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ESL forum > Message board > ´The Thames ´: correct pronunciation    

´The Thames ´: correct pronunciation



aura+
Portugal

´The Thames ´: correct pronunciation
 
 To native speakers or to those who are really sure:


What is the correct pronunciation for ´Thames ´ ?  urgent help needed



Thanks

aura

7 Jun 2009      





frenchfrog
France

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thames Wink

7 Jun 2009     



aura+
Portugal

Thanks Frenchfrog!

I know all three pronunciations are possible, but (I didn ´t make it clear in the message) what I want to know is how the British say it. Do they use the three possibilities? The Merriam-Webster doesn ´t explain which region/country uses which. Can you help again?


(btw your blog is great!)


aura 

7 Jun 2009     



frenchfrog
France

It is /temz/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames) Wink
 
Thank you!
 
(I cannot send a frog! It is not working! Cry)

7 Jun 2009     



sazzag
United Kingdom

It is 100% /temz/.  I ´m from London.  Thumbs Up

7 Jun 2009     



Spagman63
Hong Kong

I have heard both ´tImz ´ and ´temz ´. It all depends upon what part of England the person is from.  Some people in America say "flarz" for flowers. LOL  It makes no sense anyway since the ´th ´ is not pronounced.  It should be ´thames ´ like it is WRITTEN!! :)

7 Jun 2009     



libertybelle
United States

Temz is the word most Brits use.
I am there many times a year and have never heard it pronounce any other way.

7 Jun 2009     



Jayho
Australia

This raises an improtant question...
 
Why is the ´h ´ silent in Thames, Therese, Thompson and Thailand?
 
Does anyone know?
 
 
 

7 Jun 2009     



Ayaniw
Algeria

English Pronouncing DictionaryThames in England, Canada, New Zealand: temz
     
             in Connecticut: θeɪmz, teImz, temz

Cheers, Al.

7 Jun 2009     



ballycastle1
United Kingdom

I believe it ´s because whilst the words changed their spelling, (originally being without the ´h ´), the older pronunciation remained. The first dictionary was in the early 17th century (not Dr Johnson ´s as widely believed) but at that stage spellings still weren ´t fixed so you could have different spellings in different regions.

7 Jun 2009     



alien boy
Japan

A couple of tidbits relating to the likely history of the spelling of ´Thames ´ & a few other words...

Etymology of Thames: ‘aT (the) ames’ = ´place where the estuary begins ´. The Romans wrote: Tamisa or Tamesa.
(various English history resources)

〈th〉 for /t/

Since neither /tʰ/ nor /θ/ was a native sound in Latin, the tendency must have emerged early, and at the latest by medieval Latin, to substitute /t/. Thus in many modern languages, including French and German, the 〈th〉 digraph is used in Greek loan-words to represent an original /θ/, but is now pronounced /t/: examples are French théâtre, German Theater. In some cases, this etymological 〈th〉, which has no remaining significance for pronunciation, has been transferred to words in which there is no etymological justification for it. For example German Tal ( ´valley ´, cognate with English dale) appears in many place-names with an archaic spelling Thal (see Neanderthal). The German family names Theuerkauf and Thürnagel are other examples. The German spelling reform of 1901 largely reversed these, but they remain in some proper nouns.

Examples of this are also to be found in English, perhaps influenced immediately by French. In some Middle English manuscripts, 〈th〉 appears for 〈t〉 or 〈d〉: tho ´to ´ or ´do ´, thyll till, whythe white, thede deed. In Modern English we see it in Esther, Thomas, Thames, thyme, Witham and the old spelling of Satan as Sathan. In a small number of cases, this spelling later influenced the pronunciation: amaranth, amianthus and author have spelling-pronunciations with /θ/, and some English speakers use /θ/ in Neanderthal.

(Wikipedia)

7 Jun 2009     

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