Re: English eth (was: Love Those Double Vowels)

From: "John Cowan" <jcowan@...>
> Generally speaking, the default realization of //T// in English
> is /T/, and you get /D/ only in three circumstances:
>
> 1) Intervocalically in native words;
> 2) Finally in native words that used to end in /@/, generally
>     shown by a silent "e" in the orthography;
> 3) Initially in closed-class words.
>
> So "ether" has /T/ because it is a borrowing, whereas "either" is
> native; "then" is closed-class, but "thin" is open-class;
> ditto for "thy"/"thigh".
What about the borrowed words that end in [IDm=], like rhythm, logarithm,
algorithm....?

> In general, no newly introduced word contains /D/; I find that
> my wife, who can say "soothe" /suD/ quite perfectly, always
> pronounces "Gwynedd" with /T/.
I can probably support that... when I first read JRRT's LOTR I read "mathom" as
["m&Tm=], although I discovered later that the dictionary says it should rhyme
with "fathom".

        *Muke!