Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
pronunciation of D
Hi there, everybody
I was wondering about how do native speakers REALLY pronounce their Ds. I tried unsuccessfully to find material about this on the web.
I think I hear a slight aspiration, more like a brief S if you will, after initial-Ds, as in the word "deem" or "dean", but maybe less in words like "dough". Is it really so or am I mis-hearing it? I hear it like "DsEEM" and "DsEAN", those Ss being pronounced really quick. They seem like a slighter aspiration as compared to the initial-T aspiration.
If there be here a kind native speaker soul who'd like to record an mp3 or something to help me out, I'd be very glad if they could speak the following words: deem, dean, dough, dab, deb, dob, doob, doodle, day.
By the way, just so you know my listening level, I can hear pretty much everything they say on TV, whether it's a series or documentary or news. I think the constant improvement of one's vocabulary helps much with listening, as there will be progressively fewer words which you cannot recognize.
Thanks
I was wondering about how do native speakers REALLY pronounce their Ds. I tried unsuccessfully to find material about this on the web.
I think I hear a slight aspiration, more like a brief S if you will, after initial-Ds, as in the word "deem" or "dean", but maybe less in words like "dough". Is it really so or am I mis-hearing it? I hear it like "DsEEM" and "DsEAN", those Ss being pronounced really quick. They seem like a slighter aspiration as compared to the initial-T aspiration.
If there be here a kind native speaker soul who'd like to record an mp3 or something to help me out, I'd be very glad if they could speak the following words: deem, dean, dough, dab, deb, dob, doob, doodle, day.
By the way, just so you know my listening level, I can hear pretty much everything they say on TV, whether it's a series or documentary or news. I think the constant improvement of one's vocabulary helps much with listening, as there will be progressively fewer words which you cannot recognize.
Thanks
Top answer
English /d/ and /t/ are pronounced at the alveolar ridge, the area just behind the teeth. /d/ does sound a bit different depending on the following vowel, because the tongue is positioned slightly forward or back depending on the vowel. I don't think it is a difference that many speakers actively notice.
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English /d/ and /t/ are pronounced at the alveolar ridge, the area just behind the teeth. /d/ does sound a bit different depending on the following vowel, because the tongue is positioned slightly forward or back depending on the vowel.
I don't think it is a difference that many speakers actively notice. If you can't replicate it, you will still be understood.
It is also possibl
I don't think it is a difference that many speakers actively notice. If you can't replicate it, you will still be understood.
It is also possibl
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/d/ does have some variations, because the tongue is positioned slightly forward or slightly back depending on what the following vowel is.
It is not a difference that most speakers actively notice. If you don't replicate it you will still be understood.
It is possible that /d/ has a short aspiration for some speakers, much shorter than /t/.
It is not a difference that most speakers actively notice. If you don't replicate it you will still be understood.
It is possible that /d/ has a short aspiration for some speakers, much shorter than /t/.
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Oh, alveolar ridge, I didn't know that. Well that helps a lot, thanks. 
I can replicate it; actually I can replicate many differ
I can replicate it; actually I can replicate many differ
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English /d/ is apico-alveolar.
Word initially it is often not voiced - there is a very short voice onset time. In North American English, between vowels and word finally it can sound the same as /t/ - sometimes it is the vowel length that gives away whether it is a /d/ or /t/. Vowels proceeding /d/ are longer than vowels proceeding /t/.
I'm afraid even if I heard you pronounce d
Word initially it is often not voiced - there is a very short voice onset time. In North American English, between vowels and word finally it can sound the same as /t/ - sometimes it is the vowel length that gives away whether it is a /d/ or /t/. Vowels proceeding /d/ are longer than vowels proceeding /t/.
I'm afraid even if I heard you pronounce d
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I'm sorry for taking so long to answer your reply.
Thanks for your help, apico-alveolar leaves no doubt to me.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your help, apico-alveolar leaves no doubt to me.
Thanks again.
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