A Thesis on English Pronunciation of TH
Created | Updated Nov 6, 2011
Following a short survey I scientifically undertook among a group of four overseas colleagues I discovered that people who speak English as a second language agreed that the TH combination in English presents them with the most challenge.
TH pronunciation can be a give-away of a person's origins to native English speakers, particularly in England.
There are two main pronunciations, one is the slightly breathed th in the number 30 (thirty) while there is a second pronunciation as heard in the less breathy TH as in "this" or "that".
How can I work out where someone comes from?
Many Londoners (her Majesty the Queen is an exception) pronounce TH as the letter F so the number 33 is pronounced firty-free. They may also resort to the occasional use of the D for the less breathy th or drop the sound altogether, What's this? becomes Whassis?
Many Dubliners and some other Irish people pronounce the TH as a T and so the number 33 becomes tirty-tree and adopt the D for these and those pronouncing it as deze or doze.
French people often pronounce TH as an S and so the number 33 is sirty-sree, think becomes sink while changing to a Z for zis and zat. Germans go for a more z like sound for both.
For some the less breathy pronunciation of TH can become the letter D. So some people pronounce this and that as dis and dat. Again this may be an Irish pronunciation or even from the Caribbean.
I have an English friend who has difficulty pronouncing th sounds and she resorts to using a V sound. This and that become vis and vat. Another resorts to the letter N for these and those which become knees and nose, but heard in context we don't bat an eyelid. In fact in London this and that are often pronounced as "nis an' at". Remembering that I removed Her Majesty QE II from this group earlier on.
Thinking about how my friends pronounced these TH sounds I realised that the N sound which seems a long way from the received TH pronunciation does in fact place the tongue very close to where it should be in the mouth to properly pronounce a th. If you firmly place your tongue touching the join between your gums and your front teeth you make an N sound as you pull your tongue away. Try it. Now start in that place and slide your tongue to the tip of your teeth, with a little less pressure, and pull it away in the same manner and you get the th sound as in this and that.
So in conclusion if you are from overseas (not from the UK) and don't want to sound too much like a foreigner adopt one of the other English speakers tricks, just but don't use the S or Z options... unless you want to sound like a sexy foreigner.
