For words ending in "-ity" is it ~t or ~d

[Benjamin Barrett]

I don't believe AmE speakers use a "d" sound in any of these words. They
use a tongue flap, represented by an upside down "r" in IPA. I think you
need a new symbol for it because "d" is not correct. Further, whether
people use the tongue flap or "t" is variable depending on social and
linguistic factors. Perhaps you can use marching red ants or flashing
(functions found in MS Word before version 2007) to represent this
variability. BB

Tom Zurinskas wrote:
> The sound of ~t versus ~d in "-ity".
>
> I analyzed the top words with "ity" endings in the Collins Cobuild
> word popularity database.  I listened to them spoken in m-w.com.
> Words below are ranked, most popular at top.
>
> SUMMARY  - as spoken in m-w.com;
> Most words ended spoken as ~idee.
> Mostly females said ~idee
>
>                 truespel
> 1       city     ~idee
> 2       university       ~idee
>

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