/ð/ voiced — this, that, the, then, other, although
A useful pattern: many grammar words (the, this, that, then, they) take voiced /ð/, while many content words (think, thread, theory, throughput) take voiceless /θ/.
In tech speech: "the thread" mixes both — voiced /ð/ in "the", voiceless /θ/ in "thread". "throughput", "threshold", and "thumbnail" all use /θ/.
Option C reverses the voicing.
2 / 5
A non-native speaker pronounces thread exactly like tread. Which substitution happened, and what is the correct contrast?
thread /θrɛd/ vs tread /trɛd/ — /θ/ replaced by /t/:
A very common error: learners who lack /θ/ substitute the nearest stop, /t/, so "thread" collapses into "tread".
/θ/ — dental fricative: continuous airflow, tongue tip at the teeth
/t/ — alveolar stop: full blockage then release, tongue on the ridge
"A thread-safe queue" must keep /θ/, or it becomes the unrelated "tread".
The /θ/ vs /t/ minefield:
thread vs tread
three /θriː/ vs tree /triː/ — "three nodes" vs "a tree structure"
thin /θɪn/ vs tin /tɪn/
thank /θæŋk/ vs tank /tæŋk/
Fix: for /θ/, let the tongue tip touch the teeth and keep the air flowing — never block it.
3 / 5
Another learner pronounces thing as sing. Which substitution is this, and what is the correct contrast?
thing /θɪŋ/ vs sing /sɪŋ/ — /θ/ replaced by /s/:
The other classic /θ/ substitution: instead of the dental /θ/, the speaker uses the alveolar fricative /s/. Both are voiceless fricatives, so the result is close but wrong.
/θ/ — tongue tip at the teeth
/s/ — tongue near the alveolar ridge, behind the teeth, with a sharper hiss
So "thing" → "sing", "thick" → "sick", "path" → "pass".
/θ/ vs /s/ minimal pairs:
thing /θɪŋ/ vs sing /sɪŋ/
thick /θɪk/ vs sick /sɪk/
path /pɑːθ/ vs pass /pɑːs/ — "the file path" vs "the test will pass"
math /mæθ/ vs mass /mæs/
Fix: push the tongue tip forward to the teeth and "stick it out" slightly — /s/ keeps the tongue back.
4 / 5
Which of these tech-relevant words ALL contain the voiceless /θ/ sound?
month, both, threshold — all /θ/:
These three are all voiceless dental fricatives:
month /mʌnθ/ — "this month's sprint"
both /bəʊθ/ — "both services"
threshold /ˈθrɛʃ(h)əʊld/ — "the alert threshold"
Why the others are wrong:
Option A — this, that, then are all voiced /ð/, not /θ/.
Option C — weather, rather, another all have voiced /ð/ in the middle.
Option D mixes them: thread is /θ/ but this and the are /ð/.
Rule of thumb: "th" between two vowels inside a word is usually voiced /ð/ (other, mother, weather), while "th" at the start of a content word or at the end after a consonant is usually voiceless /θ/ (think, month, depth, width, length).
5 / 5
A developer says three services but the listener hears tree. Separately, which IPA correctly handles the /θ/ in the data-structure word depth?
three /θriː/ and depth /dɛpθ/ — both voiceless /θ/:
three /θriː/ — starts with the voiceless dental fricative /θ/, NOT /t/. Pronouncing it /triː/ makes it "tree" — so "three replicas" becomes "a tree" (very confusing in distributed-systems talk).
depth /dɛpθ/ — ends in the cluster /pθ/. The /θ/ here is also voiceless. Related clusters:
width /wɪdθ/
length /lɛŋθ/
month /mʌnθ/
These final /θ/ clusters are hard: keep the tongue at the teeth and let the air hiss out at the very end, rather than dropping it (/dɛp/) or hardening it to /t/ (/dɛpt/).
The /θr/ onset cluster appears in tech a lot:thread, three, throughput, throttle all begin /θr/ — practise the smooth glide from dental /θ/ straight into /r/, never inserting a /t/.