A production and perception study of /t/ glottalization and oral and glottal releases of /t/ in five US states
This poster examines the production and perception of /t/ in five US states: Indiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont. For the production study, participants read a letter containing 24 prenasal word-medial /t/s (e.g., kitten) and 28 prevocalic word-final /t/s (e.g., not ever). Results indicate that younger speakers produce more oral releases of prenasal word-medial /t/ (e.g. button) and more glottal stops of prevocalic word-final /t/ (e.g., not ever), as do women. For the perception study, 22 speakers recorded a unique sentence, and then these recordings were presented to participants who rated the speakers in terms of their perceived age, friendliness, pleasantness, rurality, education level, and whether they were from the same state as the participants. Speakers who used glottal stops were viewed as less educated and less friendly, while speakers who used oral releases were perceived as more rustic and less educated.
