Alveolar Stops

[t] voiceless, alveolar stop

[d] voiced, alveolar stop

Minimal Pairs:
[t] [d]
talk dock
to do
touch Dutch
troll droll
taffy daffy
tram dram
pat pad
trot trod
state stayed (staid)
straight strayed
trait trade
post posed

Allographs:
toe
looked
doe
waded

Notes:

• apex or blade of the tongue makes contact with alveolar ridge, impeding oral airflow
• the sides of the tongue are placed against upper molars (air can't escape)
• small airtight cavity produced by tongue and teeth so more intraoral pressure is produced
• air burst associated with release of voiceless [t] is greater because intraoral pressure is greater for voiceless cognate
• under certain phonetic contexts velopharyngeal port may open during release of [t] [d] which releases air into nasal cavity i.e. "mutton" and "sudden" (release is thru nasal cavity)
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