Re: USAGE: Schwa and syllabification

David Peterson wrote:
Joe wrote:

<<Actually, the 'tt' is [?] :p>>

Not unless you're Eliza Doolittle (or "li'il"). It's pretty much a flap in
English, I'd say. Any takers on this issue? (Note: This is NOT YAEPT! It's
important for scientific purposes.)
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Bear in mind, Joe is a Brit IIRC. I'm not sure how to classify AmE [...tn=] or
[...tl=]....Now, in the case of [...tr=] e.g. "litter" the t is definitely
flapped; but in the case of "kitten" and "little", in most casual speech IMO,
the tongue tip stays put, but -tn= is simply released thru the nose; -tl=
released by dropping the sides of the tongue. To release the [t] (not flap it)
then pronounce the syllabic n/l IMO sounds very very careful and over-precise.
And personally, I flap my /t/ before syllabic m and r, and before -ing (bottom,
butter, hitting e.g.) but never before syllabic n or l. Is that odd or not???

Years ago in an instrumental phonetics session, I made pressure/amplitude recordings of--
1. ['k_hIt@n] with t released-- rather un-native sounding!, vs. 2. ['k_hI?n=]
(for me [?] is permitted before the /n=/ and/or a stop, but sounds
"stage-cockney" before /l=/ and intervocalic) and
3. ['k_hItn=] (t with nasal release, tongue-tip doesn't move, as described
above)--- each pronunciation made a quite distinct picture.
Personally, I alternate freely between #2 and #3, would only say #1 if someone said "What
did you say??"