The TH is one of the hardest sounds for non-natives to master, and it’s also a tough sound to know how to link to other sounds. In this video, we’ll go over the movements the tongue has to make to change position between these sounds.
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I recently got an email from someone asking me to clarify a few points on pronunciation, specifically, some consonants followed by TH, such as S and N. This person says, because their position in the mouth is so different from that of the TH, sometimes I find it difficult to shift from one to the other. For example, ‘can you return them?’ ‘Where is the car?’ Also, do you pronounce the TH at all times or are there exceptions, like when you talk fast?Because sometimes when an American is talking, I hear a TH sound but I don’t actually see the tongue come through the teeth. This is a great question and thank you for your email.
Let’s start with the first sample you gave, and that is an N followed by a TH and the sample sentence ‘can you return them?’ Now, in this case the TH of ‘them’ is voiced, so make sure that you’re continuing to make noise with your vocal cords. So, how does the tongue move? Can you return them? The tongue, to make the N, has the position of this part of the tongue raising and touching the roof of the mouth about here. Nn, nn, them. So in order to see them through the teeth, it’s just a subtle movement of pulling the tip from here down through the teeth. Can you return them? Can you return them?
The second example, ‘Where’s the car?’ has the voiced zz followed by the voiced TH. And I do notice when I say this phrase that my tongue does not come through my teeth: where’s the car? Rather, the tongue presses against the teeth. This part of the tongue presses right where the teeth come together, without actually coming through. Where’s the car? This would only work on a voiced sound. Th, th. For the unvoiced TH, the tongue must come through. The difference in tongue position between the zz and th consonant sounds is very slight. The tongue on zz is behind almost closed teeth very lightly touching, zz, zz, or almost touching. For the TH, the tongue comes through the teeth or, in my case, in this particular phrase, presses against the closed teeth. So the tongue, the tip of the tongue, has an extremely slight movement forward. Zz, zz the car. Where’s the car?
Thanks for your email.
TH ni moja ya sauti ngumu kwa ajili ya wasio wenyeji wa ustadi, na pia ni sauti ngumu kujua jinsi ya kuunganisha na sauti nyingine. Katika video hii, tutaenda juu ya harakati ulimi ina kufanya kubadilisha nafasi kati ya sauti hizi. YouTube imefungwa? Bonyeza hapa ili kuona video. "Mimi nilipata barua pepe kutoka kwa mtu fulani akiniomba nifafanue mambo machache kuhusu matamshi, hasa, baadhi ya konsonanti zilizofuatiwa na ""TH"" kama vile ""S"" na ""N"" Mtu huyu anasema, kwa sababu nafasi yao katika mdomo ni tofauti sana na ile ya ""TH,"" wakati mwingine mimi hupata ugumu wa kuhamia kutoka moja hadi nyingine." Kwa mfano, <unk>unaweza kuwarudisha?<unk> <unk> gari liko wapi?<unk> Pia, je, unataja TH wakati wote au kuna ubaguzi, kama wakati unazungumza haraka? <unk>Kwa sababu wakati mwingine wakati Mmarekani anazungumza, nasikia sauti ya TH lakini kwa kweli sioni ulimi ukitoka kupitia meno. Hii ni swali kubwa na asante kwa barua pepe yako. Hebu kuanza na sampuli ya kwanza uliyoipa, na hiyo ni N ikifuatiwa na TH na sentensi ya sampuli <unk> unaweza kuwarudisha? <unk> Sasa, katika kesi hii TH ya <unk> wao <unk> ni sauti, hivyo hakikisha kwamba wewe <unk> ni kuendelea kufanya kelele na kamba yako ya sauti. Kwa hiyo, ulimi huhamaje? Je, unaweza kuwarudisha? "Kila mtu ana nafasi ya kutumia ulimi wake ""N"" na kuunganisha sehemu ya ulimi wake na sehemu ya juu ya mdomo." Nn, nn, wao. Kwa hiyo ili kuwaona kupitia meno, ni tu harakati ya hila ya kuvuta ncha kutoka hapa chini kupitia meno. Je, unaweza kuwarudisha? Je, unaweza kuwarudisha? Mfano wa pili, "Wheres the car?" ina sauti zz ikifuatiwa na sauti TH. Na mimi huona wakati mimi kusema kifungu hiki kwamba ulimi wangu si kuja kupitia meno yangu: ambapo ni gari? Badala yake, ulimi hufinya meno. Sehemu hii ya ulimi hufinya mahali ambapo meno huungana, bila kutokea. Gari liko wapi? Hii ingefanya kazi tu kwenye sauti ya sauti. Th, th. Kwa ajili ya TH isiyo na sauti, ulimi lazima utoke. Tofauti katika msimamo wa ulimi kati ya sauti za konsonanti zz na th ni ndogo sana. Lugha juu ya zz ni nyuma ya meno karibu kufungwa sana kidogo kugusa, zz, zz, au karibu kugusa. "Kama ilivyo kwa ""Tanga"" ya kawaida, ulimi huingia ndani ya meno, na kwa mfano, katika kesi hii, ulimi huingia ndani ya meno yaliyofungwa." Kwa hiyo, ulimi, ncha ya ulimi, una mwendo mdogo sana mbele. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Gari liko wapi? Asanteni kwa barua pepe yenu.