English Language & Usage Asked on May 2, 2021
Many people raised in the US state of Connecticut have a distinctive accent that I have never heard anywhere else in New England. They cut off their “t”s when they pronounce certain words.
One place this occurs is at the end of words ending in “t”. Example: “Connecticut”. People don’t pronounce the final “t”, but instead cut off the short “u” sharply, as though something has suddenly gotten in the way of their tongues.
They do the same thing in the middle of certain words. One example is the word “important”; another is the name of the city “New Britain”. In both cases, the speakers mark a barely perceptible stop between the “r” and the first “t” in “important”, and do the same between the “i” and the “a” in “New Britain”. In both these cases, it’s as though there is nothing in place of the “t”, but there’s still a marked differentiation between the letters around it.
Is this a glottal stop, or something else? It seems to happen toward the front of the mouth, if that makes any difference.
Also, does anyone know how it evolved in the small state of Connecticut?
Glottal stop, according to the following article:
The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. (Wikipedia)
From The New York Times- Connecticut - Accent? What Accent?
"It's called a glottal stop," said Pat Gomola, a speech pathologist at the Speech and Language Institute in Middletown. "It's not a 't' sound. You say it in the back of your throat. It's the same thing when they say double-t words like cattle or bottle." In New Britain, such words come out as "CAH-uhl" or "BAH-uhl." Ms. Morgenstern attributed this sound to New Britain's large Polish-American population. "They don't enunciate their consonants as much," she said.
Correct answer by user 66974 on May 2, 2021
I think there are a couple related but slightly distinct things that you're talking about.
At the end of the word Connecticut, you are probably talking about replacement of /t/ at the end of a word with a glottal stop [ʔ]. This also can affect /t/ before a consonant in the middle of a word, as in wetly.
In words like important, the relevant sequence is even more specific: you're talking about the pronunciation of /tən/, a /t/ followed by the unstressed vowel phoneme called "schwa" and then the nasal consonant /n/. In many accents of English, the phoneme sequence /ən/ can be pronounced as a syllabic nasal, transcribed [n̩], in certain contexts, including after /t/. The realization of the /t/ itself is a little variable: it can be a nasally released /t/ sound (transcribed [tⁿ]), or for some speakers it can be a glottal stop [ʔ].
As far as I know, the use of [ʔn̩] is fairly widespread, so it wouldn't stick out too much. A slightly different thing that I think you might be noticing is the use of oral release in this context. I said earlier that /tən/ is often pronounced with [n̩], but some speakers do in fact use something like [ʔən], with a glottal stop followed by an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant.
Speakers who don't usually use oral release seem to find that the pronunciation of /tən/ with oral release sounds odd, but they describe it in different ways. I've seen some people say it sounds to them like the insertion of an /ɛ/-like vowel; another common perception seems to be loss of the /t/ sound. A recent Reddit thread on this subject: https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/fq3vfz/millennialzoomer_glottalization/
A post there by problemwithurstudy links to the paper "Where are the mountains in Utah?", by David Eddington, which studies the topic of how /tən/ words are pronounced in Utah. Eddington found that what is popularly characterized as "dropping t's" in Utahn pronunciation is actually the use of a glottal stop with oral release. I don't know what the situation is in Connecticut but I wonder if it could be similar.
Decapitated Soul's comment "'Mountain' pronounced with a 'glottal stop' sounds awkward" reminded me that /ntən/ can behave differently from /tən/ for some speakers, but I don't know the details. Here's a 2016 Language Log post by Mark Liberman about the pronunciation of the name "Clinton": https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=27112
Answered by herisson on May 2, 2021
Not sure if any of this helps but one of the consistent pronunciations I hear in the state of Connecticut is the interchangeability between the letter D and the letter T especially when they are doubled in words. The words BETTING and BEDDING sound identical. Also any word that ends in the letter D or T or G will be cut off completely. ING words cut off the last G, every time. Talkin' callin' goin' bein' etc. In most cases the last G is replaced with the letter t so the sounds of the words ending is a sharp t sound. "talkinT" "callinT" etc.
I'm not sure if I have an answer for you on this however there is something that should be noted. There seems to be a very thick and distinct accent in the New Haven area of the state of Connecticut. This accent is predominantly carried by the Italian-American community of which is some of the largest in the entire country. An Italian-American from New Haven will sound like they are a mix between New York and Boston accents. I happen to fall into this category and am constantly asked if I am from New Jersey or New York.
The most recognizable of the accent is the elongation of the vowels with the diphthongs taking on a completely different sound. CALL and TALK sound like "cawl, tawlk" and LONG sounds like "lawng". COUGH and COFFEE sound like "cawf, cawfee". And the list goes on and on.
There is no doubt that it is a completely distinct and colloquial accent and if you want to know the history on it you have to go back to the history of the settlement of the state of Connecticut and the influx of immigration into the state in the 1920s through the 1950s. With the amount of Irish and Italian immigration in that time period you will begin to see how the accent evolved.
Answered by Christopher Cellini on May 2, 2021
I came across your question when I was doing some research on this topic just now. I wrote a blog post on it from the perspective of a vocal coach. Perhaps you will be entertained:
https://www.crescendomusicloft.com/2021/04/08/i-can-tell-you-are-from-connecticut/
Answered by sandyconnolly on May 2, 2021
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