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Discussion Groups / British English / February 2006Thuh only thing I hate.
Does anyone here pronounce "the" with a schwa before a vowel sound - "thuh" instead of "thee"? (Obviously, "u" pronounced as "yoo" is a general exception.) It may be a dialect thing for some, and if so fair enough, but the rather plummily RP TV personality Ben Fogle has started to irritate me. He's just rowed across "thuh" Atlantic. I've pointed the habit out to a couple of people and they've begun to find him as irritating as I do, though he seems perfectly personable in all other ways. Once they get sensitised to it, it makes his speech sound like a young child just learning to read. Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it?  SignaturePhil C. >Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it? I have been using both forms for years without even noticing. " The big fat cat " would certainly not be "thee" when I'd proncounce it, but in other cases I would use the 'thee' form. The 'e' being the way you would pronounce 'e' when reciting the alphabet in French, or the 'i' sound in 'sir' or like the 'e' sound in 'certain', but not quite 'thuh'. > >Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it? > > I have been using both forms for years without > even noticing. > > " The big fat cat " The OP was referring to its pronunciation before a vowel sound. >> >Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it? >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >The OP was referring to its pronunciation before a vowel sound. Oh. The entrance is on the second floor (the / thee) ? > >> >Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it? > >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > The entrance is on the second floor (the / thee) ? A Mexican might use "thee" but an Englishman never would. Mind you, a Yorkshireman might use "t" and someone from The Potteries could well use "th". Only a Mexican would use "thee". English is de >Does anyone here pronounce "the" with a schwa before a vowel sound - >"thuh" instead of "thee"? (Obviously, "u" pronounced as "yoo" is a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Anyone else here noticed it or bothered by it? Yes. I noticed Ben Fogle's use of "thuh" instead of "thee" the first time I heard him speak. It has annoyed me ever since. Three (four?) decades ago when Bernard Levin was a columnist for The Times (of London) he commented on the opposite phenomenon: the use of "thee" where most people would use "thuh". I seem to recall that he kept hearing more and more uses of this. At the time I was reminded of the first words of a Christian hymn: "Teach me, my God and King, in all things thee to see". I didn't quite get round to writing to The Times to comment on this. "Thee" for "thuh" and vice versa aren't actually "wrong", but once noticed keep being noticed and become irritating. SignaturePeter Duncanson UK (posting from u.c.l.e) >"Thee" for "thuh" and vice versa aren't actually "wrong", but once >noticed keep being noticed and become irritating. I assume the distinction developed because of the way our mouths form words - "thee" slides to a following vowel sound much more easily than "thuh". So "thuh" sounds jerky and clumsy. I suppose an equivalent in French might be a person who always puts le or la before vowel instead of l'(?) Putting "thee" before a consonant sounds to my ear as if it's continually being stressed as we do use it in that way - "That's not one of thuh best, it's THEE best". SignaturePhil C. |
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