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Re:Nobody Pronounces the 'B' in 'Debt' by tsimionescu on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @11:13AM (#29796406)
Native English speakers can pronounce the unvoiced version in "kept", is it really hard to replace the voiceless 'p' with a voiced 'b'?

For what it's worth, "bt" is not a common combination in my native Romanian either, but it is not hard to pronounce.

Re:Nobody Pronounces the 'B' in 'Debt' by Tagbert on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @12:48PM (#29797570)
Yes, it is harder to handle the transition of voiced B to unvoiced T than it is to handle the transition from unvoiced P to unvoiced T. If you try to voice the B, you will likely end up with a voiced D at the end “Debd”.

It can be done with lots of practice but native speakers don’t normally do this.

Re:Nobody Pronounces the 'B' in 'Debt' by tsimionescu on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @01:00PM (#29797752)
That's a bit strange, since the vowel is already voiced, but I do believe you - it just goes to show how complex our vocal apparatus and systems of pronunciation are.