Flap t in "seventy"

Tom   Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:21 pm GMT
I have another quick question for Americans.

Is it OK to pronounce "seventy" with a flap T? I mean a real flap t that follows /n/, not a nasalized flap t.
Rick   Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:35 pm GMT
The way most Americans pronounce "seventy" is with a full "d" sound [d], not a flap t, or a nasalized flap. The last syllable in "seventy" is the same as the last syllable in "candy".
Timothy   Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:05 am GMT
SEH-vin-dee <or> SEV-in-dee is how it sounds.
matti:   Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:21 am GMT
i fall with rick's post, where the "t" is a full "d" like in "candy" or "debt"

is it even possible to flap the t in "seventy"? if so, it would probably sound really odd.
kom govna   Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:31 am GMT
Do some people not skip the t entirely? Seveny?
Entbark   Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:09 am GMT
Yes, seventy is flapped.
Uriel   Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:53 am GMT
All the -ty numbers except twenty have the D sound. Twenty either has no second T at all (twenny or twunny), or the full T, if someone is trying to emphasize it.
Biboka   Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:09 pm GMT
Max   Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:16 pm GMT
So

20 = ['twEnti] or ['twEni], but not ['twEndi]
70 = ['sEvInti] or ['sEvIndi], but not ['sEvIni]
90 = ['naInti] or ['naIndi], but not ['naIni]

Right?
matti:   Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:23 pm GMT
>>90 = ['naInti] or ['naIndi], but not ['naIni]<<

90 as ['naIni] sounds to me like childrens talk [ie. pwitty/hewo]
that is to say, a pronunciation limited to children and not many adults
Guest   Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:05 am GMT
I don't see why the hell "niny" or "sevenny" should not be used, although the alternatives with a /d/ are maybe more common.

Bill Gates says "windows niny-five" at 1:03, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0CRWAz09r8
Trimac20   Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:23 am GMT
I 'flap' 'seventy' so it sounds a bit like 'sevenny' but I'm Aussie. Or else I say it with a full 'T' sound.
Raiders Fan   Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:59 am GMT
Guest:

Maybe because it makes you sound like a sloppy careless uneducated moron? We're supposed to be teaching people how to speak PROPER English, not how much you can get away with and still be understood.
Timothy   Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:58 pm GMT
Achab,

I didn't say it MAKES you one, I said it makes you SOUND like one. And if you, Bill Gates, or the President himself talks like a buffoon, then you're going to sound like one.

Quit trying to defend people who want to talk sloppily.
feati   Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:45 pm GMT
In that video, Bill Gates pronounces it as /naIndi/ ("full d"), anyway. Well, at least at 1:03. I haven't watched the whole thing.