Ruined and ground

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GoesStation

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It's very clear in "ruined". He reduces it to an alveolar stop in "ground". This is typical pronunciation and is perceived as a /d/ by native speakers.
 

Rachel Adams

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It's very clear in "ruined". He reduces it to an alveolar stop in "ground". This is typical pronunciation and is perceived as a /d/ by native speakers.

When do native speakers reduce it to an alveolar stop? In which words?
 

Charlie Bernstein

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When do native speakers reduce it to an alveolar stop? In which words?
There are too many forms of English to give a complete answer. It depends on who's talking. I would use a hard D in ground, but his way is fine, too.

It also depends on the other words in the sentence. For instance, if he were using the phrase ground up, the D would probably be more distinct.
 

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And talking about baseball, a "ground ball" would have little to no actual "d" sound in my dialect.
 

jutfrank

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I hear the /d/ very clearly in both words. In ground, it's delayed slightly but clearly audible as a little click of his tongue coming off his alveolar ridge. Can members really not hear that?
 
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GoesStation

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I hear the /d/ very clearly in both words. In ground, it's delayed slightly but clearly audible as a little click of his tongue coming off his palate. Can members really not hear that?
I do now. I didn't listen quite long enough before. :)
 

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Even Stewie in Family Guy pronounces the d in ruined, even though the gag is about his mispronouncing words.
 
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GoesStation

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Even Stewie in Family Guy pronounces the d in ruined, even though the gag is about his mispronouncing words.
I just realized that you'll hear many people speaking my dialect say ruint. I'd call that an alternate past participle rather than a pronunciation quirk.
 

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I just realized that you'll hear many people speaking my dialect say ruint. I'd call that an alternate past participle rather than a pronunciation quirk.

Is it the same with "bad"? I can't find the video. It would be difficult without it. A speaker of AmE hardly prounced the d in n "bad."
 

GoesStation

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Is it the same with "bad"? I can't find the video. It would be difficult without it. A speaker of AmE hardly pronounced the d in n "bad."
It follows the usual pattern. If it's followed by certain consonants as in bad boy, bad manners, bad guy or bad juju, it reduces to what may be a barely-perceptible alveolar stop.
 

Rachel Adams

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It follows the usual pattern. If it's followed by certain consonants as in bad boy, bad manners, bad guy or bad juju, it reduces to what may be a barely-perceptible alveolar stop.

I remember it wasn't followed by other words. The phrase was: "It's so bad."
 

GoesStation

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I remember it wasn't followed by other words. The phrase was: "It's so bad."
A final /d/ without a following word also reduces to a stop in my dialect. We perceive it as a /d/; we notice if it's missing. Like the difference between can and can't, I can well imagine that a foreign ear could need a lot of training to be able to hear it.
 

Rachel Adams

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A final /d/ without a following word also reduces to a stop in my dialect. We perceive it as a /d/; we notice if it's missing. Like the difference between can and can't, I can well imagine that a foreign ear could need a lot of training to be able to hear it.

If I remember correctly in a video on YouTube about the difference between AmE and BrE pronunciation it was said that AmE speakers pronounce "can't" as "can". Is this the difference you mentioned, GoesStation?
 

GoesStation

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If I remember correctly in a video on YouTube about the difference between AmE and BrE pronunciation it was said that AmE speakers pronounce "can't" as "can". Is this the difference you mentioned, GoesStation?
The video was apparently about that area of pronunciation. Of course we don't pronounce "can't" as "can". If we did, we wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Can't ends in a stop; can doesn't. The difference is usually obvious to our ears, though you will sometimes hear someone ask "Did you say 'can' or 'can't?'"
 

Charlie Bernstein

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If I remember correctly in a video on YouTube about the difference between AmE and BrE pronunciation it was said that AmE speakers pronounce "can't" as "can". . . .
Indeed we don't! That would be as useful as pronouncing "yes" like "no"!

I'm sure your memory is correct. But the YouTube is incorrect.
 
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