Re: Tolkien is spinning in his grave

In article <ddfr-FFE30B.12122109022008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
David Friedman <ddfr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <e8CdnQJ-TP47TTDanZ2dnUVZ_q7inZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
Kip Williams <kiptw@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

You keep saying that, but everybody I hear around me pronounces the "i"
in "think" just like the "ea" in "sneak." I am willing to stipulate that
you are not satisfied with this, but the reason stated, that the "i" in
"think" is just like the "i" in "thick" is not going to satisfy me.

Off hand, I can't remember ever hearing someone pronounce the "i" in
"think" just like the "ea" in "sneak."

To me that would sound like a not-very-serious attempt at a Mexican (or
Spanish) accent. "I theenk, Señor, that you are out of boollets."

As I hear it (in Northeast USA) the vowel in "thick" is the same as the
vowel in "thin." The vowel in "think" is similar but ends with an
upward glide, as the tongue moves to deal with the "nk" sound.

When dictionaries give the pronunciation of the words, they generally
don't bother to distinguish between the vowel of "thin" and that of
"think." See "allophone" in Wikipedia, or the linguistics textbook of
your choice.

Sometimes we do not bother to notice differences between allophones.
For instance, I would be quite unaware of the difference between the "p"
of "pit" and the "p" of "spit" if it had not been pointed out to me.
But sometimes we do notice; I notice the difference between the vowels
in "peck" and "peg." Hereabouts, the latter is the same "short E" but
with the aforementioned upward glide. Perhaps other speakers don't
bother to notice this difference, even though they reproduce it
faithfully.

--
Christopher J. Henrich
chenrich@xxxxxxxxxxxx
htp://www.mathinteract.com
.

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