「ってた」 pronunciation


I don't know if it's just me but this has been bothering me for a while. I
sometimes hear ってた pronounced in a way similar to 「っつう」 or 「っつた」 in fast
speech. Do some people really pronounce it that way or is it me mishearing
things?

  * 思ってた sounds like 思っつた (examples: [1](https://youtu.be/j-nitGAvfnc?t=238), [2](https://youtu.be/hB7aCeLn34Q?t=235), [3](https://youtu.be/dFJSiysU1SM?t=187))
  * 怒ってた sounds like 怒っつた (examples: [1](https://youtu.be/5yeYUrkPVV8?t=1349), [2](https://youtu.be/32Bi0WwhDpw?t=603), [3](https://youtu.be/Ii6Cd3DJOYg?t=118))




て does sound like つ or つぇ in those videos.

The following is my conjecture of what is happening.

To pronounce the geminate consonant /tt/, you hold the airflow for longer than
you would to pronounce the single plosive /t/. When this airflow is released,
it tends to cause a little aspiration on /t/, making it sound a bit like the
English /t/ at the top of a stressed syllable.

The position of the tip of the tongue for /t/, combined with the narrow
opening of the mouth in preparation for the close-mid front vowel /e/,
sometimes causes the released airflow to produce a hissing sound like [s].
This makes /t/ sound like an affricate [ts], or [tθ] depending on the exact
place of articulation of /t/.

On top of it, /e/ tends to be centralized in loose pronunciation, sounding
like [ɘ] (but not so open as the English schwa [ə]), and this _loose_ vowel,
just like [ɯ] for /u/, tends to become silent, or unvoiced, when it appears
between two voiceless consonants, such as /t/.

Some people pronounce /e/ more clearly than others, in which case /te/ sounds
like, well て, even if it is a bit aspirated. I don't think it is a regional
thing.




て does sound like つ or つぇ in those videos.

The following is my conjecture of what is happening.

To pronounce the geminate consonant /tt/, you hold the airflow for longer than
you would to pronounce the single plosive /t/. When this airflow is released,
it tends to cause a little aspiration on /t/, making it sound a bit like the
English /t/ at the top of a stressed syllable.

The position of the tip of the tongue for /t/, combined with the narrow
opening of the mouth in preparation for the close-mid front vowel /e/,
sometimes causes the released airflow to produce a hissing sound like [s].
This makes /t/ sound like an affricate [ts], or [tθ] depending on the exact
place of articulation of /t/.

On top of it, /e/ tends to be centralized in loose pronunciation, sounding
like [ɘ] (but not so open as the English schwa [ə]), and this _loose_ vowel,
just like [ɯ] for /u/, tends to become silent, or unvoiced, when it appears
between two voiceless consonants, such as /t/.

Some people pronounce /e/ more clearly than others, in which case /te/ sounds
like, well て, even if it is a bit aspirated. I don't think it is a regional
thing.

