I feel like native english speakers drop the voiced th sound in fast speech when they say "is there.... ?" and "is this...?". Can you tell me if I'm right or wrong . Thanks for your attention. I’m looking forward to your reply.
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What do they do instead?– Isabel ArcherJun 4, 2020 at 21:54
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@IsabelArcher That's what I am trying to learn .I am pretty positive that I don't hear a th because when I watch in slow motion the tongue doesn't come out for the th. I think since it takes more time to link z and th ,they just drop the th to speak faster .– BirkanJun 4, 2020 at 22:01
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I don't honestly see how I utter either of the two phrases without pronouncing the "th".– Isabel ArcherJun 4, 2020 at 22:09
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1Of course you don't hear it. It's not there. The fricative cluster /zð/ is difficult to pronounce and involves millisecond coordination between independent muscles in the tongue, jaw, and lips. It's reduced to /z/ whenever possible, which is pretty much all the time, in US English.– John LawlerJun 4, 2020 at 22:10
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1@JohnLawler thank you. I appreciate that a lot .– BirkanJun 4, 2020 at 22:14
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1 Answer
Six of one half dozen of the other: in other words, you're right but you're also wrong.
Not everyone assimilates these sounds. I don't personally, but have heard many people assimilate the two sounds: /ɪz ðɪs/ becomes /ɪz zɪs/ or /ɪ zɪs/.
