dokterjokkebrok  +  948891 Wed, 21 Oct 09 12:33 PM Hi I would like to know if there are any differences between the allophones of  British (RP)  /t/        and American (GA) /t/    specifically at the end of words such as 'bat', 'cat' ,  or 'hesitant' and 'restaurant'. Because, to me, it seems as if word endings in words like 'cat' and 'hat' are slightly different.  Is that true? Thank you in advance.   dokterjokkebrok Joined on Sun, Jun 21 2009 The Netherlands Full Member 226 "Experience is the name we all give to our mistakes." Oscar Wilde Accents, Countries, United States, American, Allophones

	Kooyeen  +  948898 Wed, 21 Oct 09 12:56 PM What do you mean? There are allophones of /t/, yes... At the end of a word (if nothing follows), /t/ can be pronounced in three different ways, as far as I know: 1) Released: you can hear the /t/, which is sometimes aspirated to some extent 2) Not released: you can't hear the /t/, but the tongue touches the roof of the mouth anyway. 3) Glottal stop: you can't hear the /t/, which becomes pretty much of a glottal stop (and so the tip of your tongue doesn't even move) I get the impression #2 is the usual one in American English, #1 is only used occasionally, or when speaking carefully (or frequently in posh RP), and #3 is common in several British accents and some American accents (maybe African American Vernacular English). Just my non-native guess. Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,969 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts American English, Accents, American Accents, Glottals, Countries, United States, United Kingdom, Great Britain, American, Tips, Languages, British Accents, Allophones

	Kooyeen  +  966776 Tue, 10 Nov 09 01:01 AM Anonymous “what are the difficult for learning English about allophones? ” I don't understand your question, but one thing about allophones is that you don't need to learn them in order to be understood: you'll be understood anyway. Kooyeen Learning English, Students, Allophones