Asked • 04/13/19

How does the French T relate to D (from a Chinese perspective)?

1. `t` Once I've heard a teacher saying never to pronounce the letter "T" with the sound "T", start with the sound "D" [in English]. So she said we should say [di], but not [ti]. But when I listen to the books, I've heard the French people start with "T", so I wonder, who is right?2. `p` The same as above. Which sound should I start with? Sound "P" or sound "B"?

Anonymous A.

You The "t" and "d" replacement is well known in linguistics as a feature of some accents, although more often in the American English accent than in French, where it is fairly rare. It's called an "alveolar flap" or sometimes an "alveolar tap" and it happens due to the proximity of vowels and an "r" sound in a nearby syllable, along with a little bit of hastiness. Basically, it's harder to pronounce the "t" clearly, so it gets turned into that tap, which sounds like a "d" and is easier to say. You can still pronounce the words properly with a clear "t" sound, although it may sound slightly foreign to people who are used to the quick "d" tap in a word like "water" (in English) or, more rarely, "fenetre" in French. To my ear, the "t" sound is almost always quite distinct in French.
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04/14/19

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Fabien B. answered • 07/30/19

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Physics and Chemistry Teacher from France

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We, French people, never pronounce a "T" with the sound "D". It even surprised me the first time I asked for lettuce in my burger the waitress asked me to say it three times. I finally understood that this "t" you pronounce it "d".


But some times we do pronounce a "D" with the sound "T". It usually happen when there is what we call a "liaison". Examples: prenD-il; entenD-elle; son granD ami.

All those capital "d" should be silent if there hasn't been a vowel after them, but because there is, they are pronounced "t".


For the p and the b, "p" is never pronounced "b" but the opposite can occur. Examples : obtenir, subtilité, subterfuge, obtempérer, absurde, obscur, substituer, abcès and abcéder. It happens some time when the consonant just after is not a strong one (t, s, c, some time with k and f)


But it is not a big mistake, if you use the usual sound for d or b.

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