THE Learning is never Ending

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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!!!

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