# Is there a name for this specific speech affectation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654 "2015-09-01T23:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/1 "2015-09-01T23:42:41Z")
Not sure “affectation” is really the right word as it implies judgment, but I don’t know how else to phrase it. Basically, it’s the thing where people drop the "t"s out of words (usually when the “t” comes between 2 vowels, though I don’t know if that’s always the case). For instance, they’ll pronounce “rotten” something like “rah-in”. Gotta be a term for that, right? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/2 "2015-09-01T23:51:54Z")
I believe you are referring to the American glottal stop. It is most associated with youngish women in the mid-Atlantic region. > **[Glottal stop](https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2012/03/15/glottal-stop/)** > > A couple of days ago, I posted in Lingua Franca, the Chronicle of Higher Education Language blog I contribute to, a post about American glottal stop. A slightly edited version of it is below, follo… There is nothing charming about it to my ears and I wish it would die a quick death. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/3 "2015-09-02T04:22:44Z")
Yep, that sounds like the answer. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/4 "2015-09-02T15:51:22Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I believe you are referring to the American glottal stop. It is most associated with youngish women in the mid-Atlantic region. > > [Glottal stop](https://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/glottal-stop/) > > There is nothing charming about it to my ears and I wish it would die a quick death. How do you pronounce “cotton”? Most people I have heard say that word, say “kah|un”, where the “|” symbol means a full stop (which is what I believe Brits call a period); when I hear someone say “kah tun”, it sounds unnatural and forced. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/5 "2015-09-02T15:58:40Z")
An exaggerated glottal stop is a (much-derided) feature of the Utah accent, especially among women, where it’s been associated with forced neoteny (intentionally trying to sound like a little girl), among other things. [The Case of the Missing ‘T’](http://www.ksl.com/?sid=16460735) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/6 "2015-09-02T15:59:15Z")
People made fun of Sean Maher on the _Firefly_ set because he enunciated the ‘p’ in “ship”. I didn’t notice it particularly much when I first saw the episode, but now I can’t un-hear it. And, I go out of my way to enunciate things like that now, just to see if anybody gets annoyed by it. Fun times! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/7 "2015-09-02T18:39:18Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > People made fun of Sean Maher on the _Firefly_ set because he enunciated the ‘p’ in “ship”. I didn’t notice it particularly much when I first saw the episode, but now I can’t un-hear it. And, I go out of my way to enunciate things like that now, just to see if anybody gets annoyed by it. Fun times! Speaking of space operas, I always noticed how Avery Brooks, playing Captain Sisko on _Deep Space Nine_, would always go out his way to separate succeeding S’s. Instead of “everyone to weaponstations!” you’d get “everyone to weapons \ stations!” Drove me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/8 "2015-09-02T19:17:27Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Speaking of space operas, I always noticed how Avery Brooks, playing Captain Sisko on _Deep Space Nine_, would always go out his way to separate succeeding S’s. Instead of “everyone to weaponstations!” you’d get “everyone to weapons \ stations!” Drove me nuts. I’ve noticed his characters tend to enunciate very strongly when placed under stress. In other words, hurry them and pressure them and they become more precise. Not a bad message to give: “I’m more accurate under pressure.” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/9 "2015-09-02T19:30:03Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > How do you pronounce “cotton”? Most people I have heard say that word, say “kah|un”, where the “|” symbol means a full stop (which is what I believe Brits call a period); when I hear someone say “kah tun”, it sounds unnatural and forced. I’m not a linguist, but here’s what I observe. I don’t think the difference involves a highly stressed pronunciation of the ‘t’ sound. Instead, I think the difference is this. Either: A) the “kah” sound is vocalized through your mouth. At the ‘t’, the edge of your tongue seals against the roof of your mouth simultaneously with the [glottal stop,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop) and THEN the ‘n’ sound is vocalized through your nose, with your tongue never unsealing from your palate. The vowel sound ([schwa?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa)) between the ‘t’ and the ‘n’ never really gets vocalized. OR B) the “kah” sound is vocalized through your mouth. at the ‘t’, there is a glottal stop, but your tongue doesn’t move (yet). A split-second later the vowel after the ‘t’ is vocalized (but never the ‘t’ itself), followed by the tongue sealing to force the nasal vocalization of the ‘n’. The latter situation is what the OP is describing, but neither case involves a pronunciation of the ‘t’ sound (the hiss of air as your tongue unseals from the roof of your mouth). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/10 "2015-09-02T23:06:50Z")
It is not always replaced by a glottal stop. The “t” is not pronounced (in American dialects) in either “latter” or “ladder” and not replaced by a glottal stop either. It is marked by what I have seen called a domal tap (briefly touching the roof of the mouth with the tongue). The two words differ only in the length of the “a” (despite the fact that vowel length is not normally phonemic in English). Similar remarks apply to “writer” and “rider”. When I say “gotten”, “rotten”, etc. there is both a glottal stop and a domal tap. “Glottal”, by contrast, has only the domal tap. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/11 "2015-09-02T23:26:10Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It is not always replaced by a glottal stop. The “t” is not pronounced (in American dialects) in either “latter” or “ladder” and not replaced by a glottal stop either. It is marked by what I have seen called a domal tap (briefly touching the roof of the mouth with the tongue). The two words differ only in the length of the “a” (despite the fact that vowel length is not normally phonemic in English). Similar remarks apply to “writer” and “rider”. That’s also called an “intervocalic flap/tap” or also “alveolar flap/tap.” The former refers to how it occurs in some English dialect (many American), when a “t” or “d” occurs between vowels. It’s a voiced sound like a “d,” but is not a standard English “d,” which is a voiced alveolar stop. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/12 "2015-09-04T21:17:58Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I’m not a linguist, but here’s what I observe. > > I don’t think the difference involves a highly stressed pronunciation of the ‘t’ sound. Instead, I think the difference is this. Either: > > A) the “kah” sound is vocalized through your mouth. At the ‘t’, the edge of your tongue seals against the roof of your mouth simultaneously with the [glottal stop,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop) and THEN the ‘n’ sound is vocalized through your nose, with your tongue never unsealing from your palate. The vowel sound ([schwa?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa)) between the ‘t’ and the ‘n’ never really gets vocalized. > > OR > > B) the “kah” sound is vocalized through your mouth. at the ‘t’, there is a glottal stop, but your tongue doesn’t move (yet). A split-second later the vowel after the ‘t’ is vocalized (but never the ‘t’ itself), followed by the tongue sealing to force the nasal vocalization of the ‘n’. > > The latter situation is what the OP is describing, but neither case involves a pronunciation of the ‘t’ sound (the hiss of air as your tongue unseals from the roof of your mouth). Those are both glottalizations, but the first is glottal reinforcement and the second is glottal replacement. The /t/ is in fact articulated in the first example, it’s just never released. Or, to be more precise, it’s released at the same time the glottal is released. And both are released nasally and vocalized. In other words, the release is masked by the /n/. That’s not to say you can’t use glottal replacement and syllabic /n/ together. It’s just really, really hard to tell the difference. The fact that your second group does not use syllabic /n/ makes it much easier to tell. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/13 "2015-09-05T00:53:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s also called an “intervocalic flap/tap” or also “alveolar flap/tap.” The former refers to how it occurs in some English dialect (many American), when a “t” or “d” occurs between vowels. It’s a voiced sound like a “d,” but is not a standard English “d,” which is a voiced alveolar stop. In case anyone wonders, he difference is whether or not you let any pressure build behind a flap. (And, no, I didn’t have to look it up. But I remember back when I didn’t know the difference, and would have appreciated someone giving it to me this succinctly.) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/14 "2015-09-05T13:26:05Z")
[T-glottalization](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-glottalization) is a kind of [debuccalization](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debuccalization). ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/15 "2015-09-07T12:46:26Z")
I used to work with a few guys who are originally from the UK (not sure if from England or Scotland) At least one of them would pronounce thirteen with the “missing T”; almost sounded like Thuh/een. \ ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-specific-speech-affectation/729654/16 "2015-09-08T15:18:55Z")
In college I had a Biafran friend who enunciated very clearly and would chide me for not pronouncing my T’s. He was right, of course, but in investigating, I found that he couldn’t hear the difference between my “an” and “ant”. Most Americans have no trouble distinguishing these even with my sloppy Midwestern accent. But he just couldn’t detect the sharp stop as different from the soft one.