pronunciation: /th/ as in word "smoothing"?

[Dr.pepper-oni]

Hello everyone!

I searched this topic throughout the forum and didn't find any regarding this topic, so I started this thread.

I was talking to a native the other day the he couldn't understand the way I say "smoothing". So later I looked up the pronunciation online and found that the /th/ was pronounced more like /z/ instead of /ð/. Am I right?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Loob]

Hi Dr.pepper-oni - welcome to the forums!

The "th" sound in "smoothing" isn't /z/; it's /ð/.

 

[bennymix]

There are two 'th' sounds in English, this is the voiced (gentler, less sibilant)and in 'there he goes', but not as in 'thing.'

 

[sahariranian]

Hi bennymix,
This topic is my question,too.my English level isnt good.please describe your answer more clearly,thanks a lot.

 

[bennymix]

I'm afraid I'm very rusty in the International Phonetic Alphabet. There are sites with mp3 clips illustrating the sounds of various words. I don't have an address handy.

Here is one link: material on 'th' in English.

http://www.abaenglish.com/blog/tip-1-pronouncing-th-in-english/

 

[sahariranian]

Thanks alot for your perfect answer

 

[natkretep]

Welcome to the Forum, Dr Pepper-oni!

You might also want to look at this thread:

Smooth (pronunciation)

You use the same 'th' for smooth and smoothing​

 

[panjandrum]

Try going to one of the resource sites listed at the top of this forum and typing in
I am smoothing this thing. Now this thing is smooth.
AT&T Labs Text-Speech Demo
Acapela HQ TTS Interactive Demo

You can change the voice - and you should be able to hear how these different th sounds are pronounced.

 

[bennymix]

Thanks for the help, pan.
The AT&T synthesis is VERY natural and flows; nice!