"Connecticut accent" in the Times

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 9, 2004, at 7:03 PM, i wrote:

> ...i see now that Kreidler, the Pronunciation of English (1989), is
> cagey
> about these allophones.  p. 112: "The realization of /t/ may be a
> glottal stop [?] or a simultaneous -- or nearly simultaneous -- double
> closure, the vocal cords coming together while the apex makes contact
> with the alveolar ridge, [?t] or [t?]." ...

to summarize: there's a range of glottal realizations of the /t/ in
"Britain", "button", etc.  apparently, preglottalized [?t], glottalized
[t'], glottally released [t?], and glottal stop [?].  bob wachal has
the third, i have the fourth.  the articulations are perceptually
distinguishable, but the differences are, frankly, subtle.  apparently,
most of this variation passes by without anyone taking notice of it.
no one's ever found my variant worth commenting on, and i'd imagine
that bob wachal's variant has similarly escaped comment.  (has *any*
american on this list had their articulations of "Britain" etc. noted
as unusual by other americans?)

so, here's the mystery: what are speakers in New Britain CT doing that
makes people notice *their* pronunciations?

this is an empirical question.  but i should note that one possible
answer is: nothing.  that is, it's possible that New Britain folks have
one or more of the variants that the rest of us have, but that this
variant becomes notable only once others have noticed the glottal
variant of /t/ in "bottle" and the like.

on the other hand, there's that syllabic [n] to consider.  i believe
that mine is velarized, and so perceptually "dark" (like my syllabic
[l] and [r]).  maybe some people lack this velarization and produce
noticeably lighter syllabic [n], or high-vowel-plus-[n].

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)