Fricated realisations of / t / in Dublin and Middlesbrough English: an acoustic analysis of plosive frication and surface fricative contrasts

The frication of the voiceless plosives / p , t , k / in word-final intervocalic position in Dublin and Middlesbrough English is examined in controlled data, and the acoustic characteristics of fricated realisations of / t / are compared with other fricatives. The findings are that / t / is not the only plosive to be fricated in the data sample, but does appear to differ from other plosives in terms of the regularity of frication and its nongradient character for some subjects. The realisation of fricated / t / at both localities differs from that of other fricatives, and is probably perceptually distinct from other fricative contrasts at each locality, but is not identical across the two localities. On the basis of data presented here, it appears unlikely that fricated / t / in Middlesbrough English is a direct transfer effect from the language of Irish immigrants to Middlesbrough.