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From what I understand, っ is used to "double" the "t" sound, so in だった it makes sense because it's pronounced "datta", but why is it used in the second part of the phrase?

Full sentence: "今日一限から英語だったっけ"

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  • You said that "the second "っ"(tsu) used when it can't be connected to け?"; note that っ is used with け in many words such as 呆気【あっけ】, 湿気【しっけ】, 月経【げっけい】.
    – blutorange
    Dec 23, 2014 at 16:26

4 Answers 4

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Despite how it looks, っ doesn't only double the consonant "t" but is an all-around geminator used with most of Japanese consonants. See the Wikipedia article.

And for the last part 「っけ」, this page will be helpful.


ProTip™: Although Wikipedia says you can't use っ with some consonants, the younger generation seems have acquired many untraditional geminations that virtually you'd expect any consonant after っ (especially in comics). The most extreme usage is geminating any (two-syllable stem) adjective's second syllable, when one gasps at the sight: つらい → つっら!, やばい → やっば!, こわい → こっわ!, はやい → はっや! (even あまい → あっま! [[ɐ | ʔ͡m | mɐ]], preferred to △ あんま! [[ɐ | ɐ̃m | mɐ]])

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Similar to what broccoli forest shared, "た-form + っけ" is a grammar structure that is used for confirmation. In English, it is similar to "~, right?".

For example, you met a few people at a party but even after the introductions, there was a name that was hard to catch. In that case, you can use "お名前は何とおっしゃいましたっけ。" to prompt the person to tell you his/her name.

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For a slightly less technical but infinitely more practical explanation, the small form of つ、in modern, living Japanese can be used to affect any combination of phonemes. Any.

The best way to think of っ is that whenever you see it, you make a slight pause, then a more percussive following phoneme. This can even apply to a っ found between two vowel sounds, as strange as it may sound. And lastly, you may see this:

あっ!~ If you're unaware and curious how to read this its' as simple as making the あ sound more percussive, almost as if you got punched in the stomach while pronouncing the あ sound.

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「っ」 or 「小さい『つ』」 is used to geminate (or lengthen) the following consonant, basically meaning it is pronounced about twice as long as normal. It's traditionally only used before plosives and fricatives, and the use of 「っ」 for this function evolved from the 「つ」 ending on many on'yomi (Chinese readings) of kanji, since it frequently gets "eaten up" by the following sound:

決 ketsu + して shite = けっして kesshite | 解 kai + 決 ketsu = かいけつ kaiketsu

発 hatsu + 表 hyou = はっぴょう happyou | 爆 baku + 発 hatu = ばくはつ bakuhatsu

It's historically only allowed before /h/ /t/ /k/ and /s/, but has slowly adopted new usages:

「やっほ~」 "Why, hello!" {Here it represents a long [h] or short glottal stricture}

「っぽいね」 "Seems that way, doesn't it!" {Here, a long initial /p/}

「からっ!」 "Spicy!" {Here, a glottal stop}

「あっま!」 "Yum!" {Here a long /m/}

「つっら!」 "Ouch!" {More glottal stricture}

Also, in songs it is often pronounced as a short lengthening of the previous vowel, since pitch doesn't carry well into most geminate consonants.

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