What is ð?

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

I have seenthe symbol "ð" quite a bit in Talossan, but am unaware of what it means. It is not in the pronunciation guide. Is it just an alternate spelling for "tg" or "þ"?

Thanks,
Dreu

[King John]

Just as tg is an alternate spelling for the letter þ (which makes the sound of voiceless th in thin or bath), so th is an alternate spelling for the letter ð (which makes the sound of voiced th in this or with).

— John R

[Hooligan]

Just to complete the list of non-Latin characters in our language, the letters ss are an alternate spelling for ß (pronounced as the long s as in hiss). In my own writing, I generally use the digraphs (tg, th, and ss); others prefer to use the þ, ð, and ß. For me, it is a matter of convenience -- my fingers know where the t, g, h, and s are on my keyboard.

Then of course there is ñ, which will be leaving us in the upcoming Arestadâ, to be replaced by the digraph ng (which already long ago replaced ñ when at the end of a word -- pronounced as in English sing), and by the reduction of the trigraph gñh to gn (pronounced as the Spanish ñ -- as in the English onion or canyon).

Hooligan

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Thank you for the clarification...I am sad that ñ will be leaving us...that was always one of my favourite letters...probably the reason why I learned Spanish ;D just so I could use it...

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

john said:

Just as tg is an alternate spelling for the letter þ (which makes the sound of voiceless th in thin or bath), so th is an alternate spelling for the letter ð (which makes the sound of voiced th in this or with).

— John R

In my dialect, the th in with is voiceless like bath, not voiced like this. I assumed that was typical of Western varieties of American English. Is it typical for Coloradans to voice the th in with?

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

I have a similar dialect, the th voiceless is like the th in thin.

[King John]

Dang! I didn't know. I would say, Yes, Coloradans tend to voice the th in with. So you pronounce it to rhyme with myth? My desk dictionary lists both pronunciations. How odd I never noticed before.

— John R

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

john said:

So you pronounce it to rhyme with myth?

I do indeed! Curiously, H. F. Burgess (don't ask me who he is) wrote:

A curious word is withe:
It rhymes with scythe,
It rhymes with myth,
Indeed, it even rhymes with with
Oh, what a wizard word it is;
So useful for a rhyming bond.
I'd rather, though, this verbal whiz
Were more than just a willow wand

I wonder whether he pronounced all of those words with a voiceless th, with a voiced th, or whether he was just a bad rhymer.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

are withe and and scythe suppose to rhyme? They don't for me. With and myth do though...

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

In classic English poetry, they can rhyme, yes.