T's or C's

[archiestaffy]

Why do some people swap t's for c's? E.g Where is the hospicle? I cant seccle? Get me a boccle? Its so damn irritating!

[naz_nomad]

Yeah, makes them sound like a complete tunc.

[RATTER15]

Ive never even heard it, a regional thing maybe?

[Quizmonster]

I think it is a glottal stop - usually represented by an apostrophe - rather than a 'c' which is inserted. Thus, 'bottle' becomes 'bo'l', little becomes 'li'l' and so on. I must confess I have never heard a 'c' in these circumstances.

[saxy_jag]

I think the glottal stop is slightly different. That makes people say 'hospi'al', 'bo'le' and 'se'le', not prounouncing the t at all.

Many people around here say 'hospikuw', 'bokuw' and 'sekuw' - ie they don't even pronounce the l. I don't think it's all to do with accent. They either can't be bothered to say the words properly, or they feel that that doing so would brand them posh. And yes, it's annoying. I often want to say, "Pardon? What was that? Sorry, I can't understand you, can you speak English?"

[bernardo]

I have only ever heard it done by small children who are still learning to speak clearly. It is very common to substitute one sound for a similar one in such circumstances. It is logical for the "k" sound to be used instead of a "t" sound, especially when people do not put a clear vowel sound between the T and the L. There are some languages which have words beginning with TL-. If you were learning that language, how would you pronounce such a word? Either by pronouncing it KL- or by putting a small unaccented neutral vowel (the "schwa" vowel) between the T and the L. Similarly, westerners learning Arabic have to get used to the difference between "k" and "q" (the q is further back in the throat).

It is more common for people to use a W instead of L, especially at the end of a word. In standard English, it is already normal for a final L to be a "dark" L (as in "people") and an initial L to be a "light" L (as in "lit"). Both sounds appear in "little". The former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard is well-known for his accent which uses a light L in all places, so that the two Ls in "little" sound the smae instead of differently.

In Polish, the dark L has become so dark that it sounds just like an English W. That is why the name "Walesa" is spelt with an L but pronounced "Vawensa" instead of "Valensa" [the e has a nasal sign on it which produces the N sound before the S].

Thus, most of these variations are dialect or accent variations rather than being "incorrect".

[JillP]

'Boccles of pop' etc. is, as far as I know, a Manchester way of speech. I have heard in on 'Coronation Street' anyway. What irritates me more is 'wiv' and text spelling as in 'c u soon'.

[A Chill Wind]

The only example of this that I'm aware of is ickle instead of little.

[greggo123]

Ic jusc doesn'c make sense do ic

[Narolines]

Sorry to burst the Mancunian balloon, but it's fairly common here in Birmingham as well. It only happens before "L", though. I'll consult my speech therapist friend and see if she can offer a rational explanation.

[lucyshandbag]

when my mum does her posh phone voice she swaps her c's for t's. bizzare! i used to go out with a boy called michael who she alsways called "mitael". i think she thinks it makes her sound posher, but she's so used to doing it now she can't help it.