chasfh
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The Trend Towards "Frontalizing" the Second Syllable That Ends in "t*n"
I know that's a strange way to title a thread, but I will explain.
There are many two-syllable words that end in “ton”, “tin” and “ten”. The last name of Hillary Clinton is a good example. If you wanted to be precise about pronouncing the word, you would draw out the pronunciation as “Clinton”, and it would sound like so:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1pnFy9737sv
Nobody I know pronounces it so precisely, mainly because it would take too much time and effort to do so in normal conversation.
So when I and most people I know pronounce her name, we tend to soften the “t” sound and follow it up with a drawn out “n”, as in “Clint-nnn”, and it sounds like so:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1wnzxhxhRo3
But lately—I’d say in the past few years—I have noticed a trend towards pronouncing such words in a different way, one that basically drops the “t” sound entirely and really emphasizes that second syllable, almost disconnecting it entirely from the first syllable, as though it were a separate word. It might be rendered in writing as “Clin’ ihn”, and it sounds like this:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1P5rkPxNuCe
Again, this is something I’ve really noticed only in the past few years, and just about everybody I’ve heard pronounce it this way is under 35 years of age. I watch a lot of MLB network, and two of the studio hosts, Scott Braun and Heidi Watney, pronounce such words like this, as when they refer to Giancarlo Stanton, for instance. It’s irritating as heck, and it makes me want to punch Braun in his stupid monkey face when I hear him do it. (I would never punch Heidi Watney in her gorgeous face, though.)
Now, I refer to this phenomenon as “frontalizing” because that, to my ear, seems to be what’s happening with the syllable. When you say it the second way, as in “Clint-nnn”, the second syllable seems to be coming from the back of the mouth, almost as an n-sounding hum. (Or “hunnnn”, if you prefer.) But when you pronounce it that third way, as in “Clin’ ihn”, the sound seems to be coming from the front of the mouth, and it sounds like the speaker is actually trying to force the sound to the front of the mouth so he can make it sound distinct and separate. Maybe that’s why I don’t like it—it sounds forced, and as such, like an affectation.
Here’s one more example, from a recent Samsung commercial using a pop song recording of the song “My Favorite Things”. You can hear the affectation in the first six seconds when she sings “kittens” and “mittens”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmT0WGVjT4M
And when the commercial comes on, I can’t reach for the mute button fast enough for my tastes. But the kids must like it.
Anyway, all this is the long way around to asking: is anybody else noticing the trend in pronouncing two-syllable words ending in “t*n” in this way? Where did it come from and when did it start? Or has it always been around and I just haven’t noticed? It is a regional thing, or is it a generational thing?
I know that's a strange way to title a thread, but I will explain.
There are many two-syllable words that end in “ton”, “tin” and “ten”. The last name of Hillary Clinton is a good example. If you wanted to be precise about pronouncing the word, you would draw out the pronunciation as “Clinton”, and it would sound like so:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1pnFy9737sv
Nobody I know pronounces it so precisely, mainly because it would take too much time and effort to do so in normal conversation.
So when I and most people I know pronounce her name, we tend to soften the “t” sound and follow it up with a drawn out “n”, as in “Clint-nnn”, and it sounds like so:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1wnzxhxhRo3
But lately—I’d say in the past few years—I have noticed a trend towards pronouncing such words in a different way, one that basically drops the “t” sound entirely and really emphasizes that second syllable, almost disconnecting it entirely from the first syllable, as though it were a separate word. It might be rendered in writing as “Clin’ ihn”, and it sounds like this:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1P5rkPxNuCe
Again, this is something I’ve really noticed only in the past few years, and just about everybody I’ve heard pronounce it this way is under 35 years of age. I watch a lot of MLB network, and two of the studio hosts, Scott Braun and Heidi Watney, pronounce such words like this, as when they refer to Giancarlo Stanton, for instance. It’s irritating as heck, and it makes me want to punch Braun in his stupid monkey face when I hear him do it. (I would never punch Heidi Watney in her gorgeous face, though.)
Now, I refer to this phenomenon as “frontalizing” because that, to my ear, seems to be what’s happening with the syllable. When you say it the second way, as in “Clint-nnn”, the second syllable seems to be coming from the back of the mouth, almost as an n-sounding hum. (Or “hunnnn”, if you prefer.) But when you pronounce it that third way, as in “Clin’ ihn”, the sound seems to be coming from the front of the mouth, and it sounds like the speaker is actually trying to force the sound to the front of the mouth so he can make it sound distinct and separate. Maybe that’s why I don’t like it—it sounds forced, and as such, like an affectation.
Here’s one more example, from a recent Samsung commercial using a pop song recording of the song “My Favorite Things”. You can hear the affectation in the first six seconds when she sings “kittens” and “mittens”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmT0WGVjT4M
And when the commercial comes on, I can’t reach for the mute button fast enough for my tastes. But the kids must like it.
Anyway, all this is the long way around to asking: is anybody else noticing the trend in pronouncing two-syllable words ending in “t*n” in this way? Where did it come from and when did it start? Or has it always been around and I just haven’t noticed? It is a regional thing, or is it a generational thing?
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