Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!dsinc!cpp!aawest
From: aawest@CritPath.Org (Anthony West)
Subject: Re: t in AE bottle was Re: Q: [French] Is "vie" [vi@]?
Message-ID: <DnH22v.280@CritPath.Org>
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 06:01:42 GMT
References: <rte-2102961138560001@mac-118.lz.att.com> <4gogr3$2rs@neptunus.pi.net> <DnC69n.41z@world.std.com>
Organization: Critical Path Project
Lines: 22

In article <DnC69n.41z@world.std.com> jcf@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman) writes:
>I, too, _think_ that I pronounce "madder" & "matter" differently, but
>when I try the experiment the difference is slight & may be an
>artifact.
>
>About 30 years ago I happened to see a child's school paper in which
>he or she had misspelled "puddle" as "puttle".  In that person's
>speech, at any rate, there must have been no distinction.
>-- 
>        Joe Fineman
>
In my dialect of American English, "matter" and "madder" are
distinguished by two features that are invariably associated.

the /t/ in "matter" is unaspirated and unvoiced. The /d/ in
"madder" is unaspirated and voiced.

In addition, the /a/ in "matter" is short. That in "madder" is
lengthened (/a:/). Vowel lengthening occurs in all closed
syllables where the final consonant is voiced.

-Tony West
