{"id":7467,"date":"2016-09-29T13:03:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T13:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/xislblogs.xtreamlab.net\/slwoods\/?p=7467"},"modified":"2016-09-29T13:12:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T13:12:39","slug":"th-sound-to-disappear-from-english-in-coming-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slwoods.co.uk\/?p=7467","title":{"rendered":"“Th” sound to disappear from English in coming decades?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The “th” sound, which had its own letter – thorn (\u00de, \u00fe) in Old and Middle English<\/a> – could disappear from spoken British English, today’s Daily Telegraph reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By 2066, linguists are predicting that the “th” sound will vanish completely in london because there are so many foreigners who struggle to pronounce interdental consonants – the term for a sound created by pushing the tongue against the upper teeth.<\/p>\n

In the wider South East of England Estuary English \u2013 a hybrid of Cockney and received pronunciation (RP)\u2013 is already being replaced by Multicultural London English (MLE), which is heavily influenced by Caribbean, West African and Asian Communities.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph is reporting on the release of the Sounds of The Future report produced by Dr. Dominic Watt and Dr. Brendan Gunn from the University of York<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other predictions from the authors include:<\/p>\n