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Hypercorrect Moun[thɨn] in Utah English

ORCiD logo with link | Brigham Young University
Published online: 13 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.25028.sta
Abstract
This study analyzes unstressed /tən/ in words like button, kitten, and mountain. In Utah, there are three variants: North American mainstream [ʔn̩], forticized [thɨn], and local [ʔɨn]. While previous work in Utah has focused on [ʔɨn], I use an auditory analysis of wordlist data from 117 Utahns to show that [thɨn] is the majority variant in Utah and is twice as common as in other regions. I argue that fortition is a hypercorrection in response to the stigmatized local variant, [ʔɨn]. This aligns with what other studies have reported about the correctness associated with /t/-release in other phonological environments and appears to be just one instance of a broader process of fortition in Utah English.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Mountain in Utah
    • 2.1Defining the variable
    • 2.2Phonetic realization of mountain
    • 2.3mountain in Utah English
    • 2.4The current study
  • 3.Data and methods
    • 3.1Word selection
    • 3.2Survey questions and coding
    • 3.3Survey distribution
    • 3.4Participant demographics
    • 3.5Acoustic processing
    • 3.6Reliability in classifications
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Overall distribution of variants in Utah
    • 4.2Demographic predictors in Utah
    • 4.3Comparison to non-Utahns
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Hypercorrection in response to stigma
    • 5.2Fortition in Utah
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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