@aescling cat it is not physically possible to pronounce two /t/ in sequence
probably you’re doing /ˈkɑːʔ.te/ ???
@alyssa @aescling yeah i think we’re definitely getting into “what physically constitutes a consonant” here (is it the stop, the release, both separately, or both together) which is not entirely settled territory
my feeling is that a stop cannot release into another stop at the same position because you’re already stopped, you have to release into something else before you can stop there again. but i fully believe that there are many linguists who would disagree on this take
@Lady @aescling amusingly there are well-respected phoneticists who consider gemination in general as being not a lengthened consonant but two separate instances of the consonant! (well, strictly speaking the example i have to hand died in 2009, but probably he wasn't the only one)