Hypercorrect Moun[thɨn] in Utah English

Abstract This study analyzes unstressed /tən/ in words like button, kitten , and mountain . In Utah, there are three variants: North American mainstream [ʔn̩], forticized [t h ɨn], 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 [t h ɨn] 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.