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Original poster

American accents - t sound in water and others

118 replies

mincepiepie · 14/12/2022 18:24

I'm really intrigued by accents.

I'm from the north of England and have a generic northern accent.

I know there are a wide range of accents in the United States, and but also that typically the T is pronounced as D? for example, water I would say war- tah Americans would pronounce war-Der And duty, I would day dyou-tee and US accent doo-Dee.

Is this typical of an most American accents? I was listing to a true crime podcast and a witness was call Soptic. Fairly odd name in English but I'd pronounce it sop-tick but the presenters mad a big thing of calling her soap-dick. (It was the room 1046 Murder of you are interested she was a cleaner hence the hilarity Confused)

Also the Boston accent drops the r in car, bar so on but I think I do this too, baa and caa. But don't most typical British accent say it this was, except rural West Country type accents ( i think the dropping the r is non -rhotic?).

Can any one enlighten me?

OP posts:
Rushingfool · 14/12/2022 18:28

I find the fact that Sean Connery used a 'sh' sound for an 's' sometimes, but so does Dolly Parton, incredibly interesting. Possibly because her accent is derived from that of the Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian region all those hundreds of years before.

Labraradabrador · 14/12/2022 18:30

American here, but not a linguist. Would say the british ‘t’ is crisper than the American ‘t’, but as an American I can generally tell the difference between a ‘d’ and ‘t’ sound when spoken by another American. Some regional accents are more extreme (Boston / far east New England area where even even I think the ‘t’ sound disappears.

Twospaniels · 14/12/2022 18:33

Rushingfool · 14/12/2022 18:28

I find the fact that Sean Connery used a 'sh' sound for an 's' sometimes, but so does Dolly Parton, incredibly interesting. Possibly because her accent is derived from that of the Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian region all those hundreds of years before.

There’s a Scottish Formula 1 pundit (I forget his name) who also does the ‘sh’ sound.
He pronounces Mercedes as Mer shay deez. Drives me nuts.

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General education
MissConductUS · 14/12/2022 18:37

for example, water I would say war- tah Americans would pronounce war-Der And duty, I would day dyou-tee and US accent doo-Dee.

No, we wouldn't. I'm an American with a neutral mid-Atlantic accent, which is what you would hear from a TV news presenter. I definitely pronounce the "t" in both of those words.

LittleScottieDog · 14/12/2022 18:41

Rushingfool · 14/12/2022 18:28

I find the fact that Sean Connery used a 'sh' sound for an 's' sometimes, but so does Dolly Parton, incredibly interesting. Possibly because her accent is derived from that of the Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian region all those hundreds of years before.

I always assumed he had some kind of speech impediment, rather than it being related to his accent.

ButterflyBiscuit · 14/12/2022 18:43

I've noticed this too. To English ears it does often sound like the t has been replaced with a d (which in turn would sound to the speaker how a t sounds? Maybe our T sounds strange to them?) I had problems ordering water once in restaurant as it must have sounded so different to the server 🙈.

American water pronounciation

This American you tube shows the difference. The first very firmly sounds like wa-der to me!

ActionThisDay · 14/12/2022 18:44

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapping

This explains the t/d sound that a lot of Americans have in words like “water”.

ActionThisDay · 14/12/2022 18:45

ActionThisDay · 14/12/2022 18:44

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapping

This explains the t/d sound that a lot of Americans have in words like “water”.

Under the heading “distribution “.

BeanieTeen · 14/12/2022 18:47

No, we wouldn't. I'm an American with a neutral mid-Atlantic accent, which is what you would hear from a TV news presenter. I definitely pronounce the "t" in both of those words.

I always thought a mid-Atlantic accent isn’t a real accent? As in it used to be put on for tv and film but no one talks like that in real life. There’s no region where people speak like this is there? I must be mistaken! Do your parents speak that way then or did you pick it up as you got older? @MissConductUS

tabulahrasa · 14/12/2022 18:50

Rushingfool · 14/12/2022 18:28

I find the fact that Sean Connery used a 'sh' sound for an 's' sometimes, but so does Dolly Parton, incredibly interesting. Possibly because her accent is derived from that of the Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian region all those hundreds of years before.

Um... that’s not an accent, just him, I always assumed he had a lisp tbh.

Also, Dolly Has had some health issues that affected her speech, if you go and watch her talking from before than her S is very clearly an s.

MissConductUS · 14/12/2022 19:01

There’s no region where people speak like this is there?

There is - the mid-Atlantic states. Hence the name.

Mid-Atlantic (United States)

This is also how my parents spoke. And millions of other people, starting around age two.

BorisJohnsonsHair · 14/12/2022 19:02

I watched an American TV series where the lead character was called Paddy.

Turns out her name was Patty ...

ButterflyBiscuit · 14/12/2022 19:09

Ah yes a series about a "dude ranch" all about the horses my daughter loved had a "kaydee" which I thought was different and really pretty...
It turns out it's Katie!

ButterflyBiscuit · 14/12/2022 19:12

All 4 of these US regions say "wa der" to my ears...

Original poster
mincepiepie · 14/12/2022 19:13

Just been Katrina to the hunger games and in the second book there is beady, who is actually Beetee.

Thanks everyone, I haven't imagined it then it is a thing and it usual! I've watch two you tube clips a swell and they all say similar. Interesting the 'flapping' and how we actually make sounds and this explains is.

For those who speak American English do you think you might do the same but just it's normal for you so you don't notice?

OP posts:
Original poster
mincepiepie · 14/12/2022 19:13

Listening*

OP posts:
banivani · 14/12/2022 19:36

Let me recommend linguist dr Geoff Lindsey’s videos on YouTube! He’s covered a lot of this. For example the shtreets.

bluebird3 · 14/12/2022 19:44

It's not a t or a d but a flap which is an entirely different sound that is right in between the two. It has its own symbol in the international phonetic alphabet. It's different than an American t or d but you just can't hear the difference because your brain wasn't trained to at an early age. It's similar to how many native Chinese speakers often can't tell the difference between an r and an l sound. There is a really great book called The Power of Bable that goes into the evolution of linguistics and discusses these.

Original poster
mincepiepie · 14/12/2022 19:59

Ah this is all so fascinating! It it's also quite hard!

I'm also interested in what English language sounds like to non- native speakers. I mean if a speaker of another language was to mimic someone speaking English without actually saying words what would it sound like?

I find a couple of videos on you tube but I can't replicate it, where as if was asked to mimic French/ Swedish/ Chinese sounds I'd be able to do it.

OP posts:
PollyCreo · 14/12/2022 20:02

I was always confused by Cady in Mean Girls - I thought she should have been Katy? 😕

BeanieTeen · 14/12/2022 20:03

Ah yes a series about a "dude ranch" all about the horses my daughter loved had a "kaydee" which I thought was different and really pretty...

It turns out it's Katie!

I experienced the opposite - that show ‘My wife and kids’ I thought the youngest daughter was Katie but it turned out to be Kady. And another show where someone I thought was ‘Carrie’ was actually ‘Kerry’. Because that’s how you’re used to hearing the American pronunciation after a while, you assume that ‘d’ is meant to be ‘t’. And for some American accents an ‘a’ is very similar sounding to an ‘e’.

WuTangGran · 14/12/2022 20:06

Why can’t Americans say Craig? It always seems to come out as Creg.

Failingateverything · 14/12/2022 20:09

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapping
Here you go OP.

PollyCreo · 14/12/2022 20:11

WuTangGran · 14/12/2022 20:06

Why can’t Americans say Craig? It always seems to come out as Creg.

Try listening to Scots pronounce "Carl" 😅

DontBuyANewMumCashmere · 14/12/2022 20:11

I met an American Katie once and I spent about a minute or more asking her what it stood for. Genuinely honestly thought she was saying KD. 😳