By the way, after doing my recordings and still sort’ve trying both out over and over and over… well, it’s a lot easier to say “truck” now than it was. It feels pretty natural. So, now that I know I say chruck, I’m starting to say truck. I’m assuming that once I forget about this, I’ll revert to chrucking along.
What a nice link. I’ve been thinking about looking at those type of audio graphics (spectrograms, he calls them) since this discussion began.
It was impressive that the columnist put out so much labor, – but much less impressive that the questioner indulged in blatant question begging.
However, as neat as the spectrograms were there were still to many variables to draw any firm conclusions. The diagrams suggest that when spoken rapidly and preceded by the word “to” there is more “hiss” at the start of “truck” than at the start of “tuck.” I think that’s due to
–routine vocal slurring during rapid speech
–“t” being a bit more explosive and easier to articulate than “tr.”
–The transition from the “ooh” sound in “to” to the “tr” sound in truck. I think there might be less hiss when saying “the truck” than “to truck.”
Question begging aside, thank you “KR” for asking the question to Mr. Language Sound Expert.
I noticed I’ve started doing the same! And, I have the same assumption about reverting soon.
What a long, strange trip (chrip?) this thread has been…
I’m wondering why the poll didn’t offer the option to select just one or none of the options. In fact, it seems that I, and several others, perceived a true [t] sound in only the fourth sample, and having been given the word list, it seems perfectly justified. I think the selection of options has seriously disabled the utility of this poll.
It’s not that uncommon in that position, though. Although it’s even more common after [θ]. I’ve definitely heard people lightly trill the word three. I think it’s just that the tongue is not moved quickly enough, and the tip of the tongue is loose enough, that the air from the r lightly flips it.
The Cleveland Indians radio announcer Tom Hamilton trills his Rs on “three.” He doesn’t do it every time, but much of the time. It gives him a little flair!
Also that “r” in standard American and British varieties of English in itself is pronounced with a place of articulation closer to “ch” than “t” is to “ch” (try saying “tuck”, “ruck”, “chuck”). “t” in “tr” is then pronounced further back to facilitate “r”, which comes across as a “chr”.
Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?