Date:    Thu, 7 May 1998 17:21:23 -0400
<br>From:    Daniel Ezra Johnson <daniel.e.johnson[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: your mail
<br>
<br>On Thu, 7 May 1998, Larry Horn wrote:
<br>
<br>> When THE is stressed (or, of course, when it precedes a vowel-initial
<br>> word), it typically rhymes with 'bee'
<br>
<br>I was struck the other month by a New Jersey speaker's strong reaction
<br>against the pronunciation 'thee' before vowels. She uses 'thuh' in all
<br>positions and even commented, "It's not spelled t-h-e-e".
<br>
<br>In such phrases ('the apple', 'the only'), there must be some correlation
<br>between schwa vs. 'ee', on the one hand, and the use of a semivowel --
<br>some type of 'y' glide -- versus a glottal stop to begin the
<br>'vowel-initial' word.
<br>
<br>DEJ
<br>