tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382369381372118960.post7621992160549324067..comments2024-01-08T18:25:51.974+00:00Comments on Kraut's English phonetic blog: to /θ/ or not to /θ/Krauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932831673529849848noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382369381372118960.post-31347124459374334822010-09-16T09:30:26.381+01:002010-09-16T09:30:26.381+01:00If you ask any native speakers of English to say t...If you ask any native speakers of English to say the sound of <i>th</i> you can be sure they'll say [θ]. That fact shd make a good guide for any users of Emglish as an extra language wondering whether a <i>th</i> stands for /θ/ or /ð/. If in dou’t plump for /θ/ but try to remember:<br /> <b>Word-initially</b> /ð/ occurs <b>only</b> in the mainly functional dozen <b>common words</b> (and their derivatives) <b><i>than, that, the, their, them, then, there, these, this, those, though</i></b>. Besides these there are only the mainly literary and archaic items <i>thence, thither, thus, thou, thee, thine</i> and <i>thy</i>.<br /> <b>Word-medially</b> /ð/ occurs in a moderate number of common words (and their derivatives) of <b>fairly obviously Germanic origin</b> including <b><i>bother, brother, either, father, farther, further, gather, leather, mother, neither, other, rather, weather, whether, worthy</i></b>. Less common items include <i>bathe, clothing, (come)-hither, lathe, loathsome, northern, scathe, scythe, teething, tether, wreathe</i> and a few plurals including <i>baths, mouths, oaths, paths, wreaths, youths</i>.<br /> <b>Word-finally</b> /ð/ occurs only in very a few exceptional items <i>bequeath, booth</i>, <b><i>smooth, with</i></b>.<br /> A few names have /t/ for <i>th</i>: <i>Anthony, Esther, Thailand, Thames, Theresa, Thomas, Thompson</i>. So do <i>thyme</i> and <i>discotheque</i> — tho not <i>Pathé</i> or <i>Pathétique</i>.<br />In various combinations it's usually obvious that the <i>t</i> and the <i>h</i> dont belong together eg <i>hothouse, shorthand, Chatham</i>.jwlhttp://www.yek.me.uknoreply@blogger.com