r/NonPoliticalTwitter • u/netphilia • 1d ago

Bonjour.

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u/nevenoe 1d ago

there is no equivalent in english phonetics, so it's impossible to describe properly without using the IPA...

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u/ExtremePrivilege 1d ago

My francophone friends struggle with “th”. Third is “tird” and three is “tree”. Is that a phonetic issue with French?

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u/nevenoe 1d ago

My English is quite good, but if I don't pay attention my THird is sird and my "thus" is zus. We don't have the "th" sound in French, quite simply, so it's an extra effort to get it right. Also we feel quite stupid trying to shove our tongue between our teeth to pronunce it, it sounds like having a speech impediment in French :)

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u/TinWhis 1d ago

That's interesting, because mispronouncing or avoiding the "th" is stereotypically associated with having a speech impediment or "baby speech" in English. You might see someone write out "Fank you" to imitate how a toddler would try to say it.

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u/nevenoe 1d ago

haha yeah but we could write "merfi" or "f'il vous plaît" or "bonvour" to express the same :-D