Pronunciation of 'the'.

[campion]

This has been driving me increasingly mad for a couple of years. Instead of saying 'the' as ' thee' before a vowel it now seems fashionable to say ' thuh'. I first came across it in a carol service reading - thuh Angel Gabriel - and I just thought the girl was a bit insensitive. However, it seems to be happening everywhere - TV, radio, everyday conversation. I was finally driven to post this after watching a programme last night about Apollo 13 where the ( otherwise unremarkable) commentary kept talking about 'thuh Apollo astronauts/ mission' until I was quite distracted by it.

Maybe I need to get a life but am I the ( thuh!) only one to have noticed this?

I alternate between thuh and thee - surely it is an accent thing as much as anything, like skon and scooooown

I've noticed it in weather broadcasts - Carol Kirkwood always says "in thuh east". And I always reply with "THEE east you stupid woman THEE east" Grrr.

I can't stand this. "Thee" is such a nice sounding word, its horrible to see it dying out.

Thuh before consonants, thee before vowels?

I love watching language change like this. I love it even more when people get annoyed about it. Language is constantly changing.

One of our teachers used to say "at thuh end". Drove me mad.

There is a difference between frequent usage and generally-accepted correct usage. One does not automatically imply the other.

I'm with Itsthawooluff - how I say it depends on whether it comes before a consonant or a vowel.

I have a middle class Scots accent and i wouldn't say thee, unless i was singing a hymn or doing a bible reading, don't think i would exactly pronounce it " thuh" though, would be something a bit softer.

Am I thee only one to have sat at thuh computer muttering 'thuh', 'thee' to myself?

I had never thought about it before, but fortunately it seems I say thee when necessary without being at all aware of it

Agree allytjd, I'm Scottish too and I think I do say something akin to "thee" in front of a vowel but not really. I've never ever thought about it before now and when I experiment deliberately with the different pronunciations everything sounds wrong IYSWIM!

deh for me I'm afraid (Irish dontcha know?)

It depends on which word comes after 'the' for me.
Pretty much if the next word begins with a vowel it's thee.
If the next word starts with a consonant it's thuh.

I think.

my brood say 'fuh'. Can't pronounce 'th' at all.

I hail from the southeast, and say thuh. Just been practicing into thin air.... dh just been saying... what d'you say? what's that? nothing luvvy, just thinking out loud.

So it's not just me.I think califright's probably right to blame Americans - although they don't all do it - and we always seem to follow them blindly.This isn't about language changing so much as standard pronunciation and it's not about accents (IMO) since most English regional accents don't vary on this.

Seems it's a fashion more than anything but it jars ( on me) because it seems to take more effort, yet sounds ugly. Maybe it's my musical ear!

littlelapin - Don't worry about not reading my post properly - blame motherhood!

I hadn't noticed. I will now though!

Hello

Can I join pedant's corner? I think I'm sufficiently pedantic to join in the fun .

Just wanted to say that I find this kind of thing annoying too but I do agree with nannynanny that language is constantly changing and there's no point in getting too worked up about it. I think pronunciation is particularly fluid in this respect. I'm not sure if this is an American influence or if it's just regional UK differences in pronunciation.

Oooh, I like this thread already. Why haven't I been on here before?

Sorry, that should be pedants' corner . Maybe I'm not cut out for all this pedantry after all

I blame chesney hawks - 'I am thuh one and only'

I could never say 'thuh' in front of a vowel! I can't bear it when dh calls a film a 'movie' either. Agree with NN about language changing though. I am fascinated by language change but because I am aware of it happening I resist it.

(Also can't stand the word 'platter' and all the wierd words for 'choose' that have come into the language - 'plumped for' 'opted for' argh. Sorry, mini-thread hijack).

vowel consonant thing for me too - same as lapin