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T-glottalization AI simulator
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T-glottalization AI simulator
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T-glottalization
In English phonology, t-glottalization (also t-glotallisation) or t-glottalling is a sound change in certain English dialects and accents, particularly in the United Kingdom, that causes the phoneme /t/ to be pronounced as the glottal stop [ʔ] ⓘ in certain positions. It is never universal, especially in careful speech[citation needed], and it most often alternates with other allophones of /t/ such as ⓘ, [tʰ], [tⁿ] (before a nasal), [tˡ] (before a lateral), or [ɾ].
As a sound change, it is a subtype of debuccalization. The pronunciation that it results in is called glottalization. Apparently, glottal reinforcement, which is quite common in English, is a stage preceding full replacement of the stop, and indeed, reinforcement and replacement can be in free variation.
The earliest mentions of the process are in Scotland during the 19th century, when Henry Sweet commented on the phenomenon. Peter Trudgill has argued that it began in Norfolk, based on studies of rural dialects of those born in the 1870s. The Survey of English Dialects fieldworker Peter Wright found it in areas of Lancashire and said, "It is considered a lazy habit, but may have been in some dialects for hundreds of years."
Most early English dialectology focused on rural areas, so it is hard to establish how long the process has existed in urban areas. It has long been seen as a feature of Cockney dialect, and a 1955 study on Leeds dialect wrote that it occurred with "monotonous regularity" before consonants and often between vowel sounds. David Crystal claims that the sound can be heard in Received Pronunciation (RP) speakers from the early 20th century such as Daniel Jones, Bertrand Russell and Ellen Terry. The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary claims that t-glottalization is now most common in London, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
Uniquely for English in the West Indies, Barbadian English uses a glottal allophone for /t/, and also less frequently for /k/ and /p/.
Pre-glottalization of /t/ is found in RP and General American (GA) when the consonant /t/ occurs before another consonant, or before a pause:
The glottal closure overlaps with the consonant that it precedes, but the articulatory movements involved can usually be observed only by using laboratory instruments. In words such as 'eaten' and 'button', pronounced with a glottal closure, it is generally almost impossible to know whether the /t/ has been pronounced (e.g. [ˈiːʔtn̩], [ˈbʌʔtn̩]) or omitted (e.g. [ˈiːʔn̩], [ˈbʌʔn̩]).
However, in the same syllable coda position, /t/ may instead be analysed as an unreleased stop.
T-glottalization
In English phonology, t-glottalization (also t-glotallisation) or t-glottalling is a sound change in certain English dialects and accents, particularly in the United Kingdom, that causes the phoneme /t/ to be pronounced as the glottal stop [ʔ] ⓘ in certain positions. It is never universal, especially in careful speech[citation needed], and it most often alternates with other allophones of /t/ such as ⓘ, [tʰ], [tⁿ] (before a nasal), [tˡ] (before a lateral), or [ɾ].
As a sound change, it is a subtype of debuccalization. The pronunciation that it results in is called glottalization. Apparently, glottal reinforcement, which is quite common in English, is a stage preceding full replacement of the stop, and indeed, reinforcement and replacement can be in free variation.
The earliest mentions of the process are in Scotland during the 19th century, when Henry Sweet commented on the phenomenon. Peter Trudgill has argued that it began in Norfolk, based on studies of rural dialects of those born in the 1870s. The Survey of English Dialects fieldworker Peter Wright found it in areas of Lancashire and said, "It is considered a lazy habit, but may have been in some dialects for hundreds of years."
Most early English dialectology focused on rural areas, so it is hard to establish how long the process has existed in urban areas. It has long been seen as a feature of Cockney dialect, and a 1955 study on Leeds dialect wrote that it occurred with "monotonous regularity" before consonants and often between vowel sounds. David Crystal claims that the sound can be heard in Received Pronunciation (RP) speakers from the early 20th century such as Daniel Jones, Bertrand Russell and Ellen Terry. The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary claims that t-glottalization is now most common in London, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
Uniquely for English in the West Indies, Barbadian English uses a glottal allophone for /t/, and also less frequently for /k/ and /p/.
Pre-glottalization of /t/ is found in RP and General American (GA) when the consonant /t/ occurs before another consonant, or before a pause:
The glottal closure overlaps with the consonant that it precedes, but the articulatory movements involved can usually be observed only by using laboratory instruments. In words such as 'eaten' and 'button', pronounced with a glottal closure, it is generally almost impossible to know whether the /t/ has been pronounced (e.g. [ˈiːʔtn̩], [ˈbʌʔtn̩]) or omitted (e.g. [ˈiːʔn̩], [ˈbʌʔn̩]).
However, in the same syllable coda position, /t/ may instead be analysed as an unreleased stop.