辅音字符 th 有 清与浊 两种读音:
1 当位于词首时,可以从词性上判别其应有的读音.请看:
第一类:在以下 4种 词类 th 读 清音,即国际音标的 θ :
a. Noun 名词:thing, theatre, thumb大拇指, thunder雷,
thermos热水瓶, Thursday, theory, theme, throat喉咙, thread线
b. Verb 动词:think, thank, throw, thrive, thicken,
c.Numeral 数词:three, thirteen, thirty, third, thousand
d.Adjective 形容词:thin, thick, thirsty, thoughtful,
thorough彻底的
第二类:在以下 两种 词类 th 读 浊音:
a. Pronoun 代词:they, them, their, theirs, this, these,
that, those, there, thy[旧时用法]你的
b. Functional terms 功能词:the, than, then, though, thus,
therefore
2 当位于词尾(或音节之尾)时,其读音多数是清音,如:bath, breath, both, cloth, tooth, health, wealth, arithmetic 等.只有在少数单词中,如:with, smooth 中读浊音.
3 当位于两个元音之间时,其读音多数是浊音.如:other, mother, brother, another, father, weather, feather, leather, further, breathe.
但是,也有读清音的.如在单词 method, nothing, anything, sympathy, sympathetic, mathematics, healthy, wealthy, Luther, Marathon(马拉松)等.