The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #124660 Message #2754755
Posted By: Bryn Pugh
29-Oct-09 - 09:22 AM
Thread Name: BS: Pronunciation of ph, th, sh words
Subject: RE: BS: Pronunciation of ph, th, sh words
In "standard English", the diphthong (!) "ph" is pronounced as in "f" :
the diphthong "sh" as in "shit" - sorry - couldn't resist that one ; and "th" as either 'eth' or 'thorn', as the case might be.
I think I have read, somewhere, that in Classical Greek (Katharevousa) it is believed that "ph" might have been pronounced "puh huh" ; "sh" as "suh huh" ; and "th" as "tuh huh".
This, I think, might beg the question as to why Greek has one character for "ph" (phi) ; one for "th" (theta).