Th-fronting
| History and description of |
| English pronunciation |
|---|
| Historical stages |
| General development |
| Development of vowels |
| Development of consonants |
| Variable features |
| Related topics |
Th-frontingis thepronunciation of the English "th"as "f" or "v". Whenth-fronting is applied,[θ]becomes[f]or[ɸ](for example,threeis pronounced asfree) and[ð]becomes[v]or[β](for example,furtheris pronounced asfervour). (Here "fronting" refers to the position in the mouth where the sound is produced, not the position of the sound in the word, with the "th" coming from the tongue as opposed to the "f" or "v" coming from the more-forward lower lip.) Unlike the fronting of[θ]to[f],the fronting of[ð]to[v]usually does not occur word-initially. For example, whilefurtheris pronounced asfervour,thatis rarely pronounced as *vat,although this was found in the speech of South-East London in a survey completed 1990–1994).[1]Th-fronting is a prominent feature of several dialects of English, notablyCockney,Essex dialect,Estuary English,someWest CountryandYorkshire dialects,African American Vernacular English,andLiberian English,as well as in many non-native English speakers (e.g.Hong Kong English,though the details differ among those accents).[2]
Uses[edit]
The first reference toth-fronting is in the "low English" of London in 1787, though only a single author in that century writes about it, and it was likely perceived as an idiosyncrasy, rather than a full-fledged dialect feature of Cockney English, even into the early half of the twentieth century.[3]The feature was presumed to be reasonably common in London speakers born around 1850 and in Bristol by 1880.[4]The use of the labiodental fricatives[f]and[v]for the dental fricatives[θ]and[ð]was noted in Yorkshire in 1876.[5]In his 1892 bookA Grammar of the Dialect ofWindhill,Joseph Wrightnoted variableth-fronting in his district in words such asthink,thirdandsmithy.[6]
In some words,th-fronting has beenlexicalised.For example, the wordwithoutwas lexicalised towivootin some dialects of Northern England and Scotland.[7]
In theSurvey of English Dialectsof the 1950s and early 1960s,th-fronting was found in two main areas of England. One was the area around Bristol in the West Country. The other was in the area around London and Essex.[8]It was also noted in theSuffolk dialectby AOD Claxton in 1968, albeit only for certain words (e.g.threeandthumbbut notthaworthought).[9]
Comparing his studies over time inNorwich,Peter Trudgillconcluded thatth-fronting had been completely absent in 1968 and then very common amongst younger people by 1983.[10]Althoughth-fronting is found occasionally in the middle and upper (middle) classEnglishaccents as well, there is still a marked social difference between working and middle class speakers.Th-fronting is regarded as a 'boundary marker' between Cockney andEstuary English,as depicted in the first descriptions of the latter form of English[11][12]and confirmed by a phonetic study conducted by researcher Ulrike Altendorf. Nevertheless, Altendorf points out thatth-fronting is found occasionally in middle class (Estuary) speech as well and concludes that "it is currently making its way into the middle class English accent and thus into Estuary English".[13]
In popular music, the singerJoe Brown's 1960s backing band was christenedThe Bruvvers(that is, "the brothers" withth-fronting). The 1960 musicalFings Ain't Wot They Used T'Bewas stated to be a Cockney Comedy. Rock musicianKeith Richardsis commonly referred to as "Keef".[14]
Up until the late 20th centuryth-fronting was common in speakers of Australian English from North Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. This may stem from the relatively high number of London cockneys who settled there during the Queensland gold rushes of the 19th century.[citation needed]The practice is gradually dying out as the influx of interstate and international immigrants increases.
Example[edit]
The following is a sample of a speaker of the Cockney accent who hasth-fronting (affected words are in bold):
My dad came from Wapping and me mum came from Poplar. Me dad was one of eleven kids… and Wapping in them days really was one of the poorest parts of London. I mean they really didn't have shoes on their feet. I'm talking about seventy years ago now. Erm… and Poplar was… sli… just slightly a cut above Wapping; erm… you waseitherEast End respectable or you was sort of East End villain, you know, and my family was respectable onbothsides. But mefatherhad a very tough time because hisfatherdied when he was nineteen, leaving him the only one working to bring up elevenbrothers…tenbrothersand sisters and on aThursdaynight he'd sometimes go home and the youngest two would be crying in the corner and he'd say “What's the matter with them, ma?” “Oh, well, Harry, you know it's Thursday night, and you don't get paid till tomorrow.” and they literally didn't have any food in the house.
In that recording,either,both,father,brothersandThursdayare pronounced[ˈɪjvə],[ˈbɐʊ̈f],[ˈfɑ̹ːvə],[ˈbrɐvəz]and[ˈfɜːzdi].Pronouns (they,them,their) andtheare not affected.
Increase in use[edit]
Th-fronting in the speech of working-class adolescents inGlasgowwas reported in 1998, provoking public as well as academic interest. The finding ofth-fronting in Glaswegian creates a difficulty for models of language change which hinge on dialect contact associated with geographical mobility since the Glaswegian speakers who used[f]most in the 1997 sample are also those with the lowest geographical mobility. In addition,th-fronting was reported as "a relatively new phenomenon" in Edinburgh in March 2013.[15]
Homophonous pairs[edit]
| /f,v/ | /θ,ð/ | IPA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| barf | bath | ˈbɑːf | Non-rhoticaccents withtrap-bath split. |
| deaf | death | ˈdɛf | |
| duff | doth | ˈdʌf | |
| elf | health | ˈɛlf | WithH-dropping. |
| even | heathen | ˈiːvən | WithH-dropping. |
| ever | heather | ˈɛvə(ɹ) | WithH-dropping. |
| fain | thane | ˈfeɪn | |
| fain | thegn | ˈfeɪn | |
| fane | thane | ˈfeɪn | |
| fane | thegn | ˈfeɪn | |
| faun | thorn | ˈfɔːn | Non-rhoticaccents. |
| fava | farther | ˈfɑːvə | Non-rhoticaccents. |
| fava | father | ˈfɑːvə | Non-rhoticaccents. |
| fawn | thorn | ˈfɔːn | Non-rhoticaccents. |
| feign | thane | ˈfeɪn | |
| feign | thegn | ˈfeɪn | |
| fie | thigh | ˈfaɪ | |
| fief | thief | ˈfiːf | |
| fin | thin | ˈfɪn | |
| fink | think | ˈfɪŋk | |
| Finn | thin | ˈfɪn | |
| firm | therm | ˈfɜː(ɹ)m | |
| first | thirst | ˈfɜː(ɹ)st | |
| fissile | thistle | ˈfɪsəl | Some accents pronouncefissileas/ˈfɪsaɪl/. |
| for | thaw | ˈfɔː(ɹ) | Non-rhoticaccents. |
| for | Thor | ˈfɔː(ɹ) | |
| ford | thawed | ˈfɔːd | Non-rhoticaccents withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| fore | thaw | ˈfɔː | Non-rhoticaccents withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| fore | Thor | ˈfɔː(ɹ) | Withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| fort | thought | ˈfɔːt | Non-rhoticaccents withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| fought | thought | ˈfɔːt | |
| four | thaw | ˈfɔː(ɹ) | Non-rhoticaccents withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| four | Thor | ˈfɔː(ɹ) | Withhorse-hoarse merger. |
| Fred | thread | ˈfɹɛd | |
| free | three | ˈfɹiː | |
| frees | threes | ˈfɹiːz | |
| freeze | threes | ˈfɹiːz | |
| fresh | thresh | ˈfɹɛʃ | |
| fret | threat | ˈfɹɛt | |
| frieze | threes | ˈfɹiːz | |
| frill | thrill | ˈfɹɪl | |
| fro | throe | ˈfɹəʊ | |
| fro | throw | ˈfɹəʊ | |
| froze | throes | ˈfɹəʊz | |
| froze | throws | ˈfɹəʊz | |
| funder | thunder | ˈfʌndə(ɹ) | |
| furred | third | ˈfɜː(ɹ)d | |
| furrow | thorough | ˈfʌɹəʊ | Some accents pronouncethoroughas/ˈfʌɹə/,although some also pronouncefurrowas/ˈfʌɹə/. |
| fervour; fervor | further | ˈfɜː(ɹ)və(ɹ) | |
| golf | goth | ˈɡɒf | Some accents pronouncegolfas/ˈɡɒlf/. |
| half | hearth | ˈhɑːf | Non-rhoticaccents with thetrap-bath split. |
| lave | lathe | ˈleɪv | |
| lever | leather | ˈlɛvə(ɹ) | Some accents pronounceleveras/ˈliːvə(ɹ)/. |
| live | lithe | ˈlaɪv | |
| loaf | loath | ˈləʊf | |
| loaves | loathes | ˈləʊvz | |
| miff | myth | ˈmɪf | |
| Murph | mirth | ˈmɜː(ɹ)f | |
| never | nether | ˈnɛvə(ɹ) | |
| oaf | oath | ˈəʊf | |
| phi | thigh | ˈfaɪ | |
| Ralph | wraith | ˈɹeɪf | Some accents pronounceRalphas/ˈɹælf/,/ˈɹɑːlf/or/ˈɹɑːf/ |
| Ralph | wrath | ˈɹɑːf | Some accents pronounceRalphas/ˈɹælf/,/ˈɹɑːlf/or/ˈɹeɪf/.Some accents pronouncewrathas/ˈɹæf/,/ˈɹɒf/or/ˈɹɔːf/. |
| reave | wreathe | ˈɹiːv | |
| reaves | wreathes | ˈɹiːvz | |
| reaves | wreaths | ˈɹiːvz | |
| reef | wreath | ˈɹiːf | |
| reeve | wreathe | ˈɹiːv | |
| reeves | wreathes | ˈɹiːvz | |
| reeves | wreaths | ˈɹiːvz | |
| rive | writhe | ˈɹaɪv | |
| roof | ruth | ˈɹuːf | Some accents pronounceroofas/ˈɹʊf/. |
| sheave | sheathe | ˈʃiːv | Some accents pronouncesheaveas/ˈʃɪv/. |
| sheaves | sheathes | ˈʃiːvz | Some accents pronouncesheavesas/ˈʃɪvz/. |
| sheaves | sheaths | ˈʃiːvz | Some accents pronouncesheavesas/ˈʃɪvz/. |
| sliver | slither | ˈslɪvə(ɹ) | |
| V | the | ˈviː | Stressedthe. |
| V | thee | ˈviː | |
| van | than | ˈvæn | |
| vat | that | ˈvæt | |
| vee | the | ˈviː | Stressedthe. |
| vee | thee | ˈviː | |
| vees | these | ˈviːz | |
| Venn | then | ˈvɛn | |
| vents | thence | ˈvɛn(t)s | Withprince-prints merger. |
| vie | thy | ˈvaɪ | |
| vine | thine | ˈvaɪn | |
| vow | thou | ˈvaʊ | |
| whiff | with | ˈwɪf | Withwine-whine merger.Some accents pronouncewithas/ˈwɪv/or common reduce it to/ˈwɪ/. |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Laura Tollfree,South East London English: discrete versus continuous modelling of consonantal reduction,p.172 inUrban Voices,edited by Paul Folkes and Gerard Docherty, published 1999 by Arnold, London
- ^Wells, John C.(1982).Accents of English.Vol. 2.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 96–97, 328–30, 498, 500, 553, 557–58, 635.ISBN0-521-24224-X.
- ^The Oxford Handbook of the History of English,edited by Terttu Nevalainen, Elizabeth Closs Traugot. Oxford University Press. p. 71.
- ^Of Varying Language and Opposing Creed': New Insights Into Late Modern English,edited by Javier Pérez-Guerra. Verlag Peter Lang. p. 38.
- ^Upton, Clive (2012). "Modern Regional English in the British Isles". In Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.).The Oxford History of English.Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 395.
- ^A Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill,Joseph Wright, page 91
- ^English Dialect Dictionary,Volume 6, page 525, entry forwithout
- ^Britain, David; Cheshire, Jenny, eds. (2003). "Dialect levelling and geographical diffusion in British English".Social Dialectology: In Honour of Peter Trudgill.Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. p. 233.
- ^Claxton, AOD (1981).The Suffolk Dialect of the Twentieth Century.The Boydell Press. p. 78.ISBN0851151442.
- ^Trudgill, Peter (1988). "Norwich revisited: Recent linguistic changes in an English urban dialect".English World-Wide.9:33–49.doi:10.1075/eww.9.1.03tru.
- ^Rosewarne, David (1984). "Estuary English".Times Educational Supplement,19 (October 1984)
- ^Wells, John (1994).Transcribing Estuary English - a discussion document.Speech Hearing and Language: UCL Work in Progress, volume 8, 1994, pages 259-267
- ^Altendorf, Ulrike (1999).Estuary English: is English going Cockney?In: Moderna Språk, XCIII, 1, 1-11
- ^McNair, James (20 August 2005)."Keith Richards: Being, Keef".The Independent.Archived fromthe originalon 5 December 2008.Retrieved24 January2011.
- ^Schleef, Erik; Ramsammy, Michael (2013)."Labiodental fronting of /θ/ in London and Edinburgh: a cross-dialectal study"(PDF).English Language & Linguistics.17(1). Cambridge: 25–54.doi:10.1017/S1360674312000317.hdl:20.500.11820/9cf56e1c-feb6-4f4b-93cb-2637f915eda6.S2CID54822655.