6 Pronouncing the Letter T
Eric Dodson; Luciana Diniz; and Nanci Leiton
T Pronunciation
Type One: “normal” T
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol: [t]
Notice the air that follows the t!
- Beginning of words:
- teacher
- today
- two
- tall
- After most consonants (but not R!)
- best
- faster
- guilty
- alter / altar
- doctor
- optimist
Type 2: Flap T/ Quick T
This is a “fast d” sound. There is no extra air with the T! The IPA is: [d] or [ɾ]
This usually happens when we have a “t sandwich” — a vowel before the T and a vowel after the T.
- vowel + t / tt / d + vowel
- writing
- bottle
- water
- tutor
- city
- This combination (vowel + t + vowel ) can happen with more than one word together in normal speech.
- It isn’t my problem.
- Can you figure it out?
- Wait a minute!
- What if you’re wrong?
- Exception: If the “t” is in the beginning of a stressed syllable, we use the “normal T”:
- until
- attorney
- attack
- eternal
- Notice: This fast d / flap t sound is the same for words that usually have a “d” with a vowel before and after. So, these words sound the same for most American English accents:
- writing / riding
- liter / leader
- metal / medal
Type 3: Glottal Stop T /ʔ/
The glottal stop /ʔ/ is the stop of air in your voice. Example: uh-oh.
This kind of t sound happens when there is a vowel + t + n (or a vowel+n).
- Vowel+t+n
- sentence
- partner
- important
- Common Contractions:
- can’t
- won’t
- haven’t
- couldn’t
- shouldn’t
- -tten or -tain spellings:
- written
- gotten
- mountain
- fountain
- Britain
Other spellings and sounds
T can change into some other sounds, too:
- T becomes a “ch” sound or, in IPA: [tʃ ]
- T+R together:
- true
- tree
- attribute
- T + U together — specifically, when “u” is pronounced with a [j] + vowel sound
- picture
- natural
- capture
- T+R together:
- T becomes a “sh” sound, or in IPA: [ʃ]
- with -tion endings
- information
- caption
- station
- with -tious endings
- cautious
- superstitious
- with -tion endings
- Normal T
- teacher
- today
- two
- tall
- best
- faster
- guilty
- alter / altar
- doctor
- optimist
- until
- attorney
- attack
- eternal
- Flap T
- writing
- bottle
- water
- tutor
- city
- It isn’t my problem.
- Can you figure it out?
- Wait a minute!
- What if you’re wrong?
- writing / riding
- liter / leader
- metal / medal
- Glottal Stop T
- sentence
- partner
- important
- can’t
- won’t
- haven’t
- couldn’t
- shouldn’t
- written
- gotten
- mountain
- fountain
- Britain
- Other sounds (ch and sh)
- true
- tree
- attribute
- picture
- natural
- capture
- information
- caption
- station
- cautious
- superstitious
Green Tea Intermediate English Communication OER by Eric Dodson; Luciana Diniz; and Nanci Leiton