Consonant Cluster Simplification is widespread

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 5, 2008, at 11:33 AM, Ron Butters wrote:

> What Arnold meant by "t/d deletion" is not clear: "t deletion" takes
> place
> when "n't" becomes "n'", but "d deletion" is simply a part of CCS.
> Unless I'm
> mistaken, there is no such thing as "t/d deletion" as such, so it
> could not very
> well be "widespread."

"t/d deletion" is a standard term in variationist studies of english
-- for the subcases of final consonant cluster simplification that
involve final t and d (as in WRIS' WATCH and SAN' DOLLAR).  T/D and
ING are the most studied variables in english in the variationist
framework; there's a huge literature on both.

arnold

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