| Voiced dental fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ð | |||
| IPA number | 131 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ð | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+00F0 | ||
| X-SAMPA | D | ||
| Braille |  | ||
| |||
| Voiced dental approximant | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ð̞ | |||
| |||
Avoiced dental fricative is aconsonant sound used in somespoken languages. It is familiar to most English-speakers as the "th" sound in "father".
The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet for this sound iseth, ⟨ð⟩, which was taken from the Old English and Icelandic alphabets, and which in those languages could stand for either a voiced or unvoiced (inter)dental non-sibilant fricative. Such fricatives are often called "interdental" because they are often produced with the tongue between the upper and lowerteeth (as inReceived Pronunciation), and not just against the back of the upper teeth, as they are with otherdental consonants.
The letter ⟨ð⟩ is sometimes used to represent avoiced dentalapproximant, a similar sound, which no language is known to contrast with a dental non-sibilant fricative.[1] However, the approximant can be explicitly indicated with the lowering diacritic: ⟨ð̞⟩. Rarely, this sound has also been transcribed as a dentalisedalveolar approximant ⟨ɹ̪⟩.[2][3] It has been proposed that either a turned ⟨ð⟩[4] or reversed ⟨ð⟩,[5]among others, be used as a dedicated symbol for the dental approximant; however, despite occasional usage, none have gained general acceptance. Like the fricative, the approximant may also be articulated interdentally in some languages.[6]
The fricatives and theirunvoiced counterparts are rare asphonemes. Almost all languages of Europe and Asia lack the sound. Native speakers of languages without the sound often have difficulty enunciating or distinguishing it, and they replace it with avoiced alveolar sibilant[z], avoiced dental stop orvoiced alveolar stop[d], or avoiced labiodental fricative[v]; known respectively asth-alveolarization,th-stopping, andth-fronting. As for Europe, there seems to be a great arc where the sound (and/or its unvoiced variant) is present. Most of Mainland Europe lacks the sound. However, some "periphery" languages such asGreek have the sound in their consonant inventories, as phonemes orallophones.
WithinTurkic languages,Bashkir andTurkmen have both voiced and voiceless dental non-sibilant fricatives among their consonants. AmongSemitic languages, they are used inModern Standard Arabic, albeit not by all speakers ofmodern Arabic dialects, and in some dialects ofHebrew andAssyrian.
Features of a voiced dental non-sibilant fricative:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | idhull | [iðuɫ] | 'idol' | ||
| Aleut[7] | damo | [ðɑmo] | 'house' | ||
| Arabic | Modern Standard[8] | ذهب | [ˈðæhæb] | 'gold' | Represented by the letterḏāl. SeeArabic phonology |
| Gulf | |||||
| Najdi | |||||
| Tunisian | [ˈðhæb] | SeeTunisian Arabic phonology | |||
| Arpitan | Genevan [fr] andSavoyard | Genèva | [ðə'nɛːva] | 'Geneva' | Generally represents the "j" and "ge/gi" phonemes in standard spelling. |
| Bressan | vachiére | [va'θiðə] | 'woman cow herder' | Bressan dialect, like the Geneva and many Savoy ones, express "j" and "ge/gi" (in standard Arpitan spelling) as voiced dental fricatives. In addition, however, its dialects often express the intervocalic "r" as such as well. | |
| Aromanian[9] | zală | [ˈðalə] | 'butter whey' | Corresponds to[z] in standard Romanian. SeeRomanian phonology | |
| Asturian | Some dialects | fazer | [fäˈðeɾ] | 'to do' | Alternative realization of etymological⟨z⟩. Can also be realized as[θ]. |
| Bashkir | ҡаҙ /qađ | [qɑð]ⓘ | 'goose' | ||
| Berta | [fɛ̀ːðɑ̀nɑ́] | 'to sweep' | |||
| Burmese[10] | အညာသား | [ʔəɲàðá] | 'inlander' | Commonly realized as an affricate[d̪͡ð].[11] | |
| Catalan[12] | cada | [ˈkaðə] | 'each' | Fricative or approximant. Allophone of/d/. SeeCatalan phonology | |
| Cree | Woods Cree (th-dialect) | nitha | [niða] | 'I' | Reflex ofProto-Algonguian */r/. Shares features of a sonorant. |
| Dahalo[13] | [example needed] | Weak fricative or approximant. It is a common intervocalic allophone of/d̪/, and may be simply a plosive[d̪] instead.[13] | |||
| Elfdalian | baiða | [ˈbaɪða] | 'wait' | ||
| Emilian | Bolognese | żänt | [ðæ̃:t] | 'people' | |
| English | Received Pronunciation[14] | this | [ðɪs] | 'this' | |
| Western American English | [ð̪͆ɪs]ⓘ | Interdental.[14] | |||
| Extremaduran | ḥazel | [häðel] | 'to do' | Realization of etymological⟨z⟩. Can also be realized as[θ] | |
| Fijian | ciwa | [ðiwa] | 'nine' | ||
| Galician | Some dialects[15] | fazer | [fɐˈðeɾ] | 'to do' | Alternative realization of etymological⟨z⟩. Can also be realized as[θ,z,z̺]. |
| German | Austrian[16] | leider | [ˈlaɛ̯ða] | 'unfortunately' | Intervocalic allophone of/d/ in casual speech. SeeStandard German phonology |
| Greek | δάφνη /dáfni | [ˈðafni] | 'laurel' | SeeModern Greek phonology | |
| Gwich'in | niidhàn | [niːðân] | 'you want' | ||
| Hän | ë̀dhä̀ | [ə̂ðɑ̂] | 'hide' | ||
| Harsusi | [ðebeːr] | 'bee' | |||
| Hebrew | Iraqi | אדוני | [ʔaðoˈnaj]ⓘ | 'my lord' | Commonly pronounced[d]. SeeModern Hebrew phonology |
| Temani | גָּדוֹל /ğaḏol | [dʒaðol] | 'large, great' | SeeYemenite Hebrew | |
| Judeo-Spanish | Many dialects | קריאדֿור /kriador | [kɾiaˈðor] | 'creator' | Intervocalic allophone of/d/ in many dialects. |
| Kabyle | ḏuḇ | [ðuβ] | 'to be exhausted' | ||
| Kurdish | [example needed] | An approximant; postvocalic allophone of/d/. SeeKurdish phonology | |||
| Malay | Standard | azan | [a.ðan] | 'azan' | Only in Arabic loanwords; usually replaced with/z/. SeeMalay phonology |
| Malayalam | ഒൻപത് /onpatŭ | [onbɐðə̆] | 'nine' | Intervocalic allophone of/t̪,d̪/. SeeMalayalam phonology | |
| Malto | मेद़ /mēð | [meːð] | 'body' | SeeMalto phonology | |
| Mari | Eastern dialect | шодо | [ʃoðo] | 'lung' | |
| Norman | Jèrriais | méthe | [mɛð] | 'mother' | Predominantly found in western Jèrriais dialects; otherwise realised as[ɾ], and sometimes as[l] or[z]. |
| Northern Sámi | dieđa | [d̥ieðɑ] | 'science' | ||
| Persian | Early New Persian,[17]Early Judeo-Persian[17] | گذشتن /guḏaštan | [gu.ðaʃˈtan] | 'to pass' | Calledḏāl-i mu'ajjam and represented by the letterḏāl.[17] A postvocalic pronunciation of native/d/, either considered phonemic or phonetic.[17] SeePersian phonology |
| Portuguese | European[18] | nada | [ˈn̪äðɐ] | 'nothing' | Northern and central dialects. Allophone of/d/, mainly after an oral vowel.[19] SeePortuguese phonology |
| Sardinian | nidu | [ˈniðu]ⓘ | 'nest' | Allophone of lenis/d/, may also be realized closer to an approximant. SeeSardinian phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic | ManyOuter Hebrides dialects[20] | Màiri | [ˈmaːði] | 'Mary' | Often slightly palatalized. Common Hebridean realisation of /ɾʲ/, standard or even phonemic in Lewis[21] and also common in Harris, Benbecula and South Uist; otherwise realized as[ɾʲ],[22] as[ʒ] in southern Barra, or as[j] in Tiree. |
| Shughni | δud | [ðʊd] | 'smoke, fumes' | SeeShughni phonology | |
| Sioux | Lakota | záptaŋ | [ˈðaptã] | 'five' | Sometimes with[z] |
| Swahili | dhambi | [ðɑmbi] | 'sin' | Mostly occurs in Arabic loanwords originally containing this sound. | |
| Swedish | Central Standard[23] | bräda | [ˈbə̆ɾɛ̂ɛ̞ðɐ̞ɦ̥]ⓘ | 'a board (object)' | Allophone of lenis/d/ in casual speech, may be realized closer to an approximant.[23] SeeSwedish phonology |
| Syriac | Western Neo-Aramaic | ܐܚܕ | [aħːeð] | 'to take' | |
| Tamil | ஒன்பது /oṉpatu | [onbɐðɯ] | 'nine' | Intervocalic allophone of/t̪/. SeeTamil phonology | |
| Tanacross | dhet | [ðet] | 'liver' | ||
| Turkmen | ýyldyz | [jɯldɯð] | 'star' | Realization of the/z/ phoneme | |
| Tutchone | Northern | edhó | [eðǒ] | 'hide' | |
| Southern | adhǜ | [aðɨ̂] | |||
| Venetian | mezorno | [meˈðorno] | 'midday' | ||
| Welsh | bardd | [barð] | 'bard' | SeeWelsh phonology | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[24] | [example needed] | Allophone of/d/ | ||
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assyrian | ܘܪܕܐ /werda | [wεrð̞a] | 'flower' | Common in theTyari,Barwari, andWestern dialects. Corresponds to[d] in other varieties. | |
| Basque[25] | adar | [að̞ar] | 'horn' | Allophone of/d/ | |
| Kagayanen[26] | kalag | [kað̞aɡ] | 'spirit' | ||
| Luri | HaftlangBakhtiari aroundMasjed Soleyman[27] | گده /gade | [ga.ð̞e] | 'stomach' | Allophone of/d/ after vowels and also word-finally after glides (/h/,/j/,/ʋ/). |
| Occitan | Gascon | quedivi | [keˈð̞iwi] | 'what I should' | Allophone of/d/. SeeOccitan phonology |
| Spanish | Most dialects[28] | dedo | [ˈd̪e̞ð̞o̞]ⓘ | 'finger' | Allophone of/d/, ranges from close fricative to approximant.[29] SeeSpanish phonology |
Danish/ð/ is actually a velarizedalveolar approximant.[30][31]
