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Vlivef Posted 7 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Unique phonemes?

Hi,

I was wondering if the phonemes

-ng (like in 'ring')

-w ( like in 'wind')

-th ( like in 'this' and like in 'moth' )

are "exclusively English" ( = characteristic of only the English language)?

Do any other Germanic languages have phonemes like these?

Do any Romance languages have phonemes that are close enough to the English [th], [ng], [w]?

Sorry if my question lacks "academic precision/refinement"...

Awaiting your kind comments...

  

Top answer

vlivef I was wondering if the phonemes -ng (like in 'ring')-w ( like in 'wind')-th ( like in 'this' and like in 'moth' )are "exclusively English" ( = characteristic of only the English language)? No, they're not exclusively English. / also occurs in Chinese ( péngyou - friend ) and German ( der Engel - the angel ).

  • vlivef I was wondering if the phonemes -ng (like in 'ring')-w ( like in 'wind')-th ( like in 'this' and like in 'moth' )are "exclusively English" ( = characteristic of only the English language)?
  • No, they're not exclusively English.
  • / also occurs in Chinese ( péngyou - friend ) and German ( der Engel - the angel ).
  • / also occurs in Greek and in Castilian Spanish.
  • [ð] is an allophone of /d/ in Spanish.
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1 Answers
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vlivefI was wondering if the phonemes -ng (like in 'ring')-w ( like in 'wind')-th ( like in 'this' and like in 'moth' )are "exclusively English" ( = characteristic of only the English language)?

No, they're not exclusively English.
/?/ also occurs in Chinese (péngyou - friend) and German (der Engel - the angel).
/?/ also occurs in

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