ts, ds?

Do you pronounce ts as /ds/ as in tests -- I find that physically impossible, David. Tests = /tests/

and ds as /dz/ as in cards? -- Yes.

How do you pronounce cards and cars since they are so similar to each other? -- /kardz/ and /karz/.

There's a phenomenon in English where, in natural speaking, most internal t's and released t's become /d/ in pronunciation. For example, "little" -> /ll ih d uh ll/.

Voiced t's or "terminal t's" (the t's at the end of words that aren't released) are pronounced as /t/, but the sound is stopped inside your mouth by your tongue. Also, initial t's are usually pronounced as /t/. For exam

AnonymousThere's a phenomenon in English where, in natural speaking, most internal t's and released t's become /d/ in pronunciation.

That is true only of some speakers of some varieties of English.

Anonymous /ll ih d uh ll/.

That's a very strange way to transcribe the word. Why have you uses /ll/? We need only one symbol for

AnonymousThere's a phenomenon in English where, in natural speaking, most internal t's and released t's become /d/ in pronunciation. For example, "little" -> /ll ih d uh ll/.

That is the case in American English and Canadian English.