4 ms·
Now you're making me wonder if I just don't make enough distinctions in my speech or something, at least when it comes to the short A sound. If I speak these s
by smeej 2y ago
Now you're making me wonder if I just don't make enough distinctions in my speech or something, at least when it comes to the short A sound.
If I speak these sentences out loud, the words sound exactly the same to me:
"That doesn't matter at all."
"He was madder than hell."
Incidentally I'd say both A's here also sound just like my A's in ham and hamster! It's a very pinched sound, almost nasally. My choir director has had to train it out of us by exaggerating it and making it sound even more ridiculous because it has no place in singing.
- o11c 2y agoI mean, everything is dialect-specific, and there is a lot of variation between dialects around /æ/ in particular (trap-bath, bad-lad, Mary-marry-merry, and the whole mess of /æ/-raising/tensing - is ban-back an example that's always split?). But I'd still say it'd be interesting to record your voice and check the actual timings even if you can't consciously hear the length. Assuming you can actually practice running speech while thinking about it, of course.
- skeledrew 2y agoSign of the quintessential American. For me, a Jamaican, "madder" and "matter" are very distinct. And I don't think I'll ever get how a "t" becomes a "d".
- Sharlin 2y ago[t] is just the voiceless version of [d] and vice versa. The more lazily you pronounce the [t] between two vowels, the closer to [d] it becomes because it's less work to just keep the vocal chords vibrating.