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For native speakers of American English
A question for those among you who speak the ever so elusive General American dialect: Do you aspirate your plosives in final position? Do you pronounce [r\AIt_h] or [r\AIt_}] for RIGHT (or something else entirely)?
I've observed some variability of this feature and I'd like the opinion of the linguistically aware. Cheers.
Well I don't speak General American, but I do speak a rhotic Northeastern US dialect, so I'll contribute for what it's worth.
- With final /k/ and /p/, they're usually unaspirated or lightly aspirated, unless I'm really emphasizing a word, in which case they can be strongly aspirated. - With final /t/...first of all, if final /t/ is followed by a word starting with a vowel, then I flap it (so "get a new one" would be [%gE4 @ "nu %wVn]). Otherwise (in other words, if it comes before a pause), then usually I pronounce it as an unreleased plosive [t_}]. If I'm really emphasizing the word, then I might pronounce it as a fully released and aspirated plosive [t_h]. So for instance, my "date" (assuming that it comes before a pause) could be [deIt_}] or [deIt_h], but never just [deIt].
<<Dictionary.com lists the only pronunciation I've heard for General American English which would probably be your second example (rait_)>>
Yes but dictionaries are not designed to give out much non-phonemically contrastive information so whether or not people say [r\aIt_h] it wouldn't be listed in a dictionary anyway. <<A question for those among you who speak the ever so elusive General American dialect: Do you aspirate your plosives in final position? Do you pronounce [r\AIt_h] or [r\AIt_}] for RIGHT (or something else entirely)? I've observed some variability of this feature and I'd like the opinion of the linguistically aware. Cheers.>> I may occasionally have [r\aIt_h] depending on phonological or emphatical context but it's normally an unrelased [t_}] or even [?] in that position. If a vowel followed it it would probably get [t_h] but in that position the intervocalic /t/ --> [4] rule applies anyway.
I myself (note that I do not speak something which could be called "General American") normally pronounce "right" as:
Normally by itself: [r\@I?] Emphatically by itself: [r\@It] or [r\@It_h] Before a word starting with a vowel: [r\@I4] Note that I do not actually have an unreleased realization of /t/ here. |