Nha Trang University

Faculty of Foreign Languages

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND

ALLOPHONES OF /d/ AND /t/ & HOW TO
PRONOUNCE THEM CORRECTLY

PRESENTED BY GROUP 8:
PHÙNG HUỲNH NHƯ HẢO – 61133612
NGUYỄN HẢI DƯƠNG – 61133531
NGÔ THỊ NHƯ QUỲNH – 61134257
NGUYỄN XUÂN HỒNG – 61130340
CLASS: 61.NNA-5
TEACHER: NGUYỄN THỊ THIÊN LÝ

PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGY RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Nha Trang, October, 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 3
II. CONTENT ................................................................................................... 4
1. ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 4
1.1 Distinctive features ............................................................................ 4
a. Distinctive features of /d/ and /t/ .................................................. 4
b. Minimal pair ................................................................................. 6
1.2 Allophones ......................................................................................... 6
a. Allophones of /t/ ........................................................................... 7
b. Allophones of /d/ .......................................................................... 7
2. DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 8
III. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 9
1. SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 9
2. SUGGESTION ........................................................................................ 10
IV. REFERENCES ............................................................................................ 12

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 - The English Consonants............................................................................ 4

Table 2- Distinctive feature of /t/ and /d/ ................................................................. 5

Table 3-Example of the /t/ sound taken from the dubbed video .............................. 6

Table 4- Example of the /d/ sound taken from the dubbed video ............................ 6

Table 5- Allophones of /t/......................................................................................... 7

Table 6- Allophones of /t/......................................................................................... 8

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I. INTRODUCTION:
It is an indisputable fact that in the 21st century English has become a global lingua franca
with non-native speakers of the language outnumbering its native speakers. As the third
most widely spoken language in the world, English is widely spoken and taught in over
118 countries and is commonly used around the world as a trade language or diplomatic
language. By 2020 about two billion people in the world will be studying English.
Therefore, learning English is essential today, it not only helps you easily find a good job
but also increases your chances of career advancement. To master the four skills of English
requires a long time of practice, especially pronunciation. Like learners in other parts of
the world, Vietnamese learners encounter a lot of difficulty in learning English
pronunciation. In “COMMON PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS OF VIETNAMESE
LEARNERS OF ENGLISH” Ha Cam Van mentioned that “many Vietnamese speakers
can speak English, but only a few have intelligible English pronunciation so that they can
be understood easily in direct communication with foreigners.” Therefore, we see that the
correct pronunciation of syllables is an important step for effective communication.
In Phonology, distinctive features and allophones play an important role in creating the
foundation for people to perceive the differences between phonemes in English. Among
English consonants, two phonemes: /t/ and /d/ are two of the pairs of English consonants
that sometimes confuse learners to pronounce them correctly. Therefore, our group decided
to change the sound pair /i:/ and /I/ in the previous project to the sound pair /t/ and /d/ in
this project because we found that the previous pair did not have many variations
(allophones) which is one of the reasons that make it difficult for students to identify and
pronounce them correctly. Besides, the lack of interpretation of distinguishing features,
which is an important factor to distinguish two phonemes from each other, is also one of
the main reasons leading to the mispronunciation between the two sounds / t / and / d/. So
this project is implemented to point out the difference between /t/ and /d/ sounds based on
their distinctive features as well as specifically determining their allophone. Besides, it
points out some main reasons why Vietnamese people often confuse these two sounds and
proposes some suggestions to better pronounce these two sounds for Vietnamese students.

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II. CONTENT
1. ANALYSIS
1.1 Distinctive features
a. Distinctive features of /d/ and /t/

Place Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Palato- Palatal Velar Glottal

Voiced dental alveolar
- + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
Manner
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Affricative t∫ dʒ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l
Rolled r
Fricative f v θ ð s z ∫ ʒ h
Semivowel w j
Table 1 - The English Consonants

Through the table above, we can see that the sounds /t/ and /d/ have almost the same
pronunciation and they are both Alveolar- Plosive sounds.
To pronounce the /t/ and /d/ sounds, your tongue stops the flow of air at the front of your
mouth. In both of these sounds, the tip of your tongue is pressed against the back of your
top teeth. The sides of your tongue will also press against the upper side teeth to stop the
flow of air.
However, between the two sounds, there are still some specific features to distinguish them.
This is the feature grid for English consonants /t/ and /d/:

/t/ /d/
Syllabic - - functioning as the nucleus of a syllable and
potentially carrying stress.

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 Consonantal + + made with closure in the vocal tract greater than
that necessary for glides, resulting in an
impediment in the flow of air.
Sonorant - - involving a regular pattern of vibration and lack
of "noise", musical sounds that can be sung or
held on pitch.
Nasal - - made with the velum lowered.
Anterior + + made on or in front of the alveolar ridge.
Coronal + + made with the tip or blade of the tongue raised.
High - - made with the tongue raised in the palatal or velar
regions.
Back - - articulated behind the palatal region.
Continuant - - made with incomplete closure in the oral cavity.
Delayed release - - made with the slow release of a stop.
- - made with a groove or trough along the center
Sibilant line of the tongue, resulting in a strong hissing
sound.
Voice - + made with vibration of the vocal cords.
Lateral - - made with the lateral flow of air.
Table 2- Distinctive feature of /t/ and /d/

As you can see in Table 2, voice is the distinguishing feature between these two sounds.
/t/ is an unvoiced sound whereas /d/ is a voiced sound. That means that the vocal cords
vibrate when you say /d/. when you make /t/ sound, the vocal cords do not vibrate. Instead,
you use a puff of air to make the sound.

Time stamp Word Pronunciation Time stamp Word Pronunciation

0:29 pretty /ˈprɪti/ 0:47 maid /meɪd/

0:33 brought /ˈbrɔːt/ 0:52 had /hæd/
0:34 two /tuː/ 0:53 do /duː/

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 0:35 daughter /ˈdɔː.tər/ 1:00 day /deɪ/
1:14 went /went/ 1:07 held /held/
1:58 midnight /ˈmɪdnaɪt/ 1:34 lizard /ˈlɪzəd/
2:10 it /ɪt/ 1:36 driver /ˈdraɪvə(r)/
2:20 foot /fʊt/ 1:43 dress /dres/
2:36 fit /fɪt/ 2:25 found /faʊnd/

Table 3-Example of the /t/ sound taken from Table 4- Example of the /d/ sound taken
the dubbed video from the dubbed video

b. Minimal pair

A minimal pair is two words with different meanings that are identical except for one sound
that occurs in the same place in each word.

In our video, there is a minimal pair of /t/ and /d/: (0:34) two /tuː/ and (0:53) do /duː/

+ The number of phoneme: two

+ Different phonemes: /t/ and /d/

+ Position: at the begining of each word

Initial /t/ and /d/ are much easier to recognise than final /t/ and /d/. The mouth and tongue
positions are very similar, but for /t/ we don’t use the vocal cords but instead release much
more air, at times making it almost like spitting. You should be able to feel that air on a
hand held just in front of your mouth.

1.2 Allophones

a. Allophones of /t/
Allophones+ Examples +
Phonetic
Place Manner Voicing Position of Phonemic
Transcription
Occurrence Transcription
[ th ] Initial/ medial/
Stop
Alveolar Voiceless final + vowel Time /taɪm/ [ th aɪm]
(plosive)
(aspirated)

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  t  After ‘s’ Stairs
[steəz]
(unaspirated) /steəz/

[ tn ] t + vowel + n Turn
[tn ɜːn]
(nasal) /tɜːn/

 t  Final released Foot/fʊt/ [fʊt]

(when emphatic) Fit/fɪt/ [fɪt]

[ʔ] Glottal
Certain
reinforcement/ [ˈsɚʔ n]
/ˈsɜːtn/
replacement
[t ̚ ] Unreleased in
syllable-final Brought two
[ˈbrɔ: t ̚ tuː]
position before a /ˈbrɔːt tuː/
consonant
[ɾ] Intervocalic (in
Daughter [ˈdɔ:tɾə]
Flap Voiced SAE1, AuE2, NZE3)
/ˈdɔːtə/ [ˈdɔ:t̬ ə]
[ t̬
Table 5- Allophones of /t/

b. Allophone /d/:

Allophones of /d/: although /d/ is a single phoneme, its exact realization depends
on context: it is a voiced stop after a pause or a consonant that isn't a written s.
phonetically, this is [d]. It is a dental [d_d], unlike the alveolar [d] sound found in
English.

1
SAE: South African English
2
NZE: New Zealand English
3
AuE: Australian English
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 Examples
Allophones + Position Phonetic
+Phonemic
Place Manner Voicing of Occurrence Transcription
Transcription

died
[ d ] Initial [daɪd]
Stop /daɪd/
(plosive) [ d ] Medial (same as Midnight
[ˈmɪd.naɪt]
above in RP) /ˈmɪd.naɪt/
Alveolar
Midnight
Tap/Flap [ɾ ] Intervocalic (in SAE) [ˈmɪɾ.naɪt]
Voiced /ˈmɪd.naɪt/
[ d ] Final released Lizard
[ˈlɪz.ɚd]
(when emphatic) /ˈlɪz.ɚd/
[d ̚ ] Unreleased in
bad woman
Stop syllable-final position [bæd̚ wʊm.ən]
/bæd wʊm.ən/
(plosive) before a consonant

[ d̻ ] Before a voiceless and stepsisters

Devoiced [ænd̻ ˈstepˌsɪs.tɚs]
consonant or silence /ændˈstepˌsɪs.tɚs/

[ d̪ ] Before dental and the

Dental Stop Voiced [ænd̪ ðə]
consonants /ænd ðə/
Table 6-Allophones of /d/

2. DISCUSSION

- In learning a new language, people should recognize how allophones important are.
Students must know the linguistically significant sounds in the second language to listen,
speak, read, write effectively, and to avoid miscommunication. It is important to be aware
of what allophones and phonemes exist in other languages, as these can cause problems
when learning the sounds of English.
- Shadowing is one of the ways to learn languages effectively that many polyglots,
researchers recommend for everyone. Therefore, many students watch and listen to the
America film, music. Due to music and film of the US is very popular, so many people
choose it to learn English. Because all of American pronounce /t/ to /d/ like butter to
/ˈbʌd.ɚ/, so in our group, there are some words, we pronounce /t/ to /d/.
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  Shadowing is a language learning technique where you repeat an audio just after
you hear it. You’re acting like an “echo” or a “shadow. You listen to the words
and then say them back out loud.
*For example:
Time stamp Word Pronunciation
1:33 treated /tri:id/
1:46 beautiful /ˈbjuː.də.fəl/
0: 35 daughter /ˈdɑ:dər/

- When /t/ is between two voiced sounds, unstressed, people usually pronounce /t/ lighter
and /t/ becomes /d/. This is considered a feature of the /t/ sound in American English, which
is different from British English.
*For example:
Time stamp Word Pronunciation
0:16 pretty /pri:di/
0:56 Dirty /ˈdɝː.di/

+ All vowels are voiced sounds. /t/ and /d/ use the exact same mouth position, but
/t/ is unvoiced and /d/ is voiced. When a /t/ is between two vowels, it’s easier to just
maintain the voicing, so it comes out sounding pretty close to a quick /d/ sound.

III. CONCLUSION
1. SUMMARY:
The motivation of the research lies in the prominence of English and the difficulty faced
when mastering the language. In the matter of content, the study includes distinctive
features and the allophones of the two phonemes /t/ and /d/. Both phonemes are consonantal
alveolar plosive sounds. However, /t/ is a voiced consonant whereas /d/ is unvoiced. In
terms of allophones, two phonemes consist a variety of them. In analogy, when situated at
syllable-final position, the consonants pair can appear as released or unreleased allophone
before a consonant. Plus, in dialects, when the pair’s allophones are intervocalic, they
transformed into flap voiced sound. On the other hand, /t/’s allophones also comprise
aspirated, unseparated, nasal and glottal reinforcement variation while /d/’s other
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allophones are composed of initial, medial, before a voiceless consonant or silence and
before dental consonants forms. After analyzing the attributes of the phonemes and the
allophones, we spot a few mispronunciations from the video and try to understanding those
flaw’s causes. The result is feasibly the popularity of American accent and the position of
the letter.

2. SUGGESION:
After a thorough consideration, we came up with some solutions:
 Slow but steady step
Since young students’ mind is too simple to comprehend such superior knowledge,
teachers introduce only overall simplified information. Even though some of them have
the gift to pick up allophones naturally without the help of an adult introduction, the
majority suffer. Therefore, they lack the knowledge to pronounce the words correctly. Pl.us,
after a long time of repetitive actions, it became engraved in their mind, therefore, this habit
is hard to shift. That’s why it is better to take it back to the basis to replace the false
information the brain has received. Plus, when pronouncing too quickly, sometimes we
turn /t/ sound into a voiced sound, which can be misunderstood as /d/. Therefore, we should
slowly but steadily perform the correct pronunciation to shift the right information in to the
mind. Only in that way will we be able to thrive in the long term.
 Transcription
Transcribing the letters before speaking helps. It is hard to just look in the words, identify
the phoneme and its position to determine which allophonic form will the phoneme take.
All of it will be too much to process especially in everyday conversation where every word
only appears in split second. Therefore, taking it one step at a time is helpful. It also builds
good foundation to precisely know which necessary allophone will appear without even
thinking in the long-term benefits.
 Imitation
Apart from all the theoretical approach, the best way to learn the language is still indeed
the country where it’s from. Since people living in America, England, … didn’t master
phonology before the pronunciation step, they only need to just imitate their parents’ sound
all the time until they succeed. Therefore, interacting with the native speakers will be the

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definite key to resolve the problems. Hearing and repeating the allophones in conversations
again and again will subconsciously let you know how to do it yourself.
 English songs or films
As mentioned above, it’s best to learn in an English-speaking environment. However, in
real life, natives talk in a speedy pace. Therefore, mastering all the allophone when
communicating with them would be a bad idea if you are not a good English learner already.
Instead, English materials like songs and films are a better choice. Because actors and
singers have to speak in perfect English slowly so the audience can follow. Especially,
catchy songs are a great form of learning. A song that stuck in your head will have you
memorize the lyrics right away and subconsciously sing that song throughout the day.
When repeating enough, you’ll start noticing that you’ve successfully imitated allophones
inside the song. Moreover, they’re a great form of entertainment which won’t bore you out
 Accent shift
The British made clearer pronunciation of the phoneme /t/. Therefore, if you want to
acquire a distinction between /t/ and /d/, it would be better to follow the British accent.
Plus, Received Pronunciation is taught worldwide and in many researches, the language
also follows the RP. Therefore, not only it will help fix the mispronunciation but it will
also be beneficial regarding communication and academic use.

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IV. REFERENCES
1. https://www.gerflint.fr/Base/Europe3/hulmbauer.pdf
2. https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-t-d.htm
3. https://emas.edu.vn/kien-thuc/emas-cach-phat-am-t-trong-tieng-anh-my-
nvitt33k40.htm
4. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Americans-pronounce-t-as-d
5. English phonetics and phonology (2004) - Ha Cam Tam M.A
6. English: Phonemic and Allophonic (2006) - Handbook of Lagos and Bittner

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