An unforgettable English pronunciation pattern: double consonants in English prevent diphthongisation

From: https://writingexplained.org/diner-vs-dinner-difference

Hello again!

Last August I wrote and prepared this fresh new entry, which I intended to publish during the first days of September. Man! I've been so busy going back to work that I haven't had time to publish an already prepared entry!

I will write my first entry in September (although I'm publishing it today on September, 29th) about a very interesting English pronunciation pattern. As you know, English can be daunting for Spaniards because of its tricky pronunciation, but there are certain patterns or secret rules that can be learnt in order to guess how a given word might be pronounced. 

Today I'm sharing with you one of these patterns involvind double consonants -and by double consonants I mean, two identical consonants together.

In English, every time we have the pattern: vowel + consonant+ vowel, there's usually a diphthong involved :

1) a + consonant + e: DIPHTHONG [eɪ]. Examples: plane, cake, name, same, plate, base...

2) i + conosonant + e: DIPHTONG [aɪ]. Examples: time, file, bike, ride, hide,...

3) o + consonant + e: DIPHTHONG [əʊ]. Examples: phone, code, rode, gnome, coke, scope...

However, this rule or pattern is broken whenever there's a double consonant involved. In this case, the double consonant prevent the previous vowel from diphthongising. A good example to explain this is 'apple'. Being spelt with double 'p' this word can never be pronounced [*'eɪpl] and it is pronounced ['æpl]. Sounds complicated? Let's see this with some other practical examples:

•  Dinner ['dɪnə] vs diner ['daɪnə]: These two words are indeed similar in orthography but different in pronunciation and meaning: 'Dinner' is the meal normally eaten at night and 'diner' is the typical American restaurants where you can have sandwiches and lots of coffee. 'Dinner' is spelt with double n, so there's no possible diphthong. The word is pronounced ['dɪnə],whereas 'diner' ['dɪnə] is written with just one 'n', so it follows the pattern described in number 2, that is, i + consonant + e, hence it is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. The same happens to the words 'dining' (room), and the verb 'dine'

• Writing ['raɪtɪɳ] vs written ['rɪtn] // Biting ['baɪtɪɳ] vs bitten ['bɪtn]:  The verb 'write' and its gerund 'writing' are spelt with one 't', so they follow the pattern in number 2 and are prounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. The participle 'written', however, is spelt with double 't', so there's no possible diphthong and the vowel before the double consonant is shortened [ɪ]. During my career as an English teacher, I have seen the word 'writing' misspelt thousands of times! Most of my students write it with double 't' (*writting). I always tell them if that word were spelt with double 't' it would be pronounced *['rɪtɪɳ]. The same thing goes with 'biting' (gerund of 'bite') and 'bitten' (British participle of 'bite')

• Riding ['raɪdɪɳ] vs ridden ['rɪdn]: This example is similar to the previous one. The verb 'ride' is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. However, its participle, being spelt with double 'd', is pronounced without the diphthong. 

• Plane [pleɪn] vs planned  // cane [keɪn] vs canned [kænd] // bane [beɪn] vs banned [bænd]: 'Plane' (the means of transport with wings), 'cane' (the object some elderly people need to walk) and 'bane' (destruction, Batman's enemy) fit in the pattern described in number 1: a + consonant +e, hence they are pronounced with the diphthong [eɪ]. However, 'planned' (the past of the verb 'plan'--make plans), 'canned' (put food in cans -- canned food), and 'banned' (prohibited) are spelt with double 'n', which makes the diphthong impossible. Instead, they are pronounced with the short vowel [æ].

• Mike [maɪk] vs Mickey ['mɪki] // biker ['baɪkə] vs bicker ['bɪkə]: This case is quirky, as the examples here do not technically refer to a double consonant, but the letters <ck>, which both represent the same sound [k], as if they actually were a double consonant. Let's begin with the hypochorisms of my name. 'Mike' fits in the pattern of number 2: i+consonant + e, hence it is pronounced with diphthong [aɪ]. However, the word 'Mickey' is spelt with <ck>, which technically works as double [k] sound and this prevents the diphthong. The same thing occurs with 'biker' (the person who uses a bike) and 'bicker' (argue).

• Sitting ['sɪtɪɳ] vs citing ['saɪtɪɳ]: Yet another example of gerunds. 'Sitting', being spelt with double 't' is pronounced with the short sound [ɪ], whereas 'citing' (the gerund of the verb 'cite') is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ], as it fits in the pattern of number 2. 

• File [faɪl] vs filled [fɪld] // mile [maɪl] vs milled [mɪld]: 'File' and 'mile' are pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ], as they fit in the pattern explained in number 2. However, the words 'filled' (past of 'fill') and 'milled' (past of 'mill'), being both spelt with double 'l', are pronounced with the short sound [ɪ].

• Winning ['wɪnɪɳ] vs whining ['waɪnɪɳ]: 'Winning' (the opposite of 'losing') is spelt with double 'n', hence there is no diphthong, whereas 'whining' (complaining) does have a diphthong as it is just spelt with one single 'n'.

• Pale [peɪl] , vale [veɪl], vile [vaɪl] vs pallor ['pælə] , valley ['væli] and villain ['vɪlən]: I love these examples as they refer to closely related words, but they sometimes have a dipthong and they sometimes have a short sound. The adjectives 'pale' and 'vile' are both uttered with a diphthong as they fit in the pattern described in numbers 1 and 2 and they are spelt with one single 'l'. Their nouns 'pallor' and 'villain', however, are uttered with short sounds as they are spelt with  double 'l', which prevents diphthongisation. The words 'vale' and 'valley' are synonyms. 'Vale' has the diphthong [eɪ], but 'valley', being spelt with double 'l' has no diphthong. 

Well, I hope this English pronunciation trick has been useful for you. This is the trick I use to tell my students why 'apple' has no diphthong at all...

Here you have the link to other entries involving English pronunciation: minimal pairs;  difficult geographical words to pronounce; difficult words to pronounce; same or different?; 10 tricks to improve your English pronunciation; homographs; pronunciation of -ed forms; exercises on -ed endings; double consonants in English prevent diphthongisation; 

See you around.