UNIVERSIT DI PADOVA

CDL MAGISTRALE IN
LINGUISTICA

Evolution of intervocalic /t/

in Matteo Renzi's speech

Manuel Draicchio
English Phonetics 2015/16

Subject
Gorgia or fricativization of
stop consonants in weak
position (e.g. Tusc. [an
dao] vs Ita. [andato])
Comparison of /t/
utterances in 2008 vs
2015
differences noted!

M. Renzi, Italian PM
2

Hypothesis

Matteo Renzi has improved his pronunciation,

shifting from a regional accent (2008) to a more
standard Italian pronunciation (2015)
Specifically: singleton /t/ in intervocalic context
seem to have changed from [] (Tuscan
accent) to [t] (standard Italian)

Project outline

Acoustic analysis of sound recordings in Praat

Data: MR's prepared speeches uploaded
Youtube in 2008 and 2015
Spectrograms of intervocalic /t/ in comparison:
stop or frication?
Number of /t/ uttered as [t] or [] quantitative
comparison (%)

Results expected

The perception of /t/'s modified articulation is

going to be reflected in the spectrograms...

2008

2015
5

References

Giannelli, L., 2000, Toscana. In A. Zamboni,

ed., Profilo dei dialetti italiani, vol. IX. Pacini
Editore, Pisa.

Thank you for listening!