Pronounce English Accurately

Video Text

A bit further back in the mouth but still just about frontal enough to able to see and feel the speech organs at work, we have /θ/ and /ð/.

Here's the speech organs diagram showing how to make /θ/.

To make /θ/, the tongue touches the top teeth … /θ/.

As with /f/, it's impossible to make complete closure because of the gaps between our teeth, so the air rushes out fast with friction noise.

So it's another fricative.

Is /θ/ voiced?

No, there's no vibration of the vocal folds, so it's voiceless.

It's a voiceless dental fricative.

/θ/ is always spelt 'th', and its IPA transcription is the Greek letter 'theta'.

/θ/ is an unusual sound in the world's languages - most languages do not have it.

Arabic, standard Castilian Spanish, and Greek are notable exceptions, but it's a relatively rare sound and likely to be difficult for many learners.

Here are some examples of /θ/ in initial position:

'thin' /θɪn/

'think' /θɪŋk/

'thaw, Thor' /θɔː/

'thought' /θɔːt/

'thief' /θiːf/

'thatch' /θætʃ/

'through' /θruː/

'three' /θriː/

'thread' /θred/

In medial position:

'something' /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/

'nothing' /ˈnʌθ.ɪŋ/

'pathway' /ˈpɑːθ.weɪ/

'healthy' /ˈhelθ.i/

'wealthy' /ˈwel.θi/

'python' /ˈpaɪ.θən/

And in final position:

'bath' /bɑːθ/

'cloth' /klɒθ/

'moth' /mɒθ/

'both' /bəʊθ/

'tooth' /tuːθ/

'teeth' /tiːθ/

'north' /nɔːθ/

'south' /saʊθ/

/ð/ is the voiced equivalent of /θ/ - it's dental in place, it's fricative in manner, and the vocal folds vibrate, so it's a voiced dental fricative.

Like /θ/, /ð/ is always written 'th', and it's not always 100% obvious whether 'th' is going to be /θ/ or /ð/.

Examples of /ð/ in initial position:

'this' /ðɪs/

'that' /ðæt/

'there' /ðeə

'then' /ðen/

'though' /ðəʊ/

I said that the spelling doesn't tell us whether we have a /θ/ or a /ð/, but look at those words - 'this, that, there, then, though', all pronounced with voiced /ð/.

How do these words differ from those with voiceless /θ/ at the beginning: 'thin, think, thought, thaw' and 'thief'?

The words with voiceless /θ/ are all 'lexical' words - adjectives, nouns, verbs, whereas those with voiced /ð/ are all grammatical words - pronouns, conjunctions, and adverbs.

The /θ-/ words are an open class, with a very large number of examples, whereas /ð-/ words are a closed class - there are only a few words beginning /ð-/ in the language.

In fact, we can list all the words beginning with /ð/ easily.

They are: 'than, that, the, thee, their, them, themselves, there, therefore, therein, these, they' - and words with 'they' in them, like 'they're' and 'they'll', 'this, those, thou, though' and thy'.

I think that's all of them. Tell us in the comments if you can think of any more.

/ð/ in medial position:

'mother'

'brother'

'bother'

'rather'

'lather'

'smother'

'weather/whether/wether'

'either'

'gather'

'other'

'leather'

'th' in the middle of a word is far more likely to be voiced /ð/ than voiceless /θ/. There are very few examples of /θ/ in the middle of a word, and most of these are compound words such as 'toothache' and 'pathway'.

There are loads of words with medial /ð/.

/ð/ in final position:

'teethe' /tiːð/ - 'teeth' /tːθ/, the noun, becomes the verb 'to teethe'.

'wreathe' /riːð/ - a 'wreath' /riːθ/ of flowers, the noun, becomes the verb 'to wreathe', meaning 'to encircle' - as in 'the smoke wreathes around my nostrils and makes me sneeze'. The plural of 'wreath' is also 'wreathes'.

The noun 'mouth' /maʊθ/ gives the verb 'to mouth' /maʊð/ and the plural of 'mouth' is 'mouths' /maʊðz/.

The noun 'sheath' /ʃiːθ/ gives the verb 'to sheathe' /ʃiːð/, and the plural of 'sheath' is 'sheathes' /ʃiːðz/.

Singular 'path' /pɑːθ/ becomes plural 'paths' /pɑːðz/. 'to loathe' /ləʊð/ - the verb, meaning 'to hate' or 'detest', and related to it, 'loth' or 'loath' /ləʊθ/, an adjective, meaning 'unwilling'. 'I was loath to tell her but I felt I had to'.

'breathe' /briːð/ - 'breath' /breθ/, the noun, becomes the verb 'to breathe'. The plural of 'breath' is, surprisingly, /breθs/.

'bathe' /beɪð/ - 'bath' /bɑːθ/, the noun, becomes the verb 'to bathe'. The plural of 'bath' can be either /bɑːθs/ or /bɑːðz/.

Another change from /θ/ to /ð/ occurs in 'south - southern', 'north - northern'.

/θ/ and /ð/ are difficult sounds for many learners, and there are several different ways they may be mispronounced. French speakers typically substitute /s/ and /z/ for them; Turkish and German speakers may substitute /t/ and /d/.

Even though Spanish has both sounds, Spanish speakers may still have trouble with them -pronouncing the sounds correctly but in the wrong places, influenced by the use of the letters 'c' and 'z' in Spanish.

Even native speakers of English are not immune to mispronouncing the dental fricatives, in this case substituting [f] and [v].

It's common among a certain sort of native speaker to pronounce /θ/ as [f], such as 'free' instead of 'three', [pɑːf] instead of 'path', and /ð/ as [v] in places other than the start of a word, such as [ˈrɑːvə] instead of 'rather'.

We've all heard people, usually big, tough people, who say 'one, two, free!', 'bofe of 'em was there; I definitely saw bofe of 'em!'; 'my big bruvver'll come deal wiv you if you don't shut up!'.

Don't do it. It may be native-speak, it's certainly common among lower social classes in and around London, but it's not going to give a good impression if you want to sound professional.

It is a heavily stigmatised pronunciation, and sounds most unprofessional - 'th', whether it's /θ/ or /ð/, is always dental - the tongue touching the teeth; /f/ and /v/ are labiodental - the lip and teeth in contact - [f] should never in any circumstances be substituted for /θ/; [v] never replaces /ð/.

Some examples contrasting /f /and /θ/. Watch my lips.

'fort' /fought' /fɔːt/'thought' /θɔːt/

'first' /fɜːst/'thirst' /θɜːst/

'free' /friː/'three' /θriː/

'half' /hɑːf/'hearth' /hɑːθ/

'deaf' /def/'death' /deθ/

'oaf' /əʊf/'oath' əʊθ/

And /v/ contrasted with /ð/:

'vat' /væt/'that' /ðæt/

'van' /væn/'than' /ðæn/

'live' /laɪv/'lithe' /laɪð/

'clothes' /kləʊðz/'cloves' /kləʊvz/

'sheaves' /ʃiːvz/'sheathes' /ʃiːðz/

Another native mispronunciation is /d/ for /ð/. You will certainly here this among certain groups of speakers, but again don't copy it. Just because someone does it and calls themselves a native speaker does NOT mean you should copy or regard it as acceptable.

The dental sounds should be dental; anything else is stigmatised and sounds unprofessional.

We'll contrast /ð/ with /d/ when we do /d/ in the next lesson.

Practice making /θ/ and /ð/.

Thirteen thirsty thinkers thought thankfully of great things in Thanet.

Thrifty, threadbare therapists theorising on theocracy.

This is the weather that thoroughly thick-skinned northerners like.

Thank goodness they've gone! I began to think they'd never go!

/θ, ð/