T (letter)

For other uses, see T (disambiguation).

T is the twentieth letter of the English alphabet. In English its name is pronounced like tee and tea.

Use in English

T is a dental stop, tongue on teeth, often aspirated. Examples (the accents show pronunciation: see English phonemes): típ, tòngue, têeth, ápt, àrt, sét, bét, bétter, ténse, têacher, to preposition = toô many, also = tŵo number.

It is doubled in the middle of words to maintain the short sound of the preceding vowel: bétter, hítting (cf., hít), knítted (cf., knít), knótty, bóttom, ótter, bútter, fítter, and at the end, usually in names, Knótt (= knót tie, nót negative) and Ẁatt, from which name is derived ẁatt electricity (= ẁhat whatever). pt is t at the beginning of a few words: ptérodactyl, Ptómely, ptàrmigan.

T begins consonant clusters: cútback, cátkin, chŏrtle, Wéstminster, trêe, stétson, outwŏrn and also as th: thrôw, thwáck.

Th has two regular pronunciations. The position of the tongue - right under the upper teeth - is identical, but the voiced th hums, while the unvoiced lisps:

Voiced th: the/thê, thís, thát, thére, thén, òther, brêathe, lāther, hêathen (cf. héaven) bròther, wíth, wíthered, thús. Final e voices the preceding th: wrîthe, soôthe, lâthe, Blŷthe, Smŷthe (but names can leave out the e: Blŷth, Smŷth). The e can lengthen the vowel; compare bāth (noun) with bâthe (verb). The Irish language very sensibly spells this voiced th sound dh, but in English it occurs thus only in Rìyadh and the alternative spelling of éth, édh; otherwise it is accidental as in adhêre and adhêsive - the two letters are pronounced separately.

Unvoiced th occurs at the end of words: déath, bôth, bāth, pāth, dòth, bréath (noun, cf. voiced th in the verb brêathe); wíth has the voiced sound and is a notable exception. Initially: thínk, thought, thátch, throûgh, thòrough (-rə), thíck, thánk, Thürber, Theroûx (-rû), thíng, and in nòthing.

Unvoiced th becomes voiced before a plural s: bāth is unvoiced, bāths voiced.

Th can occur accidentally; the two letters are pronounced separately with their usual sound: hóthòuse (hót-) fáthéad (fát-).

The h is redundant in Ánthony, which can be spelt as it is pronounced Ántony, and in Kathmandû, which begins with a cát. Also it is redundant in some examples of names in –tham, for examples Éltham, Féltham, Véltham and for some speakers in Wítham, but not in Bôtham, which has the unvoiced th sound. An irregular example is Wrotham, pronounced Rûtəm.

Ti, pronounced sh before a vowel in certain endings: nâtion, rátion, râtio, Croâtia, fráctious, pâtient (cf. same sound in grâcious).

T is silent in a number of words, usually after s, typically before -le: hústle, bústle, rústle, néstle, jóstle, whístle, grístle, Neŵcastle, wréstle, cāstle or before -en: lísten, hâsten, châsten, and without the e in mústn’t. Most speakers do not pronounce the t in óften or Chrístmas, and it is usually absent from lístless and réstless. Final t is silent in French words: bùffèt, chálèt, cáchèt, tárôt, Màrgot and crôchèt (cf. crótchet, where it is pronounced) - and English has adapted the French spelling of Tchaikóvsky, with its redundant T. In tsunàmi and tsétsê it makes little difference whether or not one attempts to pronounce the initial t.

See also

• Letter (alphabet)
• Alphabet
• Writing system
• Orthography
• Written language
• Writing