'Th' Sound To Vanish From English Language By 2066 Because Of Multiculturalism

'Th' Sound To Vanish From English Language By 2066 Because Of Multiculturalism

There are two "th" sounds: the th in "the' and the th in "theater." They have always been two of the most difficult sounds for non-native speakers. My dad spoke with only a slight accent, but he replaced the former with "d" and the latter with "t", so he went to "da teater."

This article was written for speakers of British English, so it suggests that "mother" will migrate to "muvver" while "thick" will become "fick." That probably ain't what's goin' down in Murica, where those words commonly become "mudder" and "tick" respectively.

The article continues:

"Other changes likely to become widespread by 2066 include a habit known as 'yod dropping' in which the
'u' sound is replaced with an 'oo.' It means that 'duke' becomes 'dook,' (and) 'news' is pronounced 'nooze.'"

(This, of course, has already happened to the long "u" in America, where Tuesday starts with tooze, not tyooze. Interestingly, it is the British speakers that have already "dropped the yod" on the short "u." The word "figures" is one example. Brits frequent cite "the correct figgers" (or, I suppose, "figgas") while Americans still prefer "fig-yers."