Sorted

Status
Not open for further replies.

NamelessKing

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Chile
Current Location
UK
Do "sorted" and "sort it" sound the same?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
They can, at least in American English. It's a sordid tale.
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Not to me, nor to any British English speakers I know.

I'm surprised it's possible in American English.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Not to my BrE ears- the endings are /d/ and /t/. Close, but no cigar.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Not to me, nor to any British English speakers I know.

I'm surprised it's possible in American English.

They could be pronounced alike (in American English) in these sentences:

We got it sorted out.
We'll sort it out tomorrow.


We Americans readily soften /t/ to /d/ when it falls between two vowels.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
And some in the UK use a glottal stop for the /t/ in sorted.
 

tzfujimino

Key Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
... and they probably use it for the last /d/ too.
 

bubbha

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
Taiwan
In Standard American, they sound different. In particular, one ends with a /t/ sound, and the other ends with a /d/ sound.

That said, there are some non-standard dialects of American English in which "sorted" ends with a /t/ sound. One example I can think of is Nate from the YouTube channel "Kara and Nate". He's from Nashville, Tennessee, and one feature of his speech is pronouncing words like "sorted" and "wanted" as if they end with a "t".
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
In Standard American, they sound different. In particular, one ends with a /t/ sound, and the other ends with a /d/ sound.
Maybe, when they occur at the end of a sentence. I think most Americans pronounce the final consonants identically when they fall in the middle of a sentence and the next word begins with a vowel sound. In fact, it would sound weird if an American used a /t/ in sort it out.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top