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USAGE: English eth

From:John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2001, 15:43
The list of eths in English seems to be tolerably short.

Initially: than, that, the, their(s), them, then, thence(forth),
there (and compounds), these, they, this, those, (al)though, thus,
thy(self).

Intervocalically:  bother, brethren (quondam bretheren), brother,
either, farther, father, fathom, feather, further, gather, hither,
leather, mother, neither, nether, other, rather, slither, smithereens,
smithy, smother, swarthy, together, weather, (bell)wether, whether,
withal, wither, worthy and their inflected and derived forms.
What surprised me was how many native words have /T/ anyway.

Finally: bathe, bequeath, betroth, blithe, breathe, clothe, lathe,
lithe, loathe, scythe, seethe, smooth, soothe, teethe, tithe, withe,
wreathe, writhe and their inflected and derived forms.  The verb "mouth"
(not the noun "mouth") also belongs to this category.

Oddball (anticipatory voicing, I think): algorithm, logarithm, rhythm.
These are probably the most recent /D/ words in English.

--
Not to perambulate             || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
    the corridors               || http://www.reutershealth.com
during the hours of repose     || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
    in the boots of ascension.  \\ Sign in Austrian ski-resort hotel

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