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The sound of English to non-speakers | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| dancinghobbit Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5442 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 17 of 20 05 June 2009 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, voiced "th" is similar to "v", because they are both voiced fricatives, and unvoiced "th" is similar to "f", because they are both unvoiced fricatives. However, the place of production is different for "th". (Phonemes can be categorized according to three parameters: manner of production, voicing, and place of production.) The sounds "f" and "v" are both produced between the upper teeth and lower lip, whereas the "th" sounds are produced between the upper teeth and the tongue. Interestingly, English-speaking children tend to develop "th" and "r" late. (Foreign speakers of English are not the only ones who have difficulty with these sounds!) With some practice, you should be able to recognize and produce them. There is a very nice demonstration of various phonemes here: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/ Edited by dancinghobbit on 05 June 2009 at 6:35pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| MäcØSŸ Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5595 days ago 259 posts - 392 votes  Speaks: Italian*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 18 of 20 05 June 2009 at 8:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Speaking of American English, the most characteristic features are the O sound in "stop," the A sound in "man" and
the velarized L (like in "feel"). For British English, the O sound in "loan" and non-rhoticism. For both the intonation and the syllabic N. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| 吕明扬 Newbie United States Joined 5842 days ago 30 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 19 of 20 07 June 2009 at 9:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I wouldn't feel too bad about the "th" sound, I had trouble with that sound so much when I was a kid. "Tat funder was loud" sort of thing. I didn't get the hang of that consonant till I was about 9-10 years old. I'm a native English speaker btw.
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| lecorbeau Diglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 5806 days ago 113 posts - 149 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Serbo-Croatian, Turkish | Message 20 of 20 08 June 2009 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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Wow, this has been a curiosity of mine ever since I was in elementary school. I am so glad this was posted, and my appetite for an incomprehensible English has been sated.
Thanks for the Youtube links! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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