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  #1  
Old 06-Feb-2009, 19:59
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Default th & kh

I have downloaded an IPA phonetic chart but now I have seen the letters t and k with a small letter h next to it.

I thought that the th would be the sound in the word think but on the IPA chart that sound is like a zero with a line through it.

Can anyone please explain these to me?

Thanks
  #2  
Old 06-Feb-2009, 20:33
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Default Re: th & kh

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anne59 View Post
I have downloaded an IPA phonetic chart but now I have seen the letters t and k with a small letter h next to it.

I thought that the th would be the sound in the word think but on the IPA chart that sound is like a zero with a line through it.

Can anyone please explain these to me?

Thanks
Hi

Th sounds like in the word think, and its phonetic representation is - as you have already noticed- like a zero with a line through it! - a dental fricative consonantal sound :θ

θ is the simbol representing the letters th in words like: thing, thought, thin, thick, etc.


Here is a thorough explanation on this item:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_dental_fricative

Last edited by Teia; 06-Feb-2009 at 20:42.
  #3  
Old 06-Feb-2009, 20:46
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Default Re: th & kh

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anne59 View Post
I have downloaded an IPA phonetic chart but now I have seen the letters t and k with a small letter h next to it.

I thought that the th would be the sound in the word think but on the IPA chart that sound is like a zero with a line through it.

Can anyone please explain these to me?

Thanks
"th" is [ɵ]. The t and k you've seen, and p, are followed by a little h to mark a little burst of air - confusingly called 'aspiration'. If you hold a thin piece of paper (air-mail paper or tissue or a cigarrete paper) in front of your lips when you say "pin" and "spin" you'll notice that the first is aspirated*. This is hard to hear, and if you try to reproduce it you'll probably end up sounding less native-like than when you started - so don't try. We don't; it just happens.

The absence of aspiration can make a voice sound slightly different. Audrey Hepburn didn't aspirate her stop consonants, betraying her Dutch ancestry.

b

*If you know what I'm talking about, [ph] and [p] are allophones of the /p/ phoneme in English.

Last edited by BobK; 07-Feb-2009 at 13:49. Reason: Fix typo
  #4  
Old 06-Feb-2009, 20:53
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Default Re: th & kh

The absence of aspiration can make a voice sound slightly different. Audrey Hepburn didn't aspirate her stop consonants, betraying her Dutch ancestry.

Hi BobK

Very interesting approach! I have always thought that Audrey Hepburn had Danish ancestry. Mea culpa
  #5  
Old 07-Feb-2009, 13:52
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Default Re: th & kh

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Originally Posted by Teia View Post
The absence of aspiration can make a voice sound slightly different. Audrey Hepburn didn't aspirate her stop consonants, betraying her Dutch ancestry.

Hi BobK

Very interesting approach! I have always thought that Audrey Hepburn had Danish ancestry. Mea culpa
You may well be right (I'm always confusing Danish/Dutch). Or my source may have got it wrong (Dan Everett, a linguist, but not writing for a very scholarly market!)

b
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