US Americans: help me answer a question please

[Laura Corin]

We are a mixed US/UK household and have differing views on how widespread a particular US pronunciation is. I am using the US census areas but splitting out Texas (whence Husband comes).

 

So the question is: do you pronounce diluted with a 't' (diluTed) or a 'd' (diluDed)? It doesn't matter what syllables you stress or how you pronounce the vowels. I know you know how to spell it, but how do you say it? Poll to follow.

 

Thank you

 

Laura

[Lawana]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

 

 

:iagree:If I had to pick, I would say it was closer to /t/ than /d/. I'm from the West originally.

[Meriwether]

I voted diluted, but when I say it fast the t has a bit of d sound. I'm from the Midwest.

[Mom2Es]

I would classify it as a "soft t." With a "d" would make it a completely different word (deluded).

[Jen500]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

I live in the northeast.

 

---copied and pasted...;)

 

 

:iagree:

[AuntieM]

Diluted - watered down - definitely with a T sound.

 

Deluded - having a mistaken idea - that's the semi-homonym pronounced with the "D" sound.

[Mama_Rana]

Ok, you don't have an other, so I voted "south but outside of TX because that's where I was born and spent many of my formative years. BUT, I was a military brat and lived in England [on base, but some of my teachers were British] for 4 years.

I've also lived in CA, and now live in MD.

 

But the "t" isn't as completely unvoiced as it would be in, say, top. Hard to explain.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I didn't relize until I said it for this that I was saying it diluDed. I "say" it right in my head! (From the west.)

[nertsmommy]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

I live in the northeast.

 

Same here. Not really a t or a d exactly.

 

I also live in the northeast.

[snickelfritz]

I voted mid-west and with a "d".

 

My differentiation between diluted and deluded comes, ever so slightly, in the first vowel. Even when I say diluted like "die-luted"... It's more of a d.

 

I'm an Oklahoman, who I think, speak very similarly to Texans. The bigger differentiation being in urban vs. rural.

[ErinE]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

I live in the northeast.

 

---copied and pasted...;)

 

What WendyK said. Raised in Texas, but I've been told numerous times I don't have an accent except that I prefer "ya'll" to "you" (plural), "you guys," or the dreaded NJ/PA/NY "yous guys."

[Mom22ns]

I voted diluted, but when I say it fast the t has a bit of d sound. I'm from the Midwest.

 

:iagree:

[Laura Corin]

LOL. I have yet to hear "yous guys". That must be specific to a certain part of NY.

 

'Yous' is a common plural here.

 

Laura

[KarenNC]

I would classify it as a "soft t." With a "d" would make it a completely different word (deluded).

 

Do you not have a differentiation in the way you pronounce the first syllable? I have "DI-loo-dehd" vs. "deh-LOO-ded" (emphasis is on different syllables), so I don't see the two being confused even though I do have a more "d" sound in "diluted" (lived all my life in NC and don't differentiate in the vowel sounds of "pen" and "pin," just to confuse matters;)).

[HSMom2One]

Diluted - watered down - definitely with a T sound.

 

Deluded - having a mistaken idea - that's the semi-homonym pronounced with the "D" sound.

 

 

:iagree: :iagree:

 

I was about to type the same thing when I happened to read this post on the thread. Yes, don't be deluded into thinking that diluted ice tea is tasty!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Alessandra]

Voted NE T. I often have to remind dc to use a nice, crisp 't.'

 

Yous is Brooklynese, as far as I know -- I used to hear it a lot from NYC taxi drivers, at a time when they were actually from NYC.

[Scuff]

I'm from the midwest and think I say diluTed. However, several Mi accent guides have told me that I don't pronounce ts. So while I say that it's diluTed, you may not hear the T sound as strongly as you hoped.

[Parrothead]

It comes out actually more like dilutID.

[Laura Corin]

People (British and American) always say that Husband has a light generic American accent rather than sounding specifically Texas. He assumes that there are strong Texas elements, however, and today brought up this pronunciation (with the 'd') as one of them. From the poll, the 'd' looks to be fairly widespread, so not a Texas/South marker.

 

Laura

[ErinE]

LOL. I have yet to hear "yous guys". That must be specific to a certain part of NY.

 

I spent a few years in NYC and heard it often enough.

[mommymilkies]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

I live in the northeast.

 

---copied and pasted...;)

 

 

 

Yes, except I am from the Midwest (but had a NY stepfather with a strong accent for most of my life). I honestly have never heard a strong d sound in the word even when we lived in NC, NY, KY, or the Midwest.

[SunnyDays]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

 

 

:iagree:This, exactly. I'm from the midwest.

[Widdershins]

It's a flap. It's what people have described as between a t and a d. Some people think of it as being lazy. It is similar to the way many pronounce the "tt" in butter or flatter or the t in writer.

[Ellie]

Diluted - watered down - definitely with a T sound.

 

Deluded - having a mistaken idea - that's the semi-homonym pronounced with the "D" sound.

:iagree:

[SonshineLearner]

I say "Diluted".... My mom is from Oregon and my Dad from Texas :) My mom enunciates particularly well, and my dad.... well :) He's from Texas :) My mom also says "wa ter" versus "wadder" which most people seem to lazily say :) .... she also says "ed-u-cat-ed" versus "Ed-ju-cat-ed" and "Dor-o-thy" and "di-a-per"... :)

[TexasRachel]

Texas here, although I haves lived in other places. Diluted and deluded sound the same.

[KidsHappen]

I have lived all over the US I agree with most everyone else. It comes out somewhere between a t and a d. More of a soft t blending into a d. Emphasis on the first syllable. Deluded would also have emphasis on first syllable and would be pronounced without the soft t, just d.

[mytwomonkeys]

initially, i thought i would have said it with a clear "T" sound, but i don't. if i say it slow, you can hear the "T", but when i say it conversationally, it definitely sounds more like a "D". also, the "i" at the beginning isn't long when i say it. i'm in florida, and i definitely sound southern.

[mytwomonkeys]

It comes out actually more like dilutID.

 

me too!

[ashfern]

I voted south but I'm originally from the NE. I say diluted with the T sound. Agree with the other posters who said that using a D makes a different word. :D

[kolamum]

While I no longer live in the US, I am a US citizen who lived a couple of hours from Canada for half my life & the other time was spent in the south before moving here. I have always said DiluTed. ;)

[Slartibartfast]

I say "diluTed"

 

I am from Oklahoma which is not really South or Midwest. I am from "the city" though. :lol:

 

I say "y'all" and sometimes lose a g

[Rhonda in TX]

Somewhere in between a t and d. Kind of a soft t for lack of a better way of describing it. Many t words are pronounced with d though. Like butter is more like budder.

 

I live in the northeast.

 

---copied and pasted...;)

 

 

I agree with this. For the sake of the poll, I said "d", mainly because it's not a clear "t" sound.

[Halftime Hope]

JK. I'm from all over the US, so I didn't answer your poll.

 

A bigger question is whether posters pronounce the vowels long or short.

 

dye-lyoo-ted or dih-looh-ted

 

:001_smile:

[KarenNC]

My mom also says "wa ter" versus "wadder" which most people seem to lazily say :) .... she also says "ed-u-cat-ed" versus "Ed-ju-cat-ed" and "Dor-o-thy" and "di-a-per"... :)

 

I kept trying all evening to remember where I had heard "di-a-per" before. Finally I realized it was Nora Dunn's character (the over-the-top stereotypical NY Jewish mother) in "Hebrew Hammer" (all the characters were intentionally over-the-top stereotypes;)). It stuck with me because I had never heard anyone pronounce that word in that way.:)

 

Back to the original question, though, how many of us who say "di-luded" or some similar variant do indeed say the "t" clearly when it is in the present tense (so the "d" sound only comes in combination with the final "d" of the past tense)? Or pronounce the final "d" in something like "stopped" as a "t"?

[LisaKinVA]

Diluted - watered down - definitely with a T sound.

 

Deluded - having a mistaken idea - that's the semi-homonym pronounced with the "D" sound.

 

:iagree: I had to go back and read carefully, each word has a definite sound and meaning.

[mommaduck]

Can't answer as there is no marking for me ;)

 

However:

I was transient. (lived in South, Midwest, West Coast, and Pacific, currently East Coast)

Mother was transient. (live in Midwest, West, East, and South)

Father is from the South.

Stepfather is from the Midwest.

 

EVERY single one of us says "diluTed". To do otherwise would be considered improper pronunciation.

[cottonmama]

I say quite a few words with that soft "t" -- "little," "butter," "kitty," and, yes, "diluted"... but I've noticed my mom and sister, when talking with children, emphasizing the "T" -- and it almost gets a stop in it: "lih-Tle" and "kih-Tee" especially. It's almost like it's part of their baby talk, but they aren't really the kinds to talk down to kids or use a lot of baby talk.

[kalanamak]

I have a "standard accent" in that my parents pretended I was deaf if I spoke with a midwestern accent. In all my adult years I've never had one person guess I was from Kansas. Dan Rather has a thick Texas accent compared to me :).

 

I say di LUET ed, accent on the middle syllable, and since the root word is dilute, I keep the T, which slurs slightly into the last syllable. HTH.

 

(and Laura, when I read your posts, I hear them read by Delia Smith, still)

[Crimson Wife]

The difference between "diluted" and "deluded" in my pronunciation has to do with the vowel in the first syllable rather than the consonant beginning the third syllable.

 

"DIE-lu-ded" with a long i = watered down

"DEH-lu-ded" with a short e = crazy

 

I grew up in New England

[Katiebug_1976]

I would have to say with a soft 't' sound. I checked from the midwest on the poll, but I am a transplant from the west coast (but been in the midwest the better part of 15 years).

[pitterpatter]

I don't know. Since I've started home-schooling DD, I've noticed that I rarely enunciate any "t" that's not at the beginning of a word. Not sure whether it's a speech issue or part of an accent that I've developed. I'm rural Midwest. I've been remediating myself.

 

Good news, though, I don't say, "warsh" when I wash.

[Danestress]

That would be deluded:)

 

Seriously, who does that? I live in the south but hear other accents. If I heard someone say "diluded" I would think they are ignorant or have a speech problem.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I would classify it as a "soft t." With a "d" would make it a completely different word (deluded).

 

:iagree:

[Laura Corin]

That would be deluded:)

 

Seriously, who does that? I live in the south but hear other accents. If I heard someone say "diluded" I would think they are ignorant or have a speech problem.

 

Husband says 'Die-LOO-ded' for 'diluted'. He says 'Duh-LOO-ded' for deluded.

 

Laura

[Danestress]

Husband says 'Die-LOO-ded' for 'diluted'. He says 'Duh-LOO-ded' for deluded.

 

Laura

 

 

J/k. But that would make me insane.

[Laura Corin]

It's okay, neither of the children say it that way. I've succeeded in something.

 

Laura

[ereks mom]

Do you not have a differentiation in the way you pronounce the first syllable? I have "DI-loo-dehd" vs. "deh-LOO-ded" (emphasis is on different syllables), so I don't see the two being confused even though I do have a more "d" sound in "diluted" (lived all my life in NC and don't differentiate in the vowel sounds of "pen" and "pin," just to confuse matters;)).

 

Same here in GA.

[Sputterduck]

Husband says 'Die-LOO-ded' for 'diluted'. He says 'Duh-LOO-ded' for deluded.

 

Laura

 

The "Die" part is very Texas/Southern.

[sassenach]

The difference between "diluted" and "deluded" in my pronunciation has to do with the vowel in the first syllable rather than the consonant beginning the third syllable.

 

"DIE-lu-ded" with a long i = watered down

"DEH-lu-ded" with a short e = crazy

 

I grew up in New England

 

:iagree: Except I'm from Los Angeles.