minimal pairs

[Eduard Selleslagh]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Trask" <larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2000 1:32 PM

[snip]

> Another aside.  While a blacksmith's shop is a 'smithy', with edh,
> a person called Smith gets the diminutive 'Smithy', with theta, in
> my experience -- just as in 'Kathy'.  (By the way, does anyone want
> to claim that 'Kathy' is less than fully English?) 

[Ed Selleslagh]

I won't claim this isn't fully English, or rather: has become so, but do
remember it is originally Greek (from 'katharé:', the pure one, f.nom.sg.);
so the rule that Greek theta is always th in English might apply.

Ed.