1. Definition: The pronunciation of /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ].
T-glottalization
Definition: The pronunciation of /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ].

2. Definition: The pronunciation of /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ].
T-glottalization
Definition: The pronunciation of /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ].
Before consonants in most varieties: (e.g., Ba[ʔ]man, ou[ʔ]put).
Before vowels in British English: (e.g., be[ʔ]er pu[ʔ] a lo[ʔ] of)‏
Before vowels in American English: (e.g. be[ɾ]er pu[ɾ] a lo[ɾ] of).

3. /t/ in American English
Word internal VtV is generally flapped:
better be[ɾ]er
utility utili[ɾ]y
decimated decima[ɾ]ed
Across words VtV is more variable
put any pu[ʔ~ɾ] any
right ankle righ[ʔ~ɾ] ankle
tablet in table[ʔ~ɾ] in

4. The Shadowing Experiment
58 Participants
All had some college education
27 females, 31 males
Ages: 19-29, 30-39, 40-49
Regions: West, non-West, Utah

5. The Shadowing Experiment
Stimuli
20 collocations:
First word ends in /t/.
Second word begins in vowel.
Pronunciation of /t/ masked with tone.
Collocation Carrier sentence
foot away It was only a foot away.
street outside The street outside was quiet.
right ankle She twisted her right ankle.

6. The Shadowing Experiment
Instructions
Listen to the sentence
Repeat it three times
Ignore the beep
Example

7. The Shadowing Experiment
Coding of the Results
The /t/ in each test word was impressionistically coded as [ɾ], [ʔ], [t], or other.
2679 [ɾ]
357 [ʔ]
172 [t]
other/indeterminate

8. The Shadowing Experiment
Factors Coded
1 The gender of the speaker.
2 The age of the speaker (19-29, 30-39, 40-49).
3 The speaker's region of origin (Western vs. non-Western).
4 Whether the speaker was from Utah or not.
5 The repetition number (first, second, third).
6 The quality of the vowel preceding /t/ (front or back).

9. Factors that Favor [ʔ] Factor Weight % # Following Vowel
Front
Back
Range 54
Age by Gender
19-29 Females
30-39 Females
19-29 Males
40-49 Females
30-39 Males
40-49 Males
Range 45
Region (West/non-West)‏
West
Non-West
Range 18

10. Factors that Favor [ʔ]

11. Westerners glottalize more than non-Westerners
Factors that Favor [ʔ]
Westerners glottalize more than non-Westerners

12. Conclusions
T-glottalization is common in most/all varieties of English.
There is a great deal of variation pre-vocalically.
Glottalization was elicited experimentally via a shadowing experiment.
Higher rates of glottalization were found:
1 before front vowels.
2 in young women.
3 in speakers from the Western U.S.