Q Talk

[SurferWife]

That’s so funny! I thought I was the only one who noticed that. I live in Hawai’i (I’m a Texan, though) and locals (don’t get me started on pidgeon talk) drop the t on many words when it is the last letter. For example they pronounce “perfect” as “perfec”. I don’t get it. They also don’t pronounce the possessives. For example “Ken’s guys” is pronounced Ken guys”. It’s just weird to me and I’ve lived here 9 years now. I’m sure they don’t understand a lot of my Texas slang...bless their hearts! 😜

[Annie57]

Oh, thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one who cringed!

[Annie57]

I honestly think yours is the best and most accurate answer!  I do not think it is a glottal stop or regional or some derivative from Cockney. It is youth, on the march again--aggravating their parents. Ha! Thanks!

[dooBdoo]

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@insomniac2 wrote:

I am weary of posters mentioning Susan Graver's pronouncing "length" without the "g" sound.

This is a perfectly legitimate way of pronouncing that word: check your dictionary!

As for the disappearing "t" in cotton, I think that's strange.

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            I didn't know that, @insomniac2.  Thanks!   Learn something new every day!😊

[blueluna]

@violann 👍

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[dooBdoo]

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@tarsmom wrote:

This was so enlightening!  The poster who mentioned the Valley Girl thing is right - there's a third way - it's cah-in.  Or buh-in.  That's what's bugging the original poster, I believe and it bugs me, too.  I only hear younger women speak this way (20's and younger).  

A local young woman sportscaster did it a few times - the Spar-ins instead of Spartans and both hubby and I looked at each other and started laughing!  

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            That's it, @tarsmom!  I think @violann was brilliant to mention Cockney, because the more I think about it that's how it sounds.   

[TenderMercies]

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@blueluna wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@violann wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@violann wrote:

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@Desertdi wrote:

It's called a "glottal stop"........common in many foreign languages.    Have no idea why it's been "adopted" here.............

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Good call- it is a regional pronunciation, sometimes considered nonstandard.

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            This is different from the standard glottal stop, @violann.  It's the 3rd pronunciation I described -- someone needs to give it a name. 🤔😊

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SO glad you’re here dB!!!!!👏🏻😊. I find the subject of developmental phonology and linguistics super fascinating!

The basic productions of the phoneme /t/ are tongue tip on the alveolar ridge (aspirated and unaspirated) and glottal, tongue tip between slightly open teeth with a slight puff of air being emitted from the nostrils.

The standard sound of /t/ is unvoiced, but the glottal production can’t be produced without voicing.

Could that be the difference you’re thinking about? 

I’m on the fly, but I’ll watch the video as soon as I can.

Has anyone mentioned that glottal stops occur frequently in Cockney English? Don’t know whether that’s currently considered non standard British production or not.

However much any of us may dislike the idea, and I sometimes do, language evolves and changes, and at his point with the constant barrage of media, faster all the time.

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            You're so sweet, @violann!   I'm SO glad you're here, too!  The video presents the difference between the typical British and typical American pronunciation, though not the Cockney English, and does address the regular/hard "t" and the glottal "t".   Those are the 2 ways we've always known about and with which we've been familiar.

            This new, 3rd, pronunciation removes the "t" completely from the words.   As if "cotton" were 2 words, "cahh" and "hun" and as if "button" were 2 words, "buhh" and "hun."   

            It still does use a glottal stop but not in the way we've known with these words before -- and you're right, it is very much like the Cockney!   It's something that has appeared in, perhaps, the last 10 years or so?   I've heard some conjecture that it arose from "valley girl speak" and gradually slipped into more common use.   Personally, I think it's much more difficult to pronounce that way.   

            We need a clip from one of Dennis Basso's shows, because he's a very good example of this strange modification.

            If I have time, later, maybe I can find an example -- or maybe someone else can -- so you'll hear this 3rd pronounciation.   Have a lovely day, @violann!😊

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@TenderMercies

This one is a great explanation of the weird pronunciation the thread is about....... different from your examples.

hth!

🙏👍

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@blueluna The difference between this post and mine is that she explains the different variations, while I state that those variations are acceptable norms.  

[Drythe]

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@Shanus wrote:When my kids started school, I also noticed NC accents w/ mispronounced words...oil was “all”, five was “fov”, nine was “non”, etc. DH & I corrected them. I cannot detect any accent now that they’re grown.

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@Shanus

As a native of NC, I notice that most newcomers consider the southern accent mis-pronunciation, and attempt to “correct” various words.

However, I learned in my speech classes that regional accents are perfectly legitimate / acceptable.  Thus one of my professors who was Pennsylvania Dutch did not try to teach me to say dawug!

At this point US speech is becoming so homogeneous, I’m hanging on to the bit of accent I still have, love the sound, and it is my heratige.

[on the bay]

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@tarsmom wrote:

This was so enlightening!  The poster who mentioned the Valley Girl thing is right - there's a third way - it's cah-in.  Or buh-in.  That's what's bugging the original poster, I believe and it bugs me, too.  I only hear younger women speak this way (20's and younger).  

A local young woman sportscaster did it a few times - the Spar-ins instead of Spartans and both hubby and I looked at each other and started laughing!  

Ok-this is exactly how I'm hearing it.

And @TenderMercies

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,I agree! I've never heard anyone actually pronounce cotton with hard tt's.

But this new strange and difficult pronounciation sounds to me just like you said @tarsmom-

cah-in and I can't even say it without my tongue hurting!