Voiceless dental fricative

consonantal sound

The voiceless alveolar stop is a type of consonant. The letter for this sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨θ⟩. The X-SAMPA symbol for this sound is ⟨T⟩. The English language has this sound, and it is the sound represented by the "th" in thing and thanks.

Voiceless dental fricative
θ
IPA number130
Encoding
Entity (decimal)θ
Unicode (hex)U+03B8
X-SAMPAT
KirshenbaumT
Sound

 

Features change

  • The airstream mechanism is pulmonic. This means that this sound is produced by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
  • The phonation is voiceless. This means that this sound is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • The place of articulation (where the sound is produced) is dental. This means that this sound is produced with the tongue at the upper teeth, the lower teeth, or both the upper teeth and the lower teeth. (Many stops and liquids that are called dental consonants are actually denti-alveolar consonants.)
  • The manner of articulation (how the sound is produced) is fricative. This means that this sound is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, to make turbulence.

Examples change

Language Word IPA Meaning
Albanian thotë [θɔtə] 'says'
Arabic Modern Standard[1] ثَوْب  [θawb]  'a dress'
Eastern Libya ثِلاثة [θɪˈlæːθæ] 'three'
Sanaa, Yemen يِثَمَّن [jɪˈθæmːæn] 'it is priced'
Iraq ثمانْية [θ(ɪ)ˈmæːnjæ] 'eight'
Khuzestan, Iran[2] الثانْية [ɪθˈθæːnjæ] 'the second one'
Arapaho yoo3on [jɔːθɔn] 'five'
Assyrian ܒܝܬܐ bèa [beːθa] 'house'
Avestan 𐬑𐬱𐬀𐬚𐬭𐬀‎ xšaθra [xʃaθra] 'kingdom'
Bashkir дуҫ / duθ  [duθ]  'friend'
Berber maziɣ [θmæzɪɣθ] 'Berber (language)'(noun)
Berta [θɪ́ŋɑ̀] 'to eat'
Burmese[3] သုံး / thon: [θòʊ̯̃] 'three'
Catalan theta [ˈθetɐ] 'theta'
Cornish eth [ɛθ] 'eight'
Emiliano-Romagnol[4] za [ˈfaːθɐ] 'face'
English Received Pronunciation[5] thin [θɪn] 'thin'
Western American English  [θ̪͆ɪn]
Galician Most dialects[6] cero [ˈθɛɾo] 'zero'
Greek θάλασσα [ˈθalasa] 'sea'
Gweno [riθo] 'eye'
Gwich’in th [θaɬ] 'pants'
Halkomelem θqet [θqet] 'tree'
Hän nihthän [nihθɑn] 'I want'
Harsusi [θəroː] 'two'
Hebrew Iraqi עברית [ʕibˈriːθ] 'Hebrew language'
Yemenite [ʕivˈriːθ]
Hlai Basadung [θsio] 'one'
Icelandic þ [θaːð] 'that'
Italian Tuscan[7] i capitani [iˌhäɸiˈθäːni] 'the captains'
Kabyle afa [θafaθ] 'light'(noun)
Karen Sgaw သၢ [θə˧] 'three'
Karuk yiθa [jiθa] 'one'
Kickapoo neθwi [nɛθwi] 'three'
Kwama [mɑ̄ˈθíl] 'to laugh'
Leonese ceru [θeɾu] 'zero'
Lorediakarkar [θar] 'four'
Malay Selasa [θəlaθa] 'Tuesday'
Massa [faθ] 'five'
Occitan Gascon macipon [maθiˈpu] '(male) child'
Vivaro-Alpine chin [θĩ] 'dog'
Early Old French amé [aˈmeːθ] 'loved, beloved (masculine)'
Old Persian 𐏋 / xšāyaθiya [xʃaːjaθija] 'Shah'
Saanich ŦES [teθʔəs] 'eight'
Sardinian Nuorese petha [pɛθa] 'meat'
Shark Bay [θar] 'four'
Shawnee nthwi [nθwɪ] 'three'
Sioux Nakoda ktusa [ktũˈθa] 'four'
Spanish European Spanish[8] cazar [käˈθ̪͆är] 'to hunt'
Swahili thamini [θɑˈmini] 'value'
Tanacross thiit [θiːtʰ] 'embers'
Toda உஇனபஒ [wɨnboθ] 'nine'
Turkmen sekiz [θekið] 'eight'
Tutchone Northern tho [θo] 'pants'
Southern thü [θɨ]
Upland Yuman Havasupai [θerap] 'five'
Hualapai [θarap]
Yavapai [θerapi]
Venetian Eastern dialects çinque [ˈθiŋkwe] 'five'
Wolaytta shiththa [ɕiθθa] 'flower'
Welsh saith [saiθ] 'seven'
Zhuang saw [θaːu˨˦] 'language'
Zotung Standard dialect of Lungngo kacciade [kəˈθʲaːðɛ] 'I go'

Notes change

References change