Omitting [t] sound, is this acceptable?

Question

Hello.Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary I have does not show any pronunciations like the following, I hear them a lot in American TV shows and even from TV news.actually -&gt; acshuallyexactly -&gt; exaclypicture -&gt; picshureperfectly -&gt; perfeclyIn fact, it feels as if I am not fluent in English if I pronounce perfectly as it is (keeping the (t) sound), because virtually all the people I watch on TV pronounce it as 'perfecly'.How is this phenomenon regarded in America? Is this acceptable? I am asking this because there is a somewhat similar phenomenon in Korean language. The word "you" is "ne"in Korean officially, but almost all Koreans currently pronounce it as "ni" and write it as "ni" in many commercials or song lyrics, so even though "ne" is correct, if I pronounce it as "ne", I may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?

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(Email Removed), Sin Jeong-hun (Email Removed) writes
[nq:1]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary ... as it is (keeping the (t) sound), because virtually all the people I watch on TV pronounce it as 'perfecly'.[/nq]
With some words, it is almost impossible to say them if you try to pronounce all the letters. With others, all the letters can be pronounced, but tend get pronounced slightly differently from the 'phonetic' pronunciation. In either case, when you hear these words, you might decide that the speaker is speaking in the 'conventional way', or he might simply be lazy in the way he speaks. It is sometimes difficult to decide which!
For example, "actually" is 'normally' pronounced something like "act-shu-ally". (Where did that "sh" come from? Several English words have it.) If you were careful, and said "act-u-ally", most people would find it slightly strange and awkward. But "acshually" (missing out the "t" AND adding the "sh") would definitely be considered lazy (or ignorant).
I think that it is the same for the other examples. "Exacly"? Definitely lazy. There is 'no excuse' for not pronouncing the "t".
"Picshure"? Normally pronounced "pict-shure" (with the additional "sh"). "Pic-ture" would sound awkward. "Picshure" sounds lazy. "Perfecly"? Also lazy.
[nq:1]How is this phenomenon regarded in America? Is this acceptable? I am asking this because there is a somewhat similar ... "ne" is correct, if I pronounce it as "ne", I may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?[/nq]
I think that it is all a question of degree. If enough people choose the 'easy way' of saying something, the 'awkward' (but correct) way will become strange and archaic, and the 'easy way' will become the 'new' correct way.
Alternatively, the original pronunciation may still be kept 'in circulation', but only used when the word is emphasised, or when the speaker is being respectful or polite. I don't know if it is exactly the same as the Korean but, to some extent, English also does this with "You". Informally, this sometimes gets pronounced as the lazy "yuh".
Ian

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[nq:1]actually -> acshually exactly -> exacly picture -> picshure perfectly -> perfecly[/nq]
Interestingly, M-W.com lists all of these except the one that seems almost obligatory to me, "picshure." I wonder why it omits that one. I'd say the "t" is often pronounced in "actually" (and even more often in "actual"), but "pic-cher" sounds slightly stilted to my ear.

Dropping the "t" in "~~ctl~~" is generally seen as sloppy by those who don't do it, but it doesn't carry a severe stigma in everyday conversation.
¬R

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[nq:1]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary ... "ne" is correct, if I pronounce it as "ne", I may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?[/nq]
I don't know where you live or what you watch, but where I am in America, only picture gets slurred (sometimes). All the others do have the "T" pronounced.
Picture sometimes sounds like pic-chur -> the "T" remains hard but changed to "CH" as in church.

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[nq:1]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary I have does not show any pronunciations like the following, I hear them a lot in American TV shows and even from TV news.[/nq]
I definitely say all the t's here. Maybe I can convince the tv networks that I should have my own show, to balance the impression that is being given.
[nq:1]actually -> acshually[/nq]
This ends up sounding like ack-tchually. Actual is the same way, ack-tchual. I don't know if you can hear it on line anywhere, but there was a rececitivo in the musical Hair, that went, "There is a peculiar notion that fine feathers are not proper for the male, but .. actually .. that is the way things are in most species."
[nq:1]exactly -> exacly[/nq]
Absolutely. I'm not too good at telling if a letter, the t in this case, goes with the syllable before or after it, so it's either ax-act-ly, or ex-ack-tly. But unless one actually pauses between syllables
[nq:1]picture -> picshure perfectly -> perfecly In fact, it feels as if I am not fluent in English if I pronounce perfectly as it is (keeping the (t) sound), because virtually all the people I watch on TV pronounce it as 'perfecly'.[/nq]
What shows do you watch?
[nq:1]How is this phenomenon regarded in America? Is this acceptable? I am asking this because there is a somewhat similar ... "ne" is correct, if I pronounce it as "ne", I may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?[/nq]
Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

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[nq:2]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that ... may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't know where you live or what you watch, but where I am in America, only picture gets slurred ... the "T" pronounced. Picture sometimes sounds like pic-chur -> the "T" remains hard but changed to "CH" as in church.[/nq]
I think it is like Tchaikovsky. You could spell it Chaikovsky, but would it be pronounced the same? Close, yes, but the same?

So I think the T is present in picture and actually.

And the other two for different reasons.

Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

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[nq:2]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that ... may sound awkward. Is this the same for this (t)?[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't know where you live or what you watch, but where I am in America, only picture gets slurred ... the "T" pronounced. Picture sometimes sounds like pic-chur -> the "T" remains hard but changed to "CH" as in church.[/nq]
But isn't "ch" in church (both instances) really a "tsch"?
Many people in my circle of acquaintances would insist that they say "pic chur (pic cher)" but others will assert that the word is homophonous with "pitcher". Part is what we hear, the rest is what we think we say.
I say "pic cher", ac chually, eg zackly, per feckly. (ac shun, unc shun, by the way.)
Upper Midwest USA (just in case one wants to assign a regional usage.)

Pat Durkin
durkinpa at msn.com
Wisconsin

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[nq:2]Picture sometimes sounds like pic-chur -> the "T" remains hard but changed to "CH" as in church.[/nq]
[nq:1]I think it is like Tchaikovsky. You could spell it Chaikovsky, but would it be pronounced the same? Close, yes, but the same?[/nq]
Akshully, in English, I think it should. My family name starts with the same 'ch' sound as in "cherry" but I spell it in my passport with 'tch', just like Tchaikovsky. The reason is that some other languages - notably German and French - get totally different sounds out of it, if it is spelled 'ch'. I bet the reason in Tchaikovsky's case was the same. Of course, in Cyrillic, we have a dedicated letter for the sound (it looks like '4', open at the top). Here, upper and lowercase: Ð§ Ñ? (maybe not everybody will be able to see it though; sorry).

You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.

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[nq:1]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary ... like the following, I hear them a lot in American TV shows and even from TV news. actually -> acshually[/nq]
In the UK, akchoolly is a quick pronunciation of act-yooally.

Like 'haventchoo?'
Iain

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[nq:1]Hello. Is it acceptable to omit a (t) sound that is sandwiched by other consonants? Even though the English dictionary ... like the following, I hear them a lot in American TV shows and even from TV news. actually -> acshually[/nq]
In the UK, akchoolly is a quick pronunciation of act-yooally.

Like 'haventchoo?'
Iain

Omitting [t] sound, is this acceptable?

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