View source for T-glottalization

{{Short description|Pronouncing "t" as a glottal stop}}
{{Redirect|Bri'ish|other uses|British (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''T''-glottalization}}
{{English phonology topics}}
{{IPA notice}}
In [[English phonology]], '''''t''-glottalization''' ([[American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)|also]] '''''t''-glotallisation''') or '''''t''-glottalling''' is a [[sound change]] in certain [[List of dialects of the English language|English dialects and accents]], particularly in the United Kingdom, that causes the phoneme {{IPAc-en|t}} to be pronounced as the [[glottal stop]] {{IPAblink|ʔ|audio=y}} in certain positions. It is never universal, especially in careful speech{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}, and it most often alternates with other allophones of {{IPA|/t/}} such as {{audio-IPA|voiceless alveolar plosive.ogg|[t]}}, {{IPA|[tʰ]}}, {{IPA|[tⁿ]}} (before a nasal), {{IPA|[tˡ]}} (before a lateral), or {{IPA|[ɾ]}}.

As a sound change, it is a subtype of [[debuccalization]]. The pronunciation that it results in is called [[glottalization]]. Apparently, [[glottal reinforcement]], which is quite common in English, is a stage preceding full replacement of the stop,<ref name="lodge">{{cite book|last1=Lodge|first1=Ken|title=A Critical Introduction to Phonetics|date=2009|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8264-8873-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nVT_qNvbusC|page=177}}</ref> and indeed, reinforcement and replacement can be in [[free variation]].

==History==
The earliest mentions of the process are in [[Scotland]] during the 19th century, when [[Henry Sweet]] commented on the phenomenon. [[Peter Trudgill]] has argued that it began in [[Norfolk]], based on studies of rural dialects of those born in the 1870s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |date=2016 |title=Dialect Matters: Respecting Vernacular Language  |location=UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=132 |isbn=9781107130470  }}</ref> The [[Survey of English Dialects]] fieldworker Peter Wright found it in areas of Lancashire and said, "It is considered a lazy habit, but may have been in some dialects for hundreds of years."<ref>{{citation |first=Peter |last=Wright |title=The Lanky Twang: How it is spoke |publisher=Dalesman |publication-place=Lancaster |year=1981 |page= 22}}</ref>

Most early English [[dialectology]] focussed on rural areas, so it is hard to establish how long the process has existed in urban areas.  It has long been seen as a feature of [[Cockney]] dialect,<ref>Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Volume 2: The British Isles (pp. 323-327). Cambridge University Press. 0-52128540-2.</ref> and a 1955 study on Leeds dialect wrote that it occurred with "monotonous regularity" before consonants and often between vowel sounds.<ref>Courtney, Maureen R (1955), ''The Living Dialect of Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire'', page 7.  [https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/410251/the_living_dialect_of_leeds_in_the_west_riding_of?query=dialect%20of%20leeds&browseQuery=Search&resultOffset=6 Available in the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture.]</ref>  [[David Crystal]] claims that the sound can be heard in [[Received Pronunciation|Received Pronunciation (RP)]] speakers from the early 20th century such as [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]], [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[Ellen Terry]].<ref>{{citation |last=Crystal |first=David |title=The Stories of English |year=2005 |publisher=Penguin |page=416}}</ref> The Cambridge ''English Pronouncing Dictionary'' claims that ''t''-glottalization is now most common in [[London]], [[Leeds]], [[Edinburgh]], and [[Glasgow]].<ref>{{citation |first=Daniel |last=Jones |title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |page=216}}</ref>

Uniquely for English in the West Indies, [[Barbadian English]] uses a glottal allophone for /t/, and also less frequently for /k/ and /p/.<ref>Wells, John C. (1982), ''Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles'', page 584, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-28541-0}}</ref>

==Glottal reinforcement (pre-glottalization)==

Pre-glottalization of {{IPA|/t/}} is found in RP and [[General American|General American (GA)]] when the consonant {{IPA|/t/}} occurs before another consonant, or before a pause:

*pre-consonantal: ''get some''   {{IPA|[ˈɡɛʔt‿ˌsʌm]}}          ''lightning''     {{IPA|[ˈlaɪʔtnɪŋ]}}          ''at last''     {{IPA|[əʔt‿ˈlæst]}}
*final (pre-pausal): ''wait''    {{IPA|[weɪʔt]}}             ''bat''          {{IPA|[bæʔt]}}                ''about''       {{IPA|[əˈbaʊʔt]}}

The glottal closure overlaps with the consonant that it precedes, but the articulatory movements involved can usually be observed only by using laboratory instruments.<ref>Roach, P.J. (1979) `Laryngeal-oral coarticulation in glottalised English plosives', ''Journal of the International Phonetic Association'', 9, pp. 1-6)</ref> In words such as 'eaten' and 'button', pronounced with a glottal closure, it is generally almost impossible to know whether the {{IPA|/t/}} has been pronounced (e.g. {{IPA|[ˈiːʔtn̩]}}, {{IPA|[ˈbʌʔtn̩]}}) or omitted (e.g. {{IPA|[ˈiːʔn̩]}}, {{IPA|[ˈbʌʔn̩]}}).

However, in the same syllable coda position, /t/ may instead be analysed as an [[unreleased stop]].<ref>Odden, David (2005). ''Introduction to Phonology''. Page 32.</ref>

In some accents of English, {{IPA|/t/}} may be pre-glottalized intervocalically if it occurs finally in a stressed syllable. In the north-east of England and East Anglia, pronunciations such as 'paper' {{IPA|[ˈpeɪʔpə]}}, 'happy' {{IPA|[ˈhæʔpi]}} are found.<ref name="lodge"/>

There is variation in the occurrence of glottalization within RP according to which consonant follows {{IPA|/t/}}: for example, some speakers do not glottalize {{IPA|/t/}} when {{IPA|/r/}} follows, in words such as 'petrol' /ˈpɛtrəl/, 'mattress' /ˈmætrəs/.<ref>Roach, P.J. `Glottalization of English /p,t,k,tʃ/ - a re-examination', ''Journal of the International Phonetic Association'',3, 10-21. (1973)</ref>

T-glottalization rarely occurs syllable-initially in English but has been reported in some words that begin {{IPA|/tə/}} in some northern dialects.<ref>KM Petyt, ''Dialect' and Accent in Industrial West Yorkshire'', John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1985, p. 219</ref><ref>Docherty, Foulkes, Milroy, Milroy and Walshaw (1997) ''Descriptive adequacy in phonology'' in Journal of Linguistics 33, p. 290</ref>

==Glottal replacement==

In [[Received Pronunciation|RP]], and in many accents such as [[Cockney]], it is common for {{IPA|/t/}} to be completely replaced by a glottal stop before another consonant,<ref>{{citation |doi=10.1017/S0025100304001768 |last=Roach |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=British English: Received Pronunciation |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=34 |issue=2 |page=240|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Gimson">{{citation |last=Gimson |first=Alfred C. |year=1970 |title=An Introduction to the pronunciation of English |publication-place=London |publisher=Edward Arnold}}</ref> as in ''not now'' {{IPA|[nɒʔnaʊ]}} and ''department'' {{IPA|[dɪpɑː(ɹ)ʔmənʔ]}}. This replacement also happens before a syllabic {{IPAc-en|n}}, as in ''button'' (representable as {{IPA|[ˈbʌʔn̩]}}) and some pronunciations of ''pattern'' (representable as {{IPA|[ˈpæʔn̩]}}).

Among speakers of Britain, especially younger ones, glottal replacement of {{IPA|/t/}} is frequently heard in intervocalic position before an unstressed vowel. It is most common between a stressed vowel and a reduced vowel ({{IPA|/ə/, /ɪ/}}):
* ''getting better'' {{IPA|[ɡɛʔɪŋ bɛʔə(ɹ)]}} (in GA, this is {{IPA|[ɡɛɾɪŋ bɛɾɚ]}});
* ''societies'' {{IPA|[səˈsaɪəʔiz]}}, ''detail'' {{IPA|[ˈdiːʔeɪl]}} (these are slightly less likely to be glottalized).

In both RP and GA, {{IPA|/t/}}-replacement is found in absolute final position:
* ''let's start'' {{IPA|[lɛʔ stɑː(ɹ)ʔ]}}
* ''what'' {{IPA|[wɒʔ]}} or {{IPA|[wɐʔ]}}
* ''foot'' {{IPA|[fʊʔ]}}

''T''-glottalization is believed to have been spreading in Southern [[England]] at a faster rate than [[th-fronting|''th''-fronting]]{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}.  Cruttenden comments that "Use of {{IPA|[ʔ]}} for {{IPA|/t/}} word-medially intervocalically, as in ''water'', still remains stigmatised in GB.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gimson, ed. A. Cruttenden|title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|page=184|edition=8th}}</ref>" (GB is his alternative term for RP). The increased use of glottal stops within RP is believed to be an influence from Cockney and other working-class urban speech.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} In a 1985 publication on the speech of West Yorkshire, [[KM Petyt]] found that ''t''-glottalization was spreading from Bradford (where it had been reported in traditional dialect) to Halifax and Huddersfield (where it had not been reported in traditional dialect).<ref>{{citation |last=Petyt |first=K. M. |title=Dialect and Accent in Industrial West Yorkshire |year=1985 |pages=146–147 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing}}</ref>  In 1999, Shorrocks noted the phenomenon among young people in [[Bolton, Greater Manchester]]: "It is not at all typical of the traditional vernacular, in contradistinction to some other varieties of English, but younger people use {{IPA|[ʔ]}} medially between vowels more than their elders."<ref>{{cite book |last=Shorrocks |first=Graham |year=1999 |title=A Grammar of the Dialect of the Bolton Area, Part 1 |location=Frankfurt am Main |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=3-631-33066-9 |page=319}}</ref>

Recent studies (Milroy, Milroy & Walshaw 1994, Fabricius 2000) have suggested that ''t''-glottalization is increasing in RP speech.  [[Prince Harry]] frequently glottalizes his ''t''{{'s}}.<ref>{{citation |last=Wells |first=John |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0802b.htm |title=Intonation idioms in the Germanic languages (ii) |website= John Wells's phonetic blog |date=29 February 2008 |postscript=.}} Also see ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language'', p. 365</ref>  One study carried out by Anne Fabricius suggests that ''t''-glottalization is increasing in RP, the reason for this being the dialect levelling of the Southeast. She has argued that a wave-like profile of ''t''-glottalization has been going on through the regions, which has begun with speakers in London, due to the influence of [[Cockney]]. She says that this development is due to the population size of the capital, as well as London's dominance of the Southeast of England.<ref>{{citation |last=Fabricius |first=Anne |year=2000 |title=T-glottalling between stigma and prestige: A sociolinguistic study of Modern RP |type=Ph.D. |page=141 |url=http://www.akira.ruc.dk/~fabri/Fabricius-2000-PhD-thesis.pdf |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304075849/http://www.akira.ruc.dk/~fabri/Fabricius-2000-PhD-thesis.pdf |archivedate=4 March 2011 }}</ref>  However, Miroslav Ježek has argued that linguists attribute changes to London too readily, and that the evidence suggests that ''t''-glottalization began in Scotland and worked its way down gradually to London.<ref>{{citation |last=Ježek |first=Miroslav |year=2009 |url=http://is.muni.cz/th/109001/ff_m/diplomova_prace_Jezek.pdf |title=Upton's Model of RP: based on a research study into the current awareness of speakers and respondents of English |type=M.A. |page=27}}</ref>

== North American dialects ==
{{Expand section|date=July 2024}}
American and Canadian English accents feature ''t''-glottalization, heard in the following contexts:

* Word finally or before a syllabic {{IPAslink|n}}
** Latin {{IPA|[læʔn̩]}}
** Important {{IPA|[ˌɪmˈpɔɹʔn̩t]}}
** Button
* (Less commonly) across word boundaries.
** "Right ankle" {{IPA|[raɪʔ‿æŋkəl]}}
** "That apple" {{IPA|[ðæʔ‿æpəl]}}

Glottal replacement – or even deletion entirely in quick speech – in the coda position of a syllable is a distinctive feature of the speech of some speakers in the U.S. state of [[Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Connecticut Accent, or does Connecticut even have one? |url=https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-connecticut-accent-or-does-connecticut-even-have-one/ |website=New England Historical Society|date= 8 December 2019}}</ref>

''T''-glottalization, especially at word boundaries, is considered both a geographic and sociolinguistic phenomenon, with rates increasing both in the western U.S. and in younger female speakers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eddington |first=David |title=T-Glottalization in American English |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/american-speech/article-abstract/84/3/298/5856/T-Glottalization-IN-AMERICAN-ENGLISH?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=American Speech|date=2009 |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=298–314 |doi=10.1215/00031283-2009-023 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Glottalization]]
* [[Regional accents of English speakers]]
* [[Unreleased stop]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{History of English}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:T-Glottalization}}
[[Category:English phonology]]