Th-alveolarization
Th-alveolarization is a process that occurs in some African varieties of English where the dental fricatives /ð, θ/ merge with the alveolar fricatives /z, s/. It is an example of assibilation.
It is often parodied as ubiquitous to French- and German-speaking learners of English, but is widespread among many foreign learners of English, because the dental fricative "th" sounds are not very common among world languages.
For some speakers of African American Vernacular English, /θ/ is alveolarized to /s/ when it occurs at the end of a syllable and within a word before another consonant, leading to such pronunciations as the following.[1]
| bathroom | - /ˈbæs.ruːm/ |
| birthday | - /ˈbɝs.deɪ/ |
| Homophonous pairs |
| /s, z/ |
/θ, ð/ |
IPA |
Notes |
| ace | eighth | ˈeɪs |
| bass | bath | ˈbæs | bass in the sense of a kind of fish. |
| Bess | Beth | ˈbɛs |
| breast | breathed | ˈbrɛst |
| Brest | breathed | ˈbrɛst |
| close | clothe | ˈkloʊz |
| close | clothes | ˈkloʊz |
| eights | eighth | ˈeɪts |
| Erse | earth | ˈɜː(r)s |
| face | faith | ˈfeɪs |
| force | forth | ˈfoə(r)s |
| force | fourth | ˈfoə(r)s |
| frost | frothed | ˈfrɒst, ˈfrɔːst |
| gross | growth | ˈɡroʊs |
| lays | lathe | ˈleɪz |
| laze | lathe | ˈleɪz |
| louse | Louth | ˈlaʊs |
| miss | myth | ˈmɪs |
| moss | moth | ˈmɒs, ˈmɔːs |
| mouse | mouth | ˈmaʊs |
| pass | path | ˈpæs |
| purse | Perth | ˈpɜː(r)s |
| race | wraith | ˈreɪs |
| rise | writhe | ˈraɪz |
| Ross | Roth | ˈrɒs, ˈrɔːs |
| ryes | writhe | ˈraɪz |
| sane | thane | ˈseɪn |
| sane | thegn | ˈseɪn |
| sank | thank | ˈsæŋk |
| saw | thaw | ˈsɔː |
| sawed | thawed | ˈsɔːd |
| saw | Thor | ˈsɔː | Non-rhotic accents. |
| seam | theme | ˈsiːm |
| seas | seethe | ˈsiːz |
| seem | theme | ˈsiːm |
| sees | seethe | ˈsiːz |
| seize | seethe | ˈsiːz |
| sick | thick | ˈsɪk |
| sin | thin | ˈsɪn |
| sing | thing | ˈsɪŋ |
| sink | think | ˈsɪŋk |
| size | scythe | ˈsaɪz |
| soar | thaw | ˈsɔː | Non-rhotic acents with horse-hoarse merger. |
| soar | Thor | ˈsɔː(r) | With horse-hoarse merger. |
| soared | thawed | ˈsɔːd | Non-rhotic acents with horse-hoarse merger. |
| song | thong | ˈsɒŋ, ˈsɔːŋ |
| sore | thaw | ˈsɔː | Non-rhotic acents with horse-hoarse merger. |
| sore | Thor | ˈsɔː(r) | With horse-hoarse merger. |
| sored | thawed | ˈsɔːd | Non-rhotic acents with horse-hoarse merger. |
| sort | thought | ˈsɔːt | Non-rhotic accents. |
| sought | thought | ˈsɔːt |
| suds | thuds | ˈsʌdz |
| sunder | thunder | ˈsʌndə(r) |
| sunk | thunk | ˈsʌŋk |
| swart | thwart | ˈswɔː(r)t |
| sword | thawed | ˈsɔːd | Non-rhotic acents with horse-hoarse merger. |
| tense | tenth | ˈtɛns |
| tents | tenth | ˈtɛn(t)s |
| whiz | with | ˈwɪz | With wine-whine merger. |
| wizard | withered | ˈwɪzə(r)d |
| Z | thee | ˈziː |
| zen | then | ˈzɛn |
|
See also
References