Letter TTH
The sound written tth is found in a few words in English: it is the last sound in careful pronunciation of "eighth", as if it were spelled eight-th. This sound should not be confused with th.Click on a video below to see and hear Mrs. Irene Arnold pronouncing words with TTH.
tthee rock
atdetth it (an animal) is running
shtthí' my head
shetth snow
ntthûuy his grandchild
xnéek'etth it (weather) is cold
The tth sound is similar to other sounds in Tanacross. Below are examples that contrast these similar sounds.
Click below to hear Mrs. Laura Sanford illustrating the difference between tth and th at the start of words.
Click below to hear Mrs. Laura Sanford illustrating the difference between tth’ and tth at the start of words.
Click below to hear Mrs. Irene Arnold illustrating the difference between tth and th at the end of words.
Click below to hear Mrs. Irene Arnold illustrating the difference between tth and ddh at the end of words.
Sentences with contrasting dental sounds.
Ddheł k'et taathéth déltthox naandeddh dídedháltth'ih. On the mountain you are all sitting in front of a brown tent.
Ttheetheł naadeddh dídzéltth'ih. We are sitting in front of the steambath.
Dihthâad tah ntthûuy ts'eeyithet. Your (man's) grandchild woke up at Mansfield.
Tanacross tth and ddh are voiceless aspirated and unaspirated alveo-dental affricates [tƟh] and [tƟ], respectively. At the end of syllables tth and ddh represent voiceless and voiced affricates [tƟ] and [dð], respectively. In phrase-final position tth may be pronounced as a fricative th.
similar sounds