Tree is the magic number . . .

LordSutch

I prefer 'three' myself, but for strange reason some Irish people can't say three, why is that?

Is it a class thing? or . . .

Curious.

Temptamperu

Just pure laziness.

nullzero

And some English people can only seem to pronounce it as "free".
Don't get me started on their abuse of Irish surnames.

LordSutch

LordSutch wrote: »

I prefer 'three' myself, but for strange reason some Irish people can't say three, why is that?

Is it a class thing? or . . .

Curious.

I'm not being deliberately condescending, so sorry if it comes across that way, but words are pronounced differently in different accents. I think they can physically say the word 'three', but in some accents it's pronounced 'tree', and has been for centuries.

I've never been in a situation whether I was confused as to whether a person was referring to a tree, or the number three, because of the context in how they used the word. Similarly, I've never been confused about the word dare or there, even if the person using the word pronounced it the same.

A lot of people, and I'm guilty of this myself to an extent, adapt their accent and de-regionalize it, which I think is a great shame. I hope I never live in an Ireland where we all sound like RTE Continuity announcers.

Temptamperu wrote: »

Just pure laziness.

It's not laziness. It's no more lazy to drop the 'h' in 'three' than to drop the 'h' in hotel, or when British people drop the hard 'r' in 'car'.

degsie

Some Scottish people pronounce 'j' as 'joy' and 'three' as 'kree', so yea a regional thing.

nullzero

Didn't some Australian TV presenter make an issue out of this very issue before?
People in gloss flamin' 'ouses.

Insect Overlord

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

Omackeral

LordSutch wrote: »

I prefer 'three' myself, but for strange reason some Irish people can't say three, why is that?

Is it a class thing? or . . .

Curious.

Why do Brits say 'sikth' instead of sixth?

Omackeral

If you say 'space ghettos' in an American voice it sounds like you're saying Spice Girls in a Scottish accent. Phenomenal.

Arne_Saknussem

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

You'll actually hear some D4 types reporting on TV pronounce Taoiseach as Th-aoiseach.

Omackeral

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

You'll actually hear some D4 types reporting on TV pronounce Taoiseach as Th-aoiseach.

Do you ever hear them saying 'charidee' instead of 'charity'? Shudder.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Omackeral wrote: »

If you say 'space ghettos' in an American it sounds like you're saying Spice Girls in a Scottish accent. Phenomenal.

That has actually made my day

hungry hypno toad

Am I the only one who pronounces both d's in Wednesday?

Omackeral

LexieOnRale wrote: »

That has actually made my day

I'm imagining you in your gaff saying this out loud and someone in the next room going ''Sorry, what was that Lexie?'' and you just being all embarrassed and saying ''Nothing, never mind.''

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Omackeral wrote: »

I'm imagining you in your gaff saying this out loud and someone in the next room going ''Sorry, what was that Lexie?'' and you just being all embarrassed and saying ''Nothing, never mind.''

Feck That! I've an extra awesome gland where my shame gland should be. I'll be saying it to everyone. Multiple times.

LordSutch

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

You'll actually hear some D4 types reporting on TV pronounce Taoiseach as Th-aoiseach.

Re Taoiseach; Surely there is it bit of a th sound?

Academic

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

This has always been my assumption.

Relatedly but distinctly, most Irish can't pronounce the 'th' in 'that'.

People pronounce it 'tat' or 'dat', mostly depending on where on the island they grew up.

antodeco

Say "beer can". Now you're a Jamaican saying bacon

Vojera

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Feck That! I've an extra awesome gland where my shame gland should be. I'll be saying it to everyone. Multiple times.

You can switch it up with this one: saying 'beer can' in a posh English accent sounds like 'bacon' with a Jamaican accent.

LordSutch

Academic wrote: »

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

This has always been my assumption.

Relatedly but distinctly, most Irish can't pronounce the 'th' in 'that'.

People pronounce it 'tat' or 'dat', mostly depending on where on the island they grew up.

Some (not most) Irish people.

Allah snackbar

It's a funny thing having an accent , I have a West of Ireland accent because I'm from a rural area in the West and pronounce words differently to other people born in different places to me , but when I travel to places like Dublin they sound completely different to me , I can't understand it and thank you op for highlighting it , without your pointless thread about it I'd have remained ignorant of the differences in the pronunciation of our language

waterfaerie

LordSutch wrote: »

Re Taoiseach; Surely there is it bit of a th sound?

In Irish there are two t sounds, broad or slender, depending on the vowels that come before and/or after the t. It's the same for many other consonants as well but t is one of the consonants with the most noticeable difference between the broad and slender sound.

People who pronounce it "thaoiseach" with a th are trying to make the broad t sound but aren't doing it right. My guess is they either think they are pronouncing it properly, hence why you hear it so much on RTE, or they try but are actually incapable of pronouncing it properly due to lack of exposure to the Irish language being spoken by native speakers.

It's like how, no matter how fluent you become in another language that's not native to you, you will always sound like a foreigner to native speakers because it's difficult to pronounce certain phonemes exactly right unless you have grown up hearing them.

Pac1Man

If you are from Dublin, it's a class thing. The th-ers would have certain notions about themselves and mention how 'one should speak proper'.

degsie

Dare must be at least turty posts about dis already.

lazybones32

LordSutch wrote: »

I prefer 'three' myself, but for strange reason some Irish people can't say three, why is that?

Is it a class thing? or . . .

Curious.

What's the Irish word for 'three'?

Irish accents are suited to the Irish language

The_Valeyard

degsie wrote: »

Some Scottish people pronounce 'j' as 'joy' and 'three' as 'kree', so yea a regional thing.

JAFFA KREE!!

jojofizzio

nullzero wrote: »

And some English people can only seem to pronounce it as "free".
Don't get me started on their abuse of Irish surnames.

And what about their pronunciation of "Thames" and "Thailand "....and they say we don't pronounce our "th"s......

Beyondgone

degsie wrote: »

Dare must be at least turty posts about dis already.

Dats wha I taught two.:(

hungry hypno toad

Pac1Man wrote: »

If you are from Dublin, it's a class thing. The th-ers would have certain notions about themselves and mention how 'one should speak proper'.

And the rest are painful to listen to along with the chip on the shoulder.

endacl

LexieOnRale wrote: »

That has actually made my day

Now try 'rise up lights' in your own accent.

What does it sound like?

riffmongous

endacl wrote: »

Now try 'rise up lights' in your own accent.

What does it sound like?

Sounds very english

What about the old Whale Oil Beef Hooked

Will I Am Not

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language

It's this. If you're pronouncing it "properly" you're a traitor.

Will I Am Not

endacl wrote: »

Now try 'rise up lights' in your own accent.

What does it sound like?

A South African saying razor blades?

Your Face

We should all use Received Pronunciation.
Even the mundane would sound dramatic.

Graces7

An File wrote: »

Probably a legacy of speaking Irish. There's no "th" sound in that language, so it'll probably take another couple of generations for it to disappear fully.

I remember when listening to a radio mass the priest reading from TESSALONIANS TREE .. thought it was charming.

LordSutch

jojofizzio wrote: »

And what about their pronunciation of "Thames" and "Thailand "....and they say we don't pronounce our "th"s......

Not sure what you mean there^

For sure, some Irish people have issues with these words, to the degree that they insert the 'th' sound when its meant to be silent. This just goes to show that they can say the th sound, unfortunately not always in the correct words!

But as I say, it's just some people.

Will I Am Not

How bout them Chinese saying flied lice? And what's the craic with those Africans that can't make a J sound?

It's almost like different countries pronounce things differently or something.

Samaris

I always got a certain amount of slagging off growing up for "speaking posh" - and people with strong regional accents still don't understand me very well (but it's okay, I don't understand them either, so conversations tend to be slow and punctuated with desperate smiles). West of Ireland father (with a pretty neutral accent, tbh) and English mother who never lost her quite strong accent (although it has softened a bit).

Oddly enough, it apparently left me with a full-on RTE neutral accent.

Anyone know if there's a connection? Is RTE-speak marginally British-influenced in accent (and is even the concept going to cause palpitations? If so, sorry about that.)

Allah snackbar

Some people need to get a life op , oh for the halcyon days of interesting threads and witty retorts

looksee

Irish people can say 'th' I have heard a few saying 'thought' instead of 'taught'. Never been able to work out why they don't say 'theach' as well.

looksee

Allah snackbar wrote: »

Some people need to get a life op , oh for the halcyon days of interesting threads and witty retorts

Agreed! You should start one!

Allah snackbar

looksee wrote: »

Agreed! You should start one!

I intend to and it's going to be epic , watch this space

jojofizzio

LordSutch wrote: »

Not sure what you mean there^

For sure, some Irish people have issues with these words, to the degree that they insert the 'th' sound when its meant to be silent. This just goes to show that they can say the th sound, unfortunately not always in the correct words!

But as I say, it's just some people.

Is there a list of words in English that begin with "th" that aren't meant to be pronounced with a "th" sound?
Genuine question by the way,not being smart..
Very few Irish people or Americans (that I know at least) pronounce Thailand "Tie-land"

Cee-Jay-Cee

I taught this tread was going too be about the phone company Three.

LordSutch

jojofizzio wrote: »

LordSutch wrote: »

Not sure what you mean there^

For sure, some Irish people have issues with these words, to the degree that they insert the 'th' sound when its meant to be silent. This just goes to show that they can say the th sound, unfortunately not always in the correct words!

But as I say, it's just some people.

Is there a list of words in English that begin with "th" that aren't meant to be pronounced with a "th" sound?
Genuine question by the way,not being smart..
Very few Irish people or Americans (that I know at least) pronounce Thailand "Tie-land"

Thailand is an interesting one for you to choose as its the Thai people themselves who drop the th sound, hence the silent th when correctly pronounced. RTE pronounce Thailand with a silent th.

Think Tie-land :-)

snowflaker

hungry hypno toad wrote: »

Am I the only one who pronounces both d's in Wednesday?

me too! and both r's in February!

hungry hypno toad

snowflaker wrote: »

me too! and both r's in February!

Snap!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

hungry hypno toad wrote: »

Am I the only one who pronounces both d's in Wednesday?

Even the silent one?

You probably pronounce the H in herbs as well.


It's all just accents and dialects and mocking it is a bit infantile really.

FishOnABike

LordSutch wrote: »

I prefer 'three' myself, but for strange reason some Irish people can't say three, why is that?

Is it a class thing? or . . .

Curious.

I 'wooden' worry about it too much.;)

hungry hypno toad

Laylah Deafening Scanner wrote: »

Even the silent one?

You probably pronounce the H in herbs as well.


It's all just accents and dialects and mocking it is a bit infantile really.

Yes, I do pronounce the h in herbs and in Herbert. I don't think I have ever heard anyone else pronounce herbs with a silent h.


It is one of the many differences American English has from British forms of English. The h is not pronounced by Americans. It is pronounced by English (and other British) people. This page http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/herb?q=herb , demonstrates it.May 15, 2011

glenq

Turty tree and a turd