Most do not, although the difference IS subtle.
Actually, this sort of things happen with MANY t's in American English. It's all a matter of context (what sounds are around it) The main difference you hear is that, in some contexts the T is pronounced with a little puff of air (called 'aspiration') and so is very distinct. In British dialects this aspiration is much more widespread.
Some of the main examples:
"t" at the very beginning of a word is aspirated. Thus "try" and "dry" are easy to distinguish.
When a vowel sound both precedes and follows, the T is NOT aspirated, which may make the distinction more difficult to hear. Example: "British" as spoken by Americans.
By the way, note that I wrote 'before a vowel SOUND' -- that includes even a mostly swallowed sound, as you find between the L and T of "little". (It is not as simple as having an L follow. Thus in "bootleg" and "brilliantly", where there is no vowel sounded between the T and L, the T is distinct.)
But there is still a difference -- D uses the voice, T does not. Thus in STANDARD American English (and no one can account for every dialect or speaker!) "ladder" and "latter" are distinguished. If you want to see this, just look the words up in the American Heritage Dictionary -- available on line at http://www.thefreedictionary.com -- and you'll see the pronunciation listed includes a D for the first, a T for the latter.
2007-03-14 01:10:06
·
answer #1
·
answered by bruhaha 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
In some American accents, yes (Canadian too). It's not a question of the double-t though, it's true in any case in which the t appears after a vowel and before another (pronounced) vowel or an L. Technically it's a "flap", the tongue lands slightly farther back in the mouth than for a regular "d" and doesn't stay there quite as long.
I (Canadian) pronounce "latter" and "ladder" the same (unless someone asks me to repeat "latter", in which case I'd clearly pronounce the "tt"). The only difference in pronunciation between my "writer" and my "rider" is in the "i" sound, not the middle consonant.
2007-03-13 23:20:04
·
answer #2
·
answered by Goddess of Grammar 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
Mostly. It's well known among linguists and language experts that most types of American accents change the middle 't' to 'd' although it has nothing to do with whether it's doubled or not and completely depends on the word. For example, many Americans will say words like little, metal, or Peter like "liddle", "medal", and "Peder" although they usually don't think they talk like this and if someone asks them often assume it's based on a lack of education but it's not- it's very standard.
This feature of speech is often mocked by the British and others who usually don't do this so it should be understood for clarity that it's not based on corruption as lots of British either once did this or even still do (esp. in the southwest of England and Ireland, etc.) and not all Americans are like this anyway. It's based more on accent over education, generally speaking most native English speaking people seem to either pronounce the word "butter" like "budder" or "buttah."
Having said that, "Petra" is not "Pedra" and "interview" is not "inderview", "kitten" isn't "kidden", etc. You just have to try to learn some of the rules and listen to the language. The following source explains it pretty well.
2007-03-13 20:34:33
·
answer #3
·
answered by Savalatte 3
·
2⤊
1⤋
Yes, funny, isn't it? You thought with double "t" it would sound very tee like the way the British say it but no, they weakened it by changing it to a light "d". The Americans love to be very different from the rest of the word. They are obsessed with standing out.
2007-03-13 19:49:20
·
answer #4
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
2⤋
No, it sounds like a tt. "Get-ting" It only sounds like a "d" if you're saying it wrong. Try Rosetta Stone.
Edit: and I'm american, by the way. We don't all talk like idiots.
2007-03-13 19:48:39
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
It's probable to spend a lot of time and money searching for methods to teach your kids how to see and enhance their reading skills. Is difficult to instruct a small child how to learn, and actually attractive them to read is difficult in itself. However it doesn't need to be this way when you got assistance from this system https://tr.im/7El5p , Children Learning Reading program.
With Children Learning Reading you will show your youngster how to separate appears and break words into phonemes, an important issue when your kid is simply learning to spell.
The studying program from Children Learning Reading program allows you for kids to read easily and effectively, from simple phrases to phrases until they learn to read stories.
2016-04-28 06:04:00
·
answer #6
·
answered by ema 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
There are quirks in every dialect. For example, the English (and certain New Englanders) drop their r's.
2007-03-13 20:36:26
·
answer #7
·
answered by Surely Funke 6
·
0⤊
0⤋