Albanian: teens (10-19)

[iezik]

Are there two ways (registers/ dialects) for the pronunciation of numbers from ten (dhjetë) to nineteen (nëntëmbëdhjetë)? I'm listening to the pronunciation by two speakers. Dhjetë one pronounces as if written dëvjet(ë), the other as according to the spelling. I hear the numbers 11-19 with the -teen (written -mbëdhjetë) as if written -mbëvjet(ë). Has /dh/ changed to /v/?

Thanks.

 

[Gavril]

I can't answer your question about Albanian at the moment, but in general, it is not unheard of to have the sound [ð] (the standard pronunciation of "dh") change to [v]. For example, in dialectal British English, "mother" is pronounced [mʌvɜ] (and, similarly, "mouth" is pronounced [mauf]).

On the other hand, sound changes like this also suggest that [ð] and [θ] can be misheard as [v] / [f]. Perhaps it would be a good idea to double-check the audio samples you listened to and make sure that you are actually hearing [v], not just a muffled form of [ð]?

 

[iezik]

Gavril, thanks for the thoughts. That CD has for each notion two recordings that occasionally split well according to the two major dialects, northern and southern. E.g. the final -ë is pronounced or not. So, the numbers could also fit this pattern.