Pronunciation: th-, -th, -thes
- Thread starter Jose85
- Start date
The plural of breath is pronounced as breaths.
Simply add an s to the end of breath.
.,,
Simply add an s to the end of breath.
.,,
foxfirebrand
Senior Member
Southern AE greatly modified by a 1st-generation Scottish-American mother, and growing up abroad.
Both the /th/ and the /s/ are pronounced, and both unvoiced. And I see by your rhyming examples you know it's a short e, not like the one in breathe.
I don't think people elide the /th/ and say "bress." the th-ss succession is not all that hard to pronounce.
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I don't think people elide the /th/ and say "bress." the th-ss succession is not all that hard to pronounce.
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It's pronounced like 'breath' with a /s/ on the end: /b-r-e-th-s/. Not easy at all for many foreign learners!
Yes, I'm aware that the "ea" in "breath" is distinction from the "ea" in "breathe".
Incidentally, just in case...
If not, see this thread.
You do know that "breath" is not pronounced "bress", don't you?
If not, see this thread.
No, they're not homophones. They're pronounced differently. Check the pronunciation in a dictionary.
How do you pronounce the word "breathe"? It should be pronounced with the "th" sound. Accordingly, "breath" is pronounced with only the change of the sound of the "ea". The "th" sound remains in "breath" and "breaths".
There are two "th" sounds, which I'll refer to here as
[th] for the terminal consonant in myth.
[th] for the initial consonant in this.
The verb "breathe" has the [th] sound.
The noun breath and its plural breaths have the [th] sound, as do myth and its plural myths and Goth and its plural Goths.
Now, to complicate matters, baths, paths, moths, oaths and mouths can have either the [th] or the [th] sound. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the word mouths usually has the [th] sound, more rarely has the sound [z] or [th], and compounds such as blabbermouths and cottonmouths would tend to have the [th] sound.
It seems to me, then, that the plural form of words ending in "th" must simply be committed to memory, with no useful general rule to tell when [th] or [th] is used.
I provided this link in the previous thread on the th-sound subject, it should be helpful: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#
mplsray - the two sounds are usually described as voiced and unvoiced (myth being unvoiced).
mplsray - the two sounds are usually described as voiced and unvoiced (myth being unvoiced).
The "oo" sound in booths is longer than in moose - also there is the different sound "th + s" as opposed to "s"Okay, so "breaths" is not pronunced "bress".no, it's not
Does "booths" rhyme with "moose"?
I'm sorry, but I disagree that there are two forms of "th". The "th" sound in the word "this" is said (in terms of the tongue on the teeth) in exactly the same way as the "th" sound in "bath". It is only the vowel sound that changes. In both of your examples, the tongue slightly protrudes out and against the top teeth. The action required to say "breath" and "breathe" is exactly the same.
Are you saying that there is no difference (in the "th" sounds) between breath & breathe ; bath & this ?
To me, there is quite a difference - one I would describe as a softer sound than the other one
(similar to the difference between "f" and "v")
I agree with Trina. The "th" in "breathe" and the one in "breath" are two distinct sounds that just happen to be represented the same way in writing. Arabic happens to have both of these sounds, with a different letter for each - and it wouldn't occur to anyone to consider them the same sound.
They are definitely two different sounds, the voiceless dental fricative and the voiced dental fricative.
In the north of England you will hear 'bath' similar to the AE pronunciation.
A similar distinction of the 'th' sound in 'breath' and 'breathes' exists between the noun and 3rd personal singular of the verb forms of 'mouth'.
A similar distinction of the 'th' sound in 'breath' and 'breathes' exists between the noun and 3rd personal singular of the verb forms of 'mouth'.
Personally I can't notice a difference on the sound of "th" between "breath" and "breathe", no doubt they are two different words, but exactly with the same "th" sound. Now the "th" on the word "this" it is very different, it is fonetically a "d".
No, I'm saying they're both formulated in the same way with the tongue against the teeth. If said extremely slowly, the change in sound is caused by the different vowel pronunciation. My explanation is a result of the original confusion over the "ss" and "th" pronunciation. Said slowly, the "th" in "breathe" and "breath" are formulated exactly the same way in the mouth. The difference in pronunciation comes from how the vowels are formed. Try saying "bre" and "brea" without the th sound... Then add the "th". The "th" is formed in exactly the same way in both words.
/bre0s/ where 0 = Greek theta in International Phonetic alphabet.
What about "CLOTHES"? It doesn't seem that the cluster TH + S is always pronounced. What do you guys say? Is this a special case? Does this happen only with some varieties of English?
Clothes - we pronounce the th here, it is the same as the thes at the end of breathes. Check out the WR dictionary entry for clothes.
Others will pronounce clothes more or less the same as close.
Oh, that's close as in close the door, not close meaning not far away
There are wide national and regional variations in many of the topics already covered in this thread, which make life fascinating for natives and difficult for others.
<< Mod Note:
Please keep to the general topic of th pronunciation.
Panj >>
Others will pronounce clothes more or less the same as close.
Oh, that's close as in close the door, not close meaning not far away
There are wide national and regional variations in many of the topics already covered in this thread, which make life fascinating for natives and difficult for others.
<< Mod Note:
Please keep to the general topic of th pronunciation.
Panj >>
panja, you mean pronounce 'clothes' with a voiced s? As in 'cloze'?
No doubt "close" and "clothes" are both pronounced the same way. At least that is what I hear from native speakers.
Now, I wants to know if the following words are homophones:
thin, tin
three, tree
then, den
breathes, breeds
booth, boot
I've have been pronouncing them the same way. Have I been wrong? If so, what's the difference?
Now, I wants to know if the following words are homophones:
thin, tin
three, tree
then, den
breathes, breeds
booth, boot
I've have been pronouncing them the same way. Have I been wrong? If so, what's the difference?
Nooooo, none of those are homophones! "th", "d", and "t" are all distinct sounds.
I pronounce the -thes at the end of clothes the same as the -thes at the end of breathes.
Listen to the WR pronunciation of clothes and then close.
None of those are homophones for me.Hitch57 said:
The th is pronounced as in the "How to pronounce th in English" thread. Not like t or d.
You simply have to pronounce the 'th', nothing more. nothing less. Sometimes hard as in 'tooth', sometimes soft as in 'booth'.
By taking time and training your tongue and mouth.
Then starts with a soft sound. Den starts with a hard sound.
Booth ends with a soft sound. Boot ends with a hard sound.
.,,
To make the TH sound you need to stick out your tongue a little bit so that it gets placed between the upper and lower teeth. At that position you can make the two TH sounds, which differ only in that one is voiced and the other isn't just as F is unvoiced and V is voiced.
To make the D and the T sounds you need to block the air flow by sticking your tonge against the soft palate (the ridge of the palate a little behind your teeth). Again, the difference between them is that the D is voiced and the T is unvoiced and plosive(=you let go of some air as you move the tongue).
Okay, I think the problem is is that I am substituting the "t" and "d" sounds for the voiceless and voiced "th" sounds. Thanks you for the explanation on how to make the "th" sounds.
You're welcome.
Check this out:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html
For the THs go to MANNER --> FRICATIVE and you'll see two sounds at the Lingua-Dental level. One is the voiced TH and the other is the unvoiced one.
For the T and D go to MANNER --> STOP and there you'll have them at the ligua-alveolar level.
Have fun.
What a completely fascinating and really useful site!!!!
Amazing.
Thanks PolCas.
Amazing.
Thanks PolCas.
Fab! To say the very least.
