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CalifJim
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534046
Sun, 29 Jun 08 07:36 AM
t is not pronounced d after an s or a c and in many other situations. A vowel, including r-colored vowels, must precede and a vowel must follow, and the stress must be in the syllable before the t. See How to pronounce a 't' in American English and following posts for more details than anyone could wish for on the pronunciation of t in AmE. CJ
Joined on
Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member
22,389
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
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sumryan
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535840
Wed, 02 Jul 08 02:34 PM
My students always have questions about this pronunciation feature. I know of four patterns that might help you predict where to pronounce 't' as a soft /d/. 1. when a ‘t’ is between vowels when the preceding vowel is stressed in words such as: city, party, forty, water 2. when a ‘t’ comes before a syllabic /l/ sound in words such as: petal, metal, settle 3. in past tense verbs ending in ‘t’ such as: educated, excited, defeated 4. in comparative adjectives ending in ‘t’ such as: greater, greatest, smarter, smartest There may be other patterns or rules as well. Good luck with this. Susan <link removed by a mod.>
Joined on
Wed, Jul 2 2008
New Member
09
Susan Ryan, English Pronunciation Instructor
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Anonymous,
1 yr 142 days ago
When it comes to "t" and "d", Belly, regional variation in pronunciation is the rule rather than the exception. What everyone has replied is correct, even if it may seem contradictory. In teaching English as a second language, I try to take the "path of least resistance." Whatever the learner can use and still be understood is my "rule of thumb." Cheers, Steve
Anonymous,
1 yr 138 days ago
Actually, this is a fascinating phenomenon. The problem is, 't' and 'd' are not always as distinct as we'd like to think. There's a whole range of sound in between the two. In response to the original question, there is something funny that happens with 't' begins an unstressed part of the word, as in 'mister'. If you listen carefully, most Americans will not actually pronounce it with a strong 't' (unless they're trying to be formal or speaking slowly). Neither is it 'misder', though. What happens is something like 'mis (pause) der' instead, with a very short (but definite) pause and a very light 'd'. In addition, the unstressed part of the word ('ter') will typically drop in pitch compared to the stressed part. It's hard to describe this exactly, but listen for it and you'll notice it. You're not likely to find this described in any textbooks as it's quite subtle. This phenomenon is even more pronounced with 'nt' combinations. For instance, 'dentist' is often pronounced as 'den (pause) dist', with a very light d. 'den tist' with a strong t will make you sound British or very formal. (There's also 'denist', of course, an informal/regional version). "Isn't it?" becomes "Isn (pause) dit?", again with a light d. In other examples "after" becomes "af (pause) der", "faster" becomes "fas (pause) der" etc. That small pause and drop in pitch are very important, by the way - saying 'afder' and 'fasder' and 'dendist' won't sound right at all. Not using phonetic transcription here, but I hope you get what I mean. Listen for it and you'll notice Americans do this.
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Kooyeen
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537499
Sun, 06 Jul 08 09:04 PM
 Anonymous“ If you listen carefully, most Americans will not actually pronounce it with a strong 't' (unless they're trying to be formal or speaking slowly). Neither is it 'misder', though. What happens is something like 'mis (pause) der' instead, with a very short (but definite) pause and a very light 'd'. In addition, the unstressed part of the word ('ter') will typically drop in pitch compared to the stressed part. ”
I'm afraid it's not a D at all, since it's not voiced. I'd say it's just an non-aspirated T. It's what allows you to distinguish licked it from lick tit. Non-aspirated T's might sound like light D's because if the following or preceding vowels, which might affect it and give them a little "voicing", but I believe they are always realized as T's (non-aspirated), not D's. Just my opinion. It's just that I think it is misleading to suggest realizing non-aspirated T's as D's. 
Joined on
Thu, Dec 22 2005
Italy
Senior Member
4,969
Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts
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Anonymous,
1 yr 138 days ago
Fair enough. That's kind of what I was trying to get at with mentioning the gray area between 't' and 'd'. When you get little to no aspiration and, as you say, "a little voicing", you're really in this zone between 't' and 'd' where they are not as clearly defined as one might wish. If I recall correctly what one speech therapist told me, there have been oscillograph studies on this - there is a range in which listeners don't distinguish between 't' and 'd' with any statistical consistency. Then again, I'm only a student of these things, not an expert myself
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