentioned items. There spelling and meanings are different, but in American English pronunciation, the two words sound the same.

What is happening here? First, it's important to understand the stress patterns in the words. Both words are stressed on the first syllable. In American English pronunciation, when a stressed syllable occurs before the letter 't', the /t/ sound is pronounced with a sound similar to a /d/. This happens only when the stressed vowel is followed directly by the ’t’. If a consonant comes between the vowel and the 't', the 't' keeps its regular pronunciation. For example, in the word "lasting", the first syllable is stressed, but there is an 's' between the stressed vowel and the 't', so you clearly hear the /t/ sound.

Here are some examples:

words with a /d/ sound	words with a /t/ sound
butter better sitter greater hated	deter fester hasty pasted faster

There are other ways in which the 't' can be pronounced differently in American English pronunciation. But for now, see how many examples of the /d/ phenomenon you can hear in the English around you.

About Author: Mary Gillespie, ESL Teacher and Owner of the Online ESL Tutoring Service, www.AtHomewithEnglish.com.