Pronunciation of tomato

<<Is there a widely spoken European language that doesn't?>>

Spanish, French, and Italian come to mind.

Then I don't get it. I can post an audio sample of a French word containing [t_h].

Need a host...

<<Then I don't get it. I can post an audio sample of a French word containing [t_h].>>

I don't get what you're saying. I've never read or heard of aspirated stops existing in French.

Here it is: "toute". You can hear the second t strongly aspirated; the first one only mildly.

http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php?f=e9283b351541c5e17d0a5c0c

Another host:
http://www.geocities.com/marcoecrea/toute.wav

Here's another example but in a passage which is more realistic.

Note the aspirated t in "fait":

"En fait, Madame D..."
http://www.geocities.com/marcoecrea/enfait2.mp3

Kirk, Lazar, Travis:

Do you guys at least acknowledge the aspirated stops in the above recordings or am I missing something?

Russian does not have aspirated stops./

Spanish T's aren't aspirated. They aren't as diluted as the American alveolar flap, but they have a much duller sound than an aspirated T. And they ARE used at the beginning of words, like "tortilla" "tortuga" "todo" etc. It's a distinctive sound.

<<Do you guys at least acknowledge the aspirated stops in the above recordings or am I missing something?>>

Those did sound aspirated. But nonetheless, I've never read anything about regular aspiration being part of French phonology. It could be that there's a tendency to aspirate a final /t/ if you're emphasizing a word. We'll have to ask Greg.

As for European languages without aspiration, I'm pretty sure there's no aspiration in Spanish or Italian.

In French, it's common to hear aspiration with "u" as in "tu", "salut", "bu".

As the other Guest remarked, aspiration can be heard around "u". This also applies to such words as "nuit", "puis", etc. So I'd find it most surprising not to be recognized by linguists of French speaking origin.

To get back on track I am American, and I regularly hear tomato being said with the second "t" as a flap of the tongue rather than being said as clearly as the first, more commonly tuh-may-toh than any other way. I think that the vowel pronounciation depends on region. (I am, unfortunately, CALIFORIAN)

My cousin from Canada, (whom I just called on the telephone to hear him say the word) pronounces it tuh-may-toh, but the vowels sound like he tightens his throat and mouth more. Also, compared to my cousin, I gradually tighten my lips on the o, whereas he tightens the lips to begin with, causing the o to sound a bit exaggerated. The t's were the same as in AE.

I do recall viewing a BBC news broadcast about the tomato-throwing festival that they have in Spain and I heard it being said toh-mah-toh. But it was a while ago, and i don't remember in detail, so I can't compare.

I was just curious, how do Aussies pronounce tomato?

In Australia it's t'mah-toh, with no hint of a D for the second T. There are very few words Australians don't pronounce similarly to UKers, but one I can think of is vitamin. The Poms seem to rhyme the first two syllables of that with "bitter", while in Oz they rhyme with "biter", with the final unstressed syllable a schwa.