Re: Phoneme winnowing continues

Mark J. Reed scripsit:

> (English has both sounds but they're not phonemically distinct; initial
> and medial "th" is always [D] while final "th" is always [T])..
It's not quite so simple, and there are minimal pairs like thy/thigh.  In
general, /D/ appears:

1) intervocalically.

2) finally where -e has become silent.

3) initially in function words (the, their, them, they, those, that, etc. etc.).

4) idiosyncratically in "with" (but not in all dialects nor in all instances).

Otherwise /T/ is used.

--
A witness cannot give evidence of his           John Cowan
age unless he can remember being born.          jcowan@reutershealth.com
  --Judge Blagden                               http://www.ccil.org/~cowan

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