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From: petrich@netcom.com (Loren Petrich)
Subject: Re: Th - one or two phonemes in English?
Message-ID: <petrichD2uKMK.F99@netcom.com>
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References: <rharmsen.132.000FF592@knoware.nl> <D2KtzM.MoM@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com> <henryD2MEr4.AHr@netcom.com> <I8040101.95Jan20124711@rzab6.ws.rz.tu-bs.de>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 07:25:32 GMT
Lines: 25

In article <I8040101.95Jan20124711@rzab6.ws.rz.tu-bs.de>,
Blumberg <i8040101@ws.rz.tu-bs.de> wrote:
>hello, if this has come up befroe, sorry: 
>but the two th-sounds are phonemes, there is a minimal pair for them:
>thy vs. thigh (well, rather a tricky one, but there you are ...)

	Try out:

	thin /Tin/ vs. then /Din/

	It is clear to me that voiceless and voiced "th" /T/ and /D/ are
two separate phonemes, since the choice of which one is not affected by
the phonetic environment. An example of opposite situation is the
voiceless stops, which are either aspirated or non-aspirated depending on
whether or not they are at the beginning of a word (or after an unstressed
syllable).  Consider: till vs. still, pill vs. spill, kill vs skill. Some 
languages, however, the distinction between these two types of sounds 
_is_ significant in telling what word it is, and they are generally 
spelled differently.

-- 
Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster
petrich@netcom.com                   Happiness is a fast Macintosh
lip@s1.gov                           And a fast train

