LTH Affrication: A Sociolinguistic Indicator in the American West

Abstract

Insertion of a consonant between a sonorant and voiceless obstruent is common in some environments in American English (e.g., prince = prints ). In this paper, we describe a similar process whereby /θ/ is realized as a dental affricate [ t̪͡θ] in the infrequent environment of /lθ/ (e.g., wealth and stealth ), a process we call “LTH affrication.” In audio collected using an online survey from a 265-person sample from the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, a third of them had LTH affrication. While the presence of LTH affrication was not predictable, the duration was: closure durations were longer among women, Utahns, suburban-oriented people, and practicing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This paper offers a rare insight into production patterns of a sociolinguistic indicator and suggests that infrequent phonological variables may have as much sociolinguistic conditioning as more common variables. Finally, this paper adds to the description of the Latter-day Saint religiolect in Utah.

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