This - dis - diss

[JustAlilBit]

Hi there everybody, I just want to ask one question about pronunciation. I have heard somewhere that some people pronounce word "this" like "dis or diss" is it true? Maybe I'm deaf, but I heard that not once or twice. I know that word diss has different meaning but it doesn't matter.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi there everybody, I just want to ask one question about pronunciation. I have heard somewhere that some people pronounce word "this" like "dis or diss" is it true? Maybe I'm deaf, but I heard that not once or twice. I know that word diss has different meaning but it doesn't matter.

"To diss" is a verb in its own right.

"Dis" is different. In the last few years, there has been an upsurge in people saying/writing "this" as "dis". It appears to stem from the desire of some (mainly young) non-black people to sound "black". Now before I get lambasted for any kind of racial stereotyping here, the pronunciation does appear to come from the stereotyping of a lot of black people in films and in rap music.
I have heard groups of teenage white kids in the UK speaking to each other and, if you couldn't see them, you would think they were black.
It appears that this is seen to be "cool". It seems to up there with the current trend for wearing your jeans around your thighs.

It is not restricted to "this". My friend's teenage son once sent my friend a text which read "Hey dad, whassup. Got dis sic guitar for xmas. Dat is jus wicked". Honestly, I nearly cried!

 

[BobK]

Hi there everybody, I just want to ask one question about pronunciation. I have heard somewhere that some people pronounce word "this" like "dis or diss" is it true? Maybe I'm deaf, but I heard that not once or twice. I know that word diss has different meaning but it doesn't matter.

It's true, and you're not deaf. But it's not right.

b

 

[riquecohen]

I believe that there are only about a dozen languages in the world that have the th sound (either voiced or unvoiced.) In the US, this mispronunciation was (and still is) frequently heard among immigrants and other speakers of English as a second language.

 

[emsr2d2]

I believe that there are only about a dozen languages in the world that have the th sound (either voiced or unvoiced.) In the US, this mispronunciation was (and still is) frequently heard among immigrants and other speakers of English as a second language.

That's a very good point. I should have pointed out that the misuse of "dis" (as I described it) is utilised on purpose by native speakers who are more than capable of saying "this" correctly but choose not to, purely for effect.

 

[BobK]

I believe that there are only about a dozen languages in the world that have the th sound (either voiced or unvoiced.) In the US, this mispronunciation was (and still is) frequently heard among immigrants and other speakers of English as a second language.

Hence brother -> buddy

b

 

[SoothingDave]

I believe that there are only about a dozen languages in the world that have the th sound (either voiced or unvoiced.) In the US, this mispronunciation was (and still is) frequently heard among immigrants and other speakers of English as a second language.

I believe you will find this in some dialects in the US - or at least in some exaggerations of some dialects. Think of Chicago and "Da Bears."