Slow Down and learn more things
Did you
know there are two ways to pronounce the word the, and the rule
that governs which pronunciation you choose is kind of like how you choose
between ‘a’ and ‘an’? When we were doing our studies, one of our
professor who taught us phonetics for some time, told us that there is a
difference in the pronunciation of the word “the” according to the usage.
I
didn’t know this until I heard about it. Then I checked the Merriam-Webster
dictionary and I found the same. It says; definite article “the” \before consonants usually thə, before
vowels usually thē, sometimes before vowels also thə; for
emphasis before titles and names or to suggest uniqueness often ˈthē\.
If you are amazed and tell me that I’m
doing something wrong without checking first. No, I did a research. So, I have the
proves that I am right! There are
pronunciation guidelines that you never learned. But it is no use of argument.
Because people are so used to using it the way they want. And they may not be
willing to change it too. It is natural for a native to know the difference
between the two pronunciation, but for anyone who is not a native would have
the courage to accept the rules. I am
not a native, so I can only accept the rules of the language and I cannot
change the rules. May be in the course
of time through wear and tear the language would be modified according to the
convenience of the time and people. That
doesn’t mean that there was no rules like that.
There
are mainly two rules pronouncing ‘the’. Pronounce
it “thee” if the next word starts with a vowel sound. And pronounce it
“thuh” if the next word starts with a consonant sound. Just like with ‘a’ versus an,
it’s not the first letter of the next word that matters, it’s the
first sound. Here are some examples:
When
the next word starts with a consonant sound
Did Martin bring "thuh" cheese
platter?
Where is "thuh" universal remote?
(Note that universal starts with a consonant sound: Y.)
When
the next word starts with a vowel sound
I prefer "thee" effervescent water.
Did Smarty get "thee" MRI? (Note
that MRI starts with a vowel sound: E.)
People Also Use ‘Thee’ for
Emphasis
The big
exception to these rules is that people also use the “thee” pronunciation when
they want extra emphasis or to indicate that something is important. For
example, if you really want to make a point, you might say that someone is
“thee” big star or that the summer gala is “thee” social event of the
year.
Since I
spent decades of my life not making a distinction between the two
pronunciations, I still get it wrong sometimes. That doesn’t mean that
there is no rule existing. If we want,
we can be serious about it. Or just ignore about it and go on with how it comes
to your tongue.
People are flabbergasted when they hear about
the difference. And they never realized that it was something that had to be
taught in the schools. I assumed people just listened to what they were saying,
and how they were saying it, and would know that "the" had two
different pronunciations. Do you make the error only when reading aloud? Sometimes
teachers go crazy that the kids didn't change the pronunciation of
"the" based on the word following it. I always assumed it was because
they were reading one word at a time, without full comprehension.
I know that you learned something new here,
but for many native speakers, it is a natural thing, and get it right most of
the time. And it is sometimes surprising that even the Filipino and Indian
folks know these rules. May be, it was taught in the schools for fun and they
took it serious.
So now you know why it's THEE Ohio State
University! The professors were such sticklers about that but they never
explained it. They were just used to it even without knowing the rules!
And sometimes people argue that "Thee
event" should be "Thuh event", as it is clumsy to try and say
two ee sounds back to back. The sounds "uh ee" flow much better than
"ee ee". But sorry, there are people who disagree and counter argue,
that 'Thee event 'is much easier to say, as the two words roll into each other.
'Thuh event' causes you to pause between each word and is thus more clumsy. Moreover,
‘Thuh event’ causes an abrupt stop
between words, is hard to say, and sounds odd. The other reason is regional;
you pronounce it eevent, around here in Northern CA it's pronounced uh-vent
(like the thing that is attached to a fan, a vent) and thee uh-vent flows like
theater. That’s why one say it "Thevent" and listen for context.
Language is not static no matter how hard the lexicographers try to make it. So
it is nothing to worry about.
And there are even people go crazy about its pronunciation
and argue that 'Thuh' is used before the 24 consonant sounds of English and
'thee' is used in front of 20 vowel sounds. There are 44 sounds in English.
Anyway, I don’t go that deep into the language. But it may be more fun and can
make more complication for English speakers who are not natives.
All native speakers unconsciously try to make
"smooth transitions" from word to word. Some ESL pronunciation
teachers are very critical about it, and they say, they call call this
"linking" or "blending," and it's essential to sounding
like a native speaker. Spaces between words are just there for writing. For
speaking, we try to link word to word so that "an apple" sounds like
"a napple" and a "bus stop" sounds like "bustop."
Likewise, it sounds smoother to use the pronunciation thee with its final y
glide to link to vowels ("thee yapple") to avoid a choppy glottal
stop sound in the middle of "thuh apple." They would even disagree
with example of using "thuh" (not "thee") before
"universal." According to them, The y sound at the end of
"thee" smoothly links to the y sound at the beginning of
"universal" to make the link "thee yuniversal." Which leads
to an observation they make about "thuh" and "thee": Native
speakers shift back and forth between use of "thuh" and
"thee" even in the same sentence environment, depending on speed,
emphasis, and "feeling," And some teachers after 37 years of teaching
pronunciation, make unscientific, observation that "thuh" may be
winning out over "thee" in all contexts.
I was never taught a distinction either, but
as I play with all the combinations, I realize that using thee before vowel
sounds creates a slight Y sound between thee and the vowel sound of the next
word. It produces a smooth transition and prevents the need for a glottal stop
to separate the two words. It sounds like ‘thee yeffervescent’ water, ‘thee
yeaster’ parade, thee yitalicized words, and thee yold man. If I use thuh
effervescent water, I have to use a glottal stop and it loses the fluid sound.
Again to make the grammar complicated, The is
pronounced theh regardless of the following word.
The letter e is not pronounced uh. The e that ends the word
"the" does not deserve to be ee as if the word is spelled thee. Egret,
emit, emergency, remote, and other words have the ee sound preceding a
syllable, but e is alone at the end of "the."
Where is "thuh" universal remote? Doesn't
'universe' start with a vowel sound? Yes of course, It starts with a vowel, but
not a vowel sound, I believe. 'Universal' would have to sound like
'uh-nih-ver-sul' for it to be a vowel sound, but instead it sounds like
'yoo-nih-ver-sul.' I could be wrong on this since I'm just learning myself, but
that's what I get from this.
Again even the Americans do not pronounce many
things correctly, For example, the letter W is actually double v in many other
languages and Americans say it incorrectly. Universe might sound like
yoo-nih-ver but it still a vowel. "Unlike 'a' versus 'an'" – what?
This is exactly like 'a' versus 'an'.
If the word following ""the" starts with a consonant SOUND, you
pronounce "the" as "thuh." If the word following
"the" starts with a vowel SOUND, you pronounce "the" as
"thee." Note that the rule referred to "consonant sound"
and "vowel sound" not "consonant letter" and "vowel
letter"
There are even people come up with the puzzle:
should we say "a historical" or " 'an' historical?" But you
know for sure that one does not say "istorical;" One says
"HIStorical." So, is it "a" or "an?"
There are people who even argue that they
apply any rule when they speak, they unconsciously and automatically choose the
appropriate combination of sounds that join and flow smoothly. Possibly, at a
future time, we will solve this problem by pronouncing only the beginning of
the word, "th'". We will possibly say, "He left th'share
portfolio to his daughter" and "He left th'entire share portfolio to
his daughter." Or we might say "Th'child was killed by th'ostrich
that his father kept in his private menagerie."
By the way, it is both grammatically wrong and unacceptable amongst literate
people to say, "Do you pronounce it wrong?" "Wrong" is
an adjective form. Since you are modifying the verb, "pronounce", you
need to use an adverb. Since "wrongly" sounds stilted you could use
"incorrectly" or you could rephrase the statement: Are you using the
wrong pronunciation?"
There is a difference between spoken and written English. It might be
acceptable, if arrogant, to say, "Get it right." But the written form
would be "I want you to make a greater effort and do it correctly."
Or, "eliminate the mistakes."
This is cool. Because when I studied phonetics
I noticed and read about this alternation. I think I've just planted the seed
for a new temporary observational obsession. I'm excited to see how much this
subconscious rule is followed in the natural speech of our communities.
All this time I thought "thuh" was
just the usual pronunciation of "the." "Thee" called extra
attention to an already definite article.
MRI starts with "em". But I don't
get why you would use "thuh" with "you-ni-versal".
Where is “an” Universal remote to change this subject?
( Rules are rules and that cannot be according to your convenience)
Slow Down and take time to learn more things!!!