What's with that t sound in Beto?

Finally, my home town of El Paso, Texas is getting some positive attention, thanks to Beto O'Rourke. 

 

Beto, an El Paso native, announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination for US President in 2020. Now people I meet have something to chat about when I say I am an El Paso native.  "Oh, yes, Beto is from El Paso too, right?" 

It's almost amusing how the name "Beto" rolls off the tongue and is easy to remember. His name is not a campaign trick. "Beto" is a common Spanish nickname for anyone named "Roberto."  Pat O'Rourke gave that nickname to his son, Robert, when he was young.  (It is not at all unusual in a bilingual border city like El Paso to have Spanish names and nicknames.)

As I began hearing Beto's name said by a variety of acquaintances and the national media, I noticed that often the pronunciation sounded just slightly off. I learned Spanish as a second language and hear Spanish spoken on a daily basis in El Paso. One important way to avoid having the much maligned "American accent" is to pronounce the "t" differently in Spanish than we do in English.  What a great excuse Beto's name is for a brief investigation into the linguistic fields of phonetics and phonology!

At first I thought the strange pronunciation of Beto was caused by the fact that the usual Spanish t is pronounced with the teeth touching the top teeth, which creates a softer sound than the English t, in which the tongue touches the roof of the mouth to make a more explosive sound. Say the word "top" in English and put your hand in front of your mouth.  You should feel a slight puff of air from the t.  But the answer did not lie in the t sound, because what I was hearing was something more like "Bedo."  

Further investigation cleared up the issue.  An American English speaker pronounces a t sound between vowels as a sort of d sound. (Linguists identify it as a "flap" in which the tongue touches the roof of the mouth quickly.)  Think about the pronunciation of the t in the word "water."  It is more like a d than a t, isn't it?  Try the word "data."  The t in the middle sounds like a soft d.

So, mystery solved!  An English speaker looking at the name "Beto" naturally pronounces the name as it would sound in English.  Hence, "Bedo."

I'm sure more weighty issues will come to the forefront as the race to the presidency continues, but for now I am pleased to have Beto (or Bedo) O'Rourke as a publicity maker for my home town.