Accent – Connecticut Accent and Cutting Off ‘T’s in Words

Many people raised in the US state of Connecticut have a distinctive accent that I have never heard anywhere else in New England. They cut off their "t"s when they pronounce certain words.

One place this occurs is at the end of words ending in "t". Example: "Connecticut". People don't pronounce the final "t", but instead cut off the short "u" sharply, as though something has suddenly gotten in the way of their tongues.

They do the same thing in the middle of certain words. One example is the word "important"; another is the name of the city "New Britain". In both cases, the speakers mark a barely perceptible stop between the "r" and the first "t" in "important", and do the same between the "i" and the "a" in "New Britain". In both these cases, it's as though there is nothing in place of the "t", but there's still a marked differentiation between the letters around it.

Is this a glottal stop, or something else? It seems to happen toward the front of the mouth, if that makes any difference.

Also, does anyone know how it evolved in the small state of Connecticut?

Best Answer

Glottal stop, according to the following article:

The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. (Wikipedia)

From The New York Times- Connecticut - Accent? What Accent?

"It's called a glottal stop," said Pat Gomola, a speech pathologist at the Speech and Language Institute in Middletown. "It's not a 't' sound. You say it in the back of your throat. It's the same thing when they say double-t words like cattle or bottle." In New Britain, such words come out as "CAH-uhl" or "BAH-uhl." Ms. Morgenstern attributed this sound to New Britain's large Polish-American population. "They don't enunciate their consonants as much," she said.