I pronounce it [?]. How do you pronounce it?
Pronounce "the"
I pronounce it [jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu jEs nOu]
i pronounce it like 'thee' before words that start w/ a vowel and like 'thuh' before words that start with a consonant.
I find the /D@/ before consonants & /Di:/ before vowels intriguing. Why does it exist? Who follows it? I don't. I normally pronounce it /D@/ whether before a vowel or consonant. I'd only ever pronounce it /Di:/ for emphasis.
In careful speech I pronounce "the" as [D@:] when unstressed and [Di:] when stressed. Note that this is not a function of whether it precedes a word starting in a vowel or not. However, in informal speech such are often realized as [d@:] (or [d_d@:]) and [di:] (or [d_di:]), even though many individuals seem to only use [d@:] (or [d_d@:]) and not [di:] (or [d_di:]).
(Note that the above is ignoring assimilation of /D/ to consonants at the ends of preceding words, which results in a while range of realizations including [n_d] for assimilating to nasal consonants and, for some, [s] for assimilating to /s/.)
(Note that the above is ignoring assimilation of /D/ to consonants at the ends of preceding words, which results in a while range of realizations including [n_d] for assimilating to nasal consonants and, for some, [s] for assimilating to /s/.)
I have a lot of those assimilations as well. According to the Wikipedia page on Canadian English, this is especially common in Southern Ontario, but I think it's widespread in Ontario at least, and probably most of North America. I generally assimilate [D] in 'the' to any preceeding coronal.
I have the same alternation as Skippy, with [D@] before consonants, and [Di] before vowels.
To the Guest who started this thread: are you from Northern England? From what I've read, definite article reduction is common there.
I have the same alternation as Skippy, with [D@] before consonants, and [Di] before vowels.
To the Guest who started this thread: are you from Northern England? From what I've read, definite article reduction is common there.
<<I find the /D@/ before consonants & /Di:/ before vowels intriguing. Why does it exist?>>
You should also ask why a distinction between "a" and "an" exists. It's similar to that.
You should also ask why a distinction between "a" and "an" exists. It's similar to that.
I used /Di:/ in slow speech (before both vowels and consonants).
In fast speech, it's /Di/ before vowels and /D/ before consonants.
In fast speech, it's /Di/ before vowels and /D/ before consonants.
At least rappers are consistent - they simply use "da" whatever follows on.
<<To the Guest who started this thread: are you from Northern England? From what I've read, definite article reduction is common there.>>
I'm originally from Norfolk.
I'm originally from Norfolk.
I also make the distinction between preconsonantal [D@] and prevocalic [Di].
In many ways it would be similar to "a" vs. "an" but there are noteable differences. First of all "a" vs. "an" serves to keep there from being one vowel immediately following another whereas /D@/ and /Di:/ both end in vowels. Secondly, "a" & "an" are spelt differently ... just in case we forget (let's not down-play the infulence of spelling lest we end up unable to explain so-called "spelling pronunciations"). Of course, there is the third difference in that it would seem that there would be a fair number of people who don't follow the /D@/-/Di:/ rule.
Jim, do you have intrusive r after 'the' and before a vowel? For example, is "the end" [D@r\End] for you? (I don't think I've ever heard this before.)