In standard English, the phonetic realization of the two dental fricative phonemes shows less variation than many other English consonants. Both are pronounced either interdentally, i.e. with the blade of the … See more

In modern English, /θ/ and /ð/ bear a phonemic relationship to each other, as is demonstrated by the presence of a small number of See more

In some dialects the "th"-sound phonemes /θ/ and /ð/ are pronounced differently from the dental fricatives [θ] and [ð]. Most common are: … See more

Children generally learn the less marked phonemes of the language before the more marked ones. In the case of English-speaking children, /θ/ … See more

Germanic origins
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) had no dental fricatives, but these evolved in the earliest stages of the Germanic languages. In Proto-Germanic, … See more

As with many English consonants, a process of assimilation can result in the substitution of other speech sounds in certain phonetic … See more

⟨th⟩ for /θ/ and /ð/
Though English speakers take it for granted, the digraph ⟨th⟩ is in fact not an obvious … See more