Th-alveolarization
Encyclopedia
Th-alveolarization is a process that occurs in some African varieties of English
where the dental fricative
s /ð, θ/ merge with the alveolar fricatives /z, s/. It is often parodied as ubiquitous to French-speaking learners of English, but it's widespread among many foreign learners of English, because the dental fricative "th" sound is not very common among world languages. It is also common among German-speaking learners of English as well, as caricatured in the Volkswagen
ads describing "Ze auto".
For some speakers of African American Vernacular English
, /θ/ is alveolarized to /s/ when it occurs at the end of a syllable and within a word before another consonant, leading to such pronunciations as the following.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
where the dental fricative
Dental fricative
The dental fricative or interdental fricative is a fricative consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth. There are two types, both written as th in English:*Voiced dental fricative *Voiceless dental fricative...
s /ð, θ/ merge with the alveolar fricatives /z, s/. It is often parodied as ubiquitous to French-speaking learners of English, but it's widespread among many foreign learners of English, because the dental fricative "th" sound is not very common among world languages. It is also common among German-speaking learners of English as well, as caricatured in the Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
ads describing "Ze auto".
For some speakers of African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
, /θ/ is alveolarized to /s/ when it occurs at the end of a syllable and within a word before another consonant, leading to such pronunciations as the following.
| bathroom |
| birthday |
See also
- th stopping
- th fronting
- List of Th-alveolarization homographs
- Phonemic Disorders