Minimal Pair List Consonants /Ɵ/ versus /ð/, 11 pairs
Both sounds are spelled with <th>, though the /ð/ sound is also spelled <the>. In the case of the
homograph
mouth
the verb ends in a voiced sound but with no change in spelling.
These are two dental fricatives distinguished only by voicing. Since the sounds do not occur or are not phonemically contrasted in many languages, they are a problem for learners separately and in contrast. Luckily both sounds are fairly rare in the dictionary and there are so few minimal pairs that mistakes scarcely matter.
The mean density value is 1%. The list makes 8 semantic distinctions, a loading of 73%.
thigh thy
loth loathe
mouth mouth
mouths mouths
wreath wreathe
wreaths wreathes
sheath sheathe
sheaths sheathes
sooth soothe
teeth teethe
with withe
.
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John Higgins
John Higgins retired in 2000, having spent the bulk of his career as a British Council English Language Officer working in Thailand, Turkey, Egypt and Yugoslavia and the last fifteen years in lectureships at Bristol University and then running an M.Sc. programme at Stirling University. His main field was EFL, with a special interest in CALL (computer-assisted language learning) in which, together with Tim Johns of Birmingham, he was responsible for important developments in methods and materials.
His publications include A Guide to Language Laboratory Material Writing, Universitetesforlaget, 1969, Computers and Language Learning, Collins, 1984, Language Learners and Computers, Longman, 1988, and Computers in English Language Learning, Intellect Press, 1992, together with numerous papers, reviews and pieces of software. He maintains a web page on minimal pairs and homographs for teachers of English pronunciation skills.
