Don't most native English speakers avoid a glottal stop after 'the' ?
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The, A
(36 Posts)A bit tricky to explain in words, so bear with me.
Traditionally, the word THE is pronounced differently depending on whether the next word begins with a vowel or a consonant.
So I would say The next day, but Thee afternoon, Thee evening.
Almost all the presenters on my local tv news say The every time it occurs.
This came up in my choir. Obviously we all need to be “ singing from the same hymn sheet” and unifying our pronunciation, so our Director of Music pointed this out in the phrase “ the earth” , to be sung as Thee earth. He stated that this is normal in English. A couple of younger members queried this, saying they had never come across this before.
Something similar with A. Usually pronounced euh, not A as in the first letter of the alphabet.
Yet these same tv presenters say A man, A school.
Even A animal, not An animal, though that is rare.
I don’t think it is a regional thing as the presenters have various accents. It seems to be younger presenters rather than those more mature in years.
It really grates.
I know language evolves, but this doesn’t make for smooth news-reading.
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!
... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!
Dickens
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!
It is a snobbish world we live in. Perhaps this should not be so but it is so.
Caleo
Dickens
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!It is a snobbish world we live in. Perhaps this should not be so but it is so.
There is nothing snobbish about it.
In English, whatever our accent, it is correct to use a short 'e' before a consonant and a long 'e' (ee) before a vowel, just as we would use 'a' before a consonant and 'an' before a vowel.
The reason is that saying thee evening is much easier than saying the evening with a short 'e', which sounds forced.
Would anyone say a apple? (Ben Fogle might, but I'll forgive him 😀).
This is Language Police Corner, Aveline!
Any O and E of mine are due to autocorrect.
Caleo
Dickens
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!It is a snobbish world we live in. Perhaps this should not be so but it is so.
If you are annoyed by comments that will inevitably appear, well... pedantic - finicky, why click on Pedants' Corner?
There's nothing snobbish about my comment, it's surely obvious I was attempting a little bit of light-heartedness. Or did you miss the part that said... "it doesn't really matter"?
Dickens
Caleo
Dickens
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!It is a snobbish world we live in. Perhaps this should not be so but it is so.
If you are annoyed by comments that will inevitably appear, well... pedantic - finicky, why click on Pedants' Corner?
There's nothing snobbish about my comment, it's surely obvious I was attempting a little bit of light-heartedness. Or did you miss the part that said... "it doesn't really matter"?
Good Heavens! I was not trying to offend you or anyone. else. I was commenting on the social reality that some 'accents' are posher than others, even in these more enlightened days.
This thread has made me realise I do say thee evening. Saying the evening is harder so I'm lazy I guess.
I think it's just copying the American way of speaking which is why so many younger people speak that way - just like lots of people used to swap around the way they hold their knife and fork. I agree very annoying.
BlueBelle
Afraid I say the evening and the afternoon so I m sloppy…..hands up I own it 🤣
It's not sloppy, in fact it's more difficult to say.
Caleo
Dickens
Caleo
Dickens
Gwyllt
Dickens. Accents are accents and they have no rules.
Surely then as everyone has an accent of some kind there should be no rules !!... but - accents are not the same as the rules of grammar!
Look, it doesn't really mater whether anyone uses a short or a long 'e' in 'the'... but this is Pedant's Corner - and I'm being pedantic!It is a snobbish world we live in. Perhaps this should not be so but it is so.
If you are annoyed by comments that will inevitably appear, well... pedantic - finicky, why click on Pedants' Corner?
There's nothing snobbish about my comment, it's surely obvious I was attempting a little bit of light-heartedness. Or did you miss the part that said... "it doesn't really matter"?Good Heavens! I was not trying to offend you or anyone. else. I was commenting on the social reality that some 'accents' are posher than others, even in these more enlightened days.
I was commenting on the social reality that some 'accents' are posher than others, even in these more enlightened days.
What do you mean by even in these more enlightened days?
People speak how they speak, some have regional accents, others don't.
Some of us had elocution lessons at school, in the hope, I think, that they would eradicate our accents and teach us how to speak proper like.
The/thee and a/an are nothing to do with accents. With some younger people it seems to be an affectation, more 'street-talk'.
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