I think the disagreement here comes from the dropped R in a British accent. Just imagine an American saying "taut" or "taught" and then saying "tort", they would sound different in his accent and near identical in a standard (i.e. BBC) British accent.
I suspect the same is true of a Scottish accent (they pronounce their Rs, where the English don't).
I suspect the same is true of a Scottish accent (they pronounce their Rs, where the English don't).
Ahhh... *penny drrrrrrops*
Tolkien wrote a book, he did not actually create Middle Earth and the languages spoken by actual people resident there. I appreciate that I may be naive in this, and will be told the error of my ways by people who use the word "canon" a lot, but I don't really care.
This stuff exists chiefly in the reader's head. In my head, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights generally isn't black and doesn't speak with a Mancunian accent, because the idea that he ought to was not really impressed upon my 17 year old mind. The one in your head may well differ. I care only very slightly what Emily Bronte thought about the matter.
🙂
Tolkien wrote a book, he did not actually create Middle Earth and the languages spoken by actual people resident there.
Oh dear.
Would you really pronounce taut sufficiently distinctly from tort or torte as to make any noticable difference?
Yes.
Edit. Doesn't everyone? I would however pronounce taut the same as taught.