Wið or wiθ. Which one is more common?

[euncu]

I've got myself used to using "with" as wiθ but on tv or the internet I hear it mostly as wið. According to some dictionaries that I've consulted to, only the version with the voiceless th is correct. So I wonder if it is a BrE/AE thing or it changes from one person to other. I particularly welcome the answers of the members who are from different English-speaking countries, although it is not a must.

Thanks for your answers in advance.

 

[5jj]

John Wells's polls among native speakers showed:
AmE: θ - 84%, ð - 16%;
BrE: ð - 85%, θ - 15% (though in Scotland this rises to 82%)

Wells, John(2008) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd edn), Harlow: PearsonLongman.

 

[euncu]

John Wells's polls among native speakers showed:
AmE: θ - 84%, ð - 16%;
BrE: ð - 85%, θ - 15% (though in Scotland this rises to 82%)

Wells, John(2008) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd edn), Harlow: PearsonLongman.

I couldn't have expected something more precise than this one. Thank you very much.

 

[5jj]

I couldn't have expected something more precise than this one. Thank you very much.

That sort of information, very useful at times, is one of the reasons I recommend that book - 'Longman Pronouncing Dictionary' by J C Wells

 

[BobK]

John Wells's polls among native speakers showed:
AmE: θ - 84%, ð - 16%;
BrE: ð - 85%, θ - 15% (though in Scotland this rises to 82%)

Wells, John(2008) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd edn), Harlow: PearsonLongman.

...And what (if anything) does he say about 'without' and 'forthwith'/'withstand'/'notwithstanding? (Personally, I'd have difficulty saying /θ/ in the first or /ð/ in any of the others.)

b

 

[5jj]

...And what (if anything) does he say about 'without' and 'forthwith'/'withstand'/'notwithstanding? (Personally, I'd have difficulty saying /θ/ in the first or /ð/ in any of the others.)

Buy your own copy!............;-)

He doesn't give poll figures, but gives /ð/ as the first, /θ/ as the second in withal, withdraw, withhold, within, without, withstand, and notwithstanding; He reverses the order for the second th in forthwith. He makes no mention of AmE for any of these.

Roach et al give both for with, noting 'The pronunciation with θ is most frequently found when followed by a voiceless consonant (e.g. 'with care)'.

They give: withal (ð), within, without (ð, BrE, ð,θ, AmE), withdraw, withhold (ð,θ), withstand (ð,θ, BrE; θ,ð, AmE), notwithstanding, forthwith (θ,ð)

Roach, Peter, Hartman, James & Setter, Jane (2003 edn*) Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: CUP
*This edition is the 16th edition of Daniel Jones's English Pronouncing Dictionary, the second to be edited by Roach et al.

 

[birdeen's call]

I don't think I ever heard wi[θ]out! :shock:

 

[5jj]

I don't think I ever heard wi[θ]out! :shock:

I don't think I have, but it's always possible that some speakers have said 'wi[θ]out', and I have assumed that I have heard 'wi[ð]out'.

 

[thatone]

/wɪθaʊt/ sample
without pronunciation: How to pronounce without in English

 

[BobK]

Buy your own copy!]

Thanks. ;-) It's on the list!

b

 

[BobK]

I don't think I ever heard wi[θ]out! :shock:

You haven't lived. ;-) My first headmaster (a Scot I think, anyway his name - McCaffery - suggested origins somewhere in the Celtic fringe) used it. But it's not common in my experience.

b

 

[BobK]

/wɪθaʊt/ sample
without pronunciation: How to pronounce without in English

This, with an admittedly tiny sample size, tends to confirm Roach et al's figures (cited above by 5jj).


b